Hello all,

I personally have a very hard time finding the right cuts, this time my girlfriend wanted to make me a bomb good bye meal, but accidentally bought smoked pork belly...she got really upset.

I was wondering where could I find pork belly with skin (not bacon) in Basel. Were looking for pork bellies that are not smoked/seasoned and which can be used in asian dishes such as kimchi fried rice/lu ro fan.

Best

Andrew

Coop.

They have smoked and unsmoked. My wife buys the unsmoked and does crispy pork with that,

May I ask which coop she normally goes to?

I would like more details too. Does she get it from the display counter? When I check the coop website they don't have it.
When I check Migros I get all the complaints that they don't have it (they're pretty new too, the complaints )

I saw some yummy recipes, I would like to try that out. (And no we don't have a butcher within reasonable distance).

In German that would be called Schweinebauch, if anybody is successful in finding a source I'll be interested too.

I was unable to find this cut in my local shops, Top CC including.
At the end I found cut from the ribs (established this when open pack at home), that they claimed to be the pork belly, but that was not the case.
I will say only pre-order at local butcher.

You get it in Prodega.

Not belly but Kotelleten mit Schwarte are easy to find at COOP. They're pork chops with the fatty skin, yummy!

I guess what you're looking for is Bauchfleisch mit Schwarte. Ask in any COOP with a butcher, whatever cut has Schwarte (pork skin) on it.

Yes, I think you're right. I've been researching a bit and they do this not only with pork belly but also with shoulder and saddle of pork.
The Germans and Austrians have many recipes for it while "Schwarte" is not really eaten here in Switzerland it seems. I dare to guess that's because the Swiss don't make it crispy, so it's cut off latest on the plate. Let's face it who wants to eat soft, slobbery fat.

Well, I'll start looking for it and try the recipes, looks like something I'm gonna like a lot. May not be the healthiest thing I ever eat but who cares!

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Asian shops.

Tom

OP, I think what you're looking for is Schweins-Brust. I get mine from the butcher though from time to time I see this in Coop.

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Any of them. Well - the larger ones. The one behind SBB will definitely have it. It's surprising that it isn't online.

We sometimes use it for a Swiss dish - dried beans soaked for a day, then boiled with the pork. Serve with polenta.

In, my experience, even the larger Coops appear to sell different 'more special' items, depending on what customers want. If the shoppers are basically local people, the shop will not sell those more 'exotic' and interesting items.

Why does boiled pork fat seem so unappetising compared with crispy pork belly?

Find a local farmer who sells directly from the farm.

I have a nearly 10 year relationship with my local farmer, who is small scale (slaughters around 40-60 pigs a year) - she can give me any cut I need for pork or beef.

Belly with skin on, beef short-ribs, brisket, beef bones for stock etc.

These guys will deliver to your home! (unfortunately out of stock at the moment though)

https://meat4you.ch/en/swiss-pork-breats-bbq.html
https://meat4you.ch/en/pork-belly-iberico.html

It's not on display, you have to ask the butcher/shop assistant. Sometimes they tell you when to come and/or pick it up if they don't have anything that day. My husband likes homemade bacon and he used to make it himself a few years ago, I know from him it is not that difficult to get these types of cuts here. (as I would have thought)

As devoted polenta eaters, we never associate it with beans but who knows, it's an interesting combination. Will try it one day.

Are they pricey? I want Swiss pork belly.

However, the Swiss one at least comes as a massive 4kg piece, which may be excessive for one meal. I barbecued it for 4 adults and had plenty of left overs for days.

I barbecued a more manageable 2kg piece from Aligro on Good Friday and we used the leftovers for Ramen. Not sure if there is an Aligro near Basel though.

O/T the burgers, fire-burgers (actually very spicy) and sausages are excellent from Meat4you. In fact everything I‘ve had from there (brisket, pork shoulder, dry aged ribeye, wagyu ribeye, tri-tip) has been consistently good.

Before coming to Switzerland I'd agree with 4 kg being too much since you can shop more tomorrow. After a few years here...there's no such thing as too much meat. Cut it in half and freeze it. You never know when it's available again and at what price hahaha

Which is fine if it doesn‘t come frozen already.

Awaits Tom regaling of us with stories of using a chain saw to cut a frozen cow in half before storing it in the meat locker he build in his rustico for CHF 2.50.

I get mine from our local 3M migros. I buy the pre-packed big pack and it's really cheap! It's in an odd location though, not with the pork. The migros I use has an end shelf with horse and rabbit, and then at the bottom bigger packs of meat- pork belly, pork ribs and different cuts of beef. Its a random selection, they dont have everything all the time. They are all pretty big packs though, talking 2-3kg cuts, but super cheap for the pork, and reasonable for the beef.