Braised Pork with Milk

Ingredients

• 1–1.2 kg boneless pork loin, compact, even shape; pork shoulder may substitute
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 750–1000 ml whole milk, cold; enough to come halfway up the pork
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp fine salt, to season the pork before browning

Method

1. 1
   Pat the pork loin thoroughly dry and season all surfaces with salt. In a heavy-based pot or deep sauté pan just wide enough to hold the meat, melt the butter with the oil over a moderately high flame. Lay the pork in the pan and brown it on every surface, turning as each side becomes a deep mahogany crust. The browning is complete when no grey, uncoloured patches remain.
2. 2
   Remove the pot from the heat momentarily and add the rosemary sprig. Return to the heat, then pour in the cold milk — it will sizzle violently and lift the fond from the pan floor. The liquid should reach approximately halfway up the pork. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover tightly, and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting. Braise for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. The dish is patient through this phase; the milk will slowly reduce from a white simmer to a thickening, yellowing coating. The braise is proceeding correctly when a faint, sweet, dairy vapour rises each time the lid is lifted.
3. 3
   When the milk has reduced to a shallow, visibly thickened coating on the pan floor and small pale formations are beginning to cluster around the pork, remove the lid entirely. This is where the dish lives or dies. Over the lowest heat that still sustains gentle activity, watch the clusters form and colour. Stir gently and continuously to prevent any single cluster from holding contact with the pan long enough to scorch. The clusters must reach the colour of a lightly toasted sesame seed — deep golden — and no further. Any burnt or acrid note in the steam signals the heat is too high; reduce it immediately. This final phase takes approximately 15–20 minutes of active, unbroken attention.
4. 4
   Transfer the pork to a carving board and rest it for 5 minutes. Slice across the grain into pieces of roughly 1 cm. The interior should be opaque throughout, juicy, and yield to a fork with slight, even pressure — not falling apart, but offering no resistance. Arrange the slices on a warmed platter, scrape every golden cluster from the pan, and spoon them over the meat.