Cheese and Nori Pork Rolls 起司海苔豬肉捲

This recipe was inspired by a short cooking video online. I was playing with my phone and scanning through posts after posts on Facebook and Instagram. One of the cooking channels put up a recipe for pork rolls made with pork slices, instead of the usual way by pounding pork loin into thin pieces. So I grabbed that idea and incorporated big sheet of nori (dried seaweed) and cheese squares. Not bad, I think.

Cheese and nori pork rolls 起司海苔豬肉捲 - 

Ingredients?

• 12 to 14 slices pork (pork belly or leaner pork loin)
• 1 big sheet dried seaweed (nori)
• 2 cheddar cheese squares
• 1 egg
• Some flour
• Some panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• Some salt
• Some black pepper
• Some olive oil

How?

Put a sheet of cling foil on the working surface. Lay down pork slices one by one, make sure 1/3 to 1/2 of the pork slice gets overlapped by the next slice. 

The pork slices I've got here were a little bit short, so I also lay down two slices on the bottom cross-wise.

Put nori sheet on top, then two cheese squares in the center. 

Grab the end of the cling foil then roll towards yourself, turn these ingredients into a log. Then wrap well with cling foil. Transfer to the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes. It'll help firming up the log.

Prepare a plate with beaten egg, another plate with some flour, and one more plate with panko. Once the pork roll is ready, remove the cling foil and sprinkle some salt and black pepper over. 

Dip the entire log with flour. Then dip in beaten egg, finally coat with panko.

Take a non-stick pan and drizzle some oil, about two tablespoons, just enough to evenly coat the entire surface. Turn to medium high heat. Wait till the oil warms up then sear the log till colored on all sides.

Remove from heat and wait for few minutes till cool enough to handle by hand. Cut into shorter sections.

I also used these pork rolls as one of the side dishes for bento. Not as crunchy after reheating the bento box, but the cheese inside still have that semi-melted texture. Pretty good still, said so myself. 


Other pork rolls recipe:

• Shio koji flavored vegetable pork rolls (鹽麴豬肉捲)