On Saturday, while searching for lamb shanks, I also discovered some wild boar chops and of course had to buy them. My memory told me that the sign had said that they were marinated in sesame and ginger, so we planned some Oriental side dishes. On opening the chops, we found bits of thyme in them so I started to doubt my memory. On cooking them though, they did taste like they may well have had sesame and ginger on them, along with a dose of sweetness.
Side dishes we served with them were noodles drizzled with sesame oil and black and white sesame seeds, cucumber slices marinated in vinegar, mirin, sake, soy and sugar and also some roasted peppers with sesame. Sesame-tastic tonight.
The wild boar chops turned out rather well, slowly pan fried to cook them through while keeping them moist and giving them a nicely caramelised exterior. The chops were good and went well with the various side dishes. Definitely something to try again, although next time I think we’ll get plain chops rather than marinated ones and treat them differently. The marinated cucumbers were good too and I’d like to try them or something similar again soon.
I’ve never had boar, but would be intersted to try it. What does it taste like?
Oooh – how interesting. I’ve never seen wild boar chops for sale before. You must have a great butcher nearby. I love your blue and white bowls, by the way!
It’s hard to describe the taste, the texture was much like a pork chop but the flavour was different…it was slightly sweet and possibly had a faint gamey taste.
Next time we’ll buy them without a marinade so we can taste them better.
We’re actually lucky enough to have two really good butchers near us, the closest one is our usual and they generally always have everything we need. The one we got the boar from has a lot more game and they tend to marinate a lot more of their meat which can be useful but mostly we prefer to buy it plain and add the flavours ourselves.
The bowls are from Oriental City Antonia, they do a huge range and I would like to get some more before they close if I can. I thought of you on Saturday while I was in the Emma Bridgewater shop!
that sesame cucumber looks gorgeous. I’ve never cooked boar either, do you have to cook it through completely?
Those bowls are great – The Japan Centre has a shop that sells cheap crockery too, and if it doesn’t have a price tag on it they charge you £1.50. I don’t know if you’re near, but its worth checking out.
Where is this great butcher’s of yours, may I ask?
Hi L, the butcher that we got the wild boar from is Randalls on Wandsworth Bridge Road in Fulham. The lamb shanks that we cooked over the weekend were from there too. It’s a bit further away than the butcher that we normally go to, but not a huge amount further, so I think I’ll stop being lazy and go down there more often.
I’ve had wild boar in sausages before, but never just plain wild boar. I assumed that cooking them would be similar to cooking pork, so we did cook them through but were careful not to overcook them.
Good tip about The Japan Centre, thanks, we’ll have a look around next time we’re near it.