Boil-up

Tam West

Many cuisines have dishes which are a version of a boil-up. The French pot-au-feu and the Italian bollito misto (which translates as mixed boil-up) come to mind. I demo-ed an Italian version on Maori TV’s Whanau Living last year. Here is my Pakeha chef’s version of a fancy boil-up that is all about pork, vegetables and a great-tasting broth. I opted out of making doughboy dumplings, preferring a hunk of crusty bread to dip in the broth.

Ingredients

350 g	Pork mince
1	Garlic clove, finely chopped
1	Egg, beaten
2 Tbsp	Chopped parsley
½ tsp	Salt
1 Ltr	Chicken stock
3 cups	Water
600 g	Pork spareribs (Main)
1	Onion, diced 1cm
1	Carrot, sliced 1cm
1 stick	Celery, thinly sliced
1 large	Potato, peeled, cut into 4cm chunks
1 large	Purple kumara, peeled, cut into 4cm chunks
500 g	Pumpkin, peeled, cut into 4cm chunks
350 g	Pork fillet, fat and membrane trimmed off
3 handfuls	Watercress, sprigs

Directions

1. Put the mince, garlic, egg and parsley in a bowl, season and mix well. With wet hands, form into 12 small meatballs, place on a plate in the fridge and reserve.
2. Put the stock and water into a large wide saucepan. Place over high heat and bring to the boil. Add the pork ribs, onion, carrot and celery. Reduce the heat and simmer 35 minutes, skimming the scum frequently.
3. Add the potato, kumara and pumpkin, pork fillet and meatballs. Cover and simmer a further 25 minutes.
4. Uncover and add the watercress to the boil up and let it wilt well.
5. Remove from the heat. Remove the pork fillet to a dish and rest 5 minutes.
6. Slice the pork fillet. Taste the broth and season. Serve the meat and vegetables on wide plates.

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