“Suckling pig is a real special-occasion dish,” says Alistair Wise, “and not a bad substitute for cooking a pig in a pit. We cooked ours in a wood-fired oven with a few chunks of hickory slowly smoking on the side, which imparts a beautiful flavour to the meat and pan juices. You can replicate this at home using chips in a pan in the oven, although they won’t smoke very long. Injecting the pig with apple juice helps keep the meat juicy, and the mop sauce cuts through the rich pig fat.”
Ingredients
Mop sauce
Spice rub
Method
Main
1.For mop sauce, combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside for at least 2 hours for flavours to develop.
2.For spice rub, crush ingredients with a mortar and pestle until finely ground, then set aside.
3.Score skin of pig with a sharp knife or Stanley knife along the length of the body. Fill a syringe with apple juice and inject into the pig where the flesh is thickest. Rub salt evenly into the cavity and skin of pig and place in a large roasting tray.
4.Preheat oven to 220C. Heat woodchips in a small cast-iron pan over high heat until beginning to smoke, then place pan on bottom shelf of oven. Place pig on middle shelf, roast for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 160C and roast, basting pig occasionally with mop sauce, until meat is falling from the bone (3-3¼ hours). Serve hot with [turnip slaw](http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/recipes/chefs-recipes/turnip-slaw-7885|target=”_blank”), barbecue sauce, chow chow and lardy flatbreads.
Note Hickory and mesquite woodchips are available from select barbecue shops. Tasmanian pepperberries are available from Simon Johnson and Herbie’s Spices; otherwise substitute whole black peppercorns.
Drink Suggestion: Orange wine such as Cantina Giardino “Adam”. Drink suggestion by Luke Burgess
