What Is Pork caul and How Can I Use It?
Here's everything worth knowing about pork caul and how to pick it, what it is, how to store it, and what to use instead, plus 2 recipes to cook tonight.
Key Points
- The thin lacy fat membrane around a pig's stomach, used as a wrapper in butchery.
- Melts away as it cooks, self-basting the filling and leaving a crisp exterior.
- Traditional casing for crepinettes, faggots, and lean roasts that would dry out.
- Soak it in cold water first so it unfolds supple instead of tearing into scraps.
- Sold frozen and very perishable; thaw in the fridge and use within a day or two.
What is pork caul?
Pork caul, or caul fat, is the thin, lacy membrane of fat that surrounds a pig's stomach and intestines. It looks like a delicate white web, a net of fat veined across a sheer membrane, and it is one of the great quiet tools of old-school butchery.
Its job is to wrap. Caul fat melts almost completely as it cooks, basting whatever it surrounds and then disappearing, leaving a crisp, glistening exterior and no greasy residue.
Cooking With Caul Fat
Caul fat is a self-basting wrapper for things that would otherwise fall apart or dry out. Lay a sheet flat, parcel your filling inside, and the membrane holds the shape while it cooks and bastes from within.
It is the traditional casing for crepinettes, the French flat sausage patties, and for faggots, the British meatballs of minced offal.
It also wraps lean roasts and pâtés to keep them moist, and binds loose mixtures like the meat and seafood in Crispy Meat & Seafood Roll, which fries up crisp inside its caul. Barbequed Sausages can be wrapped in caul so they hold together and self-baste over the grill.
Rinse and soak it first. A quick soak in cold water, sometimes with a splash of vinegar, makes the membrane supple and easy to unfold without tearing.
The common mistake is stretching dry caul straight from the package. It tears into useless scraps; soaked and gently teased open, the same sheet stretches thin and wraps cleanly.
Substitutes and Storage
Nothing wraps quite like caul, but for keeping a lean roast moist, a thin sheet of pork back fat or a bacon-weave wrap does a similar barding job. Neither melts away as cleanly.
For binding patties or rolls, a few wraps of plastic to shape and chill them, or a simple egg-and-crumb coating, can hold a mixture together.
Caul fat is usually sold frozen from butchers and Asian or specialty markets, since it is so perishable. Keep it frozen until you need it and thaw in the fridge. Use thawed caul within a day or two, and do not refreeze it once it has thawed.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 猪肉胎膜
- British (UK) term
- Pork caul
- en français
- crépine de porc
- en español
- redaño de cerdo
Recipes using pork caul
There are 2 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Crispy Meat & Seafood Roll
Shrimp, chicken, water chestnuts, and Chinese ham wrapped in pork caul fat, deep-fried into crispy golden rolls, and served with hoisin dipping sauce. An impressive Chinese banquet appetizer with showstopping presentation.
Barbequed Sausages
Sheftalia are traditional Cypriot barbequed sausages: ground pork and veal seasoned with onion and parsley, wrapped in caul fat, and grilled over charcoal until the caul melts into the meat.
