Jamaican Pork with Sourdough Coco Bread

This dish has a strong Caribbean slant with pork loin chops rubbed with a jerk marinade seasoning and served with sourdough coco bread.

The jerk rub

Mix the following together in bowl.

  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp ground allspice (you can use mace instead)
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper corns
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp dried marjoram
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 tsp dried sage (optional)
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary (optional)

Rub it generously on the pork and keep the rest in an airtight container for later use.

All the spices together

The rub is somewhat based on this recipe.

The pork

The rub above will be sufficient for 4 (3 to 5cm) pork loin chops. Brine the pork overnight, pat it down with paper towels, let it dry for 4 hours “open” in the fridge and then apply the rub generously. Remove the pork about 2 hours before putting it on the grill, so that it is close to room temperature.

The pork loin chops from brine to rub

Grill the pork over medium coals, and try to get some heat on the fatty, skin parts as well as the bone. Normally I would pierce the chops with two wooden kebab skewers to balance them on the thinner sides. (See pics)

The pork loin chops grilled on all sides

The coco bread

For the bread, you will need the following:

  • 240ml coconut milk
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar (you can double up on the sugar if you like a sweeter bread)
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 50g sourdough starter (or 1 packet of instant yeast)
  • 1 egg
  • 450g white bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
  • more butter for brushing

Combine the coconut milk, sugar, salt and butter in a bowl and heat in a microwave oven for about 30 seconds until the butter melts. Be careful not to bring the ingredients to a boil.

Add the egg, starter (or yeast) and the flour and mix well together. The softer the dough, the better the result.

Put the dough on a floured table and knead for a couple of minutes.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and leave for 1 to 2 hours until it has more or less doubled in size.

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each piece with a pin until they are about 5mm thick and more or less in a round shape.

Brush the dough with the melted butter, fold it over in half and brush again.

Place the dough on an ovenproof pan lined with baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Bake in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven, let it slightly cool and then brush with the melted butter again.

The original recipe for the bread can be found here.

The presentation

We served the pork chops and the coco bread together with a salsa (onion, chilli and coriander); a watermelon, feta and mint salad and also grilled corn on the cob. The wine of choice was a dry Bon Courage Gewürztraminer.