How to make Guanciale - Recipe for Italian Cured meat - cured pig jowl (2024)

FAQs

Is pork jowl the same as guanciale? ›

What is Guanciale? It is pronounced "Gwan-Chee-All-A" and is cured pork jowl. The jowl of the hog is one of the most sought after cuts due to the richness and fattiness of the muscle. Once it is salted, cured, and dried, it becomes an incredible ingredient with amazing umami flavor that is used in Italian cuisine.

Slice the guanciale into thin strips. Heat a skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. There's no need for extra oil as guanciale will release its own fat when heated. Add the sliced guanciale to the hot pan and cook until it turns crispy and golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Guanciale is made from the single piece of meat that lies between the throat and the cheek, or jowl (Italian guancia), of the pig. As with many Italian cured meats, its history goes back many centuries, and curing methods today are still based on traditional recipes.

Guanciale is first salted and then marinated in cooked wine and black pepper. Then, the guanciale is hung in a smoking room for two days where it is smoked with oak bark and almond peel. Finally, the guanciale is dried for four to five months.

In terms of cooking with guanciale, also called pork cheek or jowl, has a lot of similarities to bacon, which means you can substitute it in many recipes that call for those ingredients; it's no surprise it surfaces a lot in pasta dishes.

The closest thing to guanciale is probably pancetta, which is cured belly meat, but there is still a notable difference between the two. Guanciale has both a richer flavour and a softer texture than pancetta or bacon, so if you like pancetta, you'll love guanciale.

Guanciale usually comes in a solid slab or block. Use a sharp knife to cut it into thin slices or small cubes, depending on your recipe. Cook on low heat until the fat melts out. You can then mix this flavourful fat into sauces like Carbonara or alla Gricia and use the meat as a perfectly porky pasta topping.

Tips for Keeping Sliced Guanciale Fresh

If you cover the sliced portion with a clean dish towel or a fresh piece of plastic wrap between uses, you can preserve its organoleptic qualities for up to a month. You should buy as much as you need for your family's consumption to save money and product.

How long will it last? Usually is better to use in 6 months from production date for the best quality, but even after one year it is completely safe even if, maybe, it gets too hard for slicing.

It's best to first cut your guanciale into thin slices of about a half-centimeter thick, ensuring that you get both fat and meat in each strip (if you cut it up immediately into cubes, you might get cubes of only fat). Cut the rind off; you can save these for later to flavor stocks and soups.

What does guanciale mean in Italian? ›

Guanciale (Italian: [ɡwanˈtʃaːle]) is an Italian salt-cured meat product prepared from pork jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from guancia, 'cheek'.

A staple Italian ingredient, guanciale (which translates to pig cheek) is generally very fatty and less meaty than bacon or pancetta, because it comes from the jowl of the pig. It's also the least expensive of the three.

Guanciale can be eaten raw by cutting them into thin slices. Moreover, they can be cut into cubes or triangles (depending on the shape) and cooked in a frying pan for eating. Still, guanciale is mainly used differently than bacon. Rather than a stand-alone meat dish, guanciale is used as an ingredient in other dishes.

Guanciale and Pancetta Are Made with Different Spices

Pancetta is typically made with just salt, pepper, and juniper and sometimes other flavoring agents such as garlic or brown sugar. Guanciale has a good dose of salt and pepper too but also typically includes garlic, rosemary, and sage.

You simply need to follow this simple formula: an acidic ingredient to tenderize the meat (think vinegar, juice, yogurt, or mustard), fresh herbs and spices for added flavour, and a fatty ingredient, such as oil or butter.

Buta kashira, which roughly translates as “pork cheek” or “pork jowl”, is the meat found around the temple and cheeks.

Pork jowl is a cut of pork from a pig's cheek. Different food traditions have used it as a fresh cut or as a cured pork product (with smoke and/or curing salt). As a cured and smoked meat in America it is called jowl bacon or, especially in the Southern United States, hog jowl, joe bacon or joe meat.

Guanciale (Italian: [ɡwanˈtʃaːle]) is an Italian salt-cured meat product prepared from pork jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from guancia, 'cheek'.

Hangjungsal or hanjeongsal is a Korean name for pork jowl, a pork cut that's often used in traditional Korean barbecue. Due to the fact that a whole pig provides only about 200 grams of hangjungsal, the cut is less accessible than samgyeopsal (pork belly) and moksal (pork neck).