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Susan Jung

Today is Father's Day and - for me at least - the holiday isn't nearly as stressful as Mother's Day. I don't feel compelled to send flowers or a box of chocolates, but, if I were in California, where my parents live, I would cook dinner for my dad. He'd appreciate that more than yet another tie.
Pork rack stuffed with parmesan, fresh basil, roasted tomato and garlic
A pork rack is sometimes called a bone-in pork loin. When buying the meat, make sure it's been chined (the backbone removed), or you'll have a hard time slicing the meat. The rack should be 'Frenched' - the meat and fat trimmed off the top 3cm (at least) of the bones, so the tips are clean. If you ask nicely, the butcher might also butterfly the rack so the meat is of an even thickness.
1 pork rack, about 1.5kg
500 grams cherry tomatoes
6-8 garlic cloves, unpeeled
About 70ml olive oil
10 grams freshly grated parmesan cheese
10 grams panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
Finely grated zest of one lemon
Fresh basil leaves, as needed
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
About 300 grams fingerling potatoes
Trim off and discard the silverskin (the tough membrane) from the exterior of the pork, then lay the rack on a cut- ting board so that the bones are to the right (if you're right handed). Use a large, sharp knife to butterfly the rack - starting 2cm away from the bones, slice the meat parallel to the bones, but not all the way through, stopping about 2cm from the bottom. Pull the meat gently from the bones and continue to slice so the meat unrolls continuously and is about 2cm thick. When you finish, the meat should be more or less an even thickness. Sprinkle salt lightly over the meat then roll it back up and salt the exterior. Refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight. Remove from the fridge an hour before cooking.
Wash the potatoes and put them in a pan of salted water. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and cook for five to 10 minutes, depending on the size. Drain the potatoes and set them aside.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Cut the tomatoes in half and lay them cut-side up in a pan large enough to hold them in one layer. Add the garlic cloves and drizzle about 50ml of olive oil over the ingredients. Sprinkle lightly with salt then put the pan in the oven. Stir the ingredients occasionally as they cook, and remove the garlic cloves when they become soft. Cook the tomato until it's very soft and moist, but without too much excess liquid. Cool the garlic and tomato to room tem- perature. Turn the oven to 220 degrees.
Squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins, which are then discarded. Roughly chop the tomato and garlic, then mix in the parmesan, panko, lemon zest and some black pepper.
Place the pork rack on a cutting board and unroll it. Put the basil leaves in a slightly overlapping layer over the meat, leaving a 1cm border at the sides. Spread a thin layer of the tomato mixture (you won't need all of it) over the basil then roll the meat back up. Use kitchen twine to tie the rack securely to hold in the filling. Put the leftover filling in a ramekin.
Place the pork rack in the roasting pan. Drizzle about 20ml of olive oil over the potatoes, mix to coat lightly, add them to the pan and place in the oven. Roast at 220 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the surface of the rack is browned. Turn the heat down to 200 degrees and cook until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the rack but not touching the bone reads 58 degrees Celsius (test it after it's been cooking for about an hour). Remove the roasting pan from the oven and leave at room temperature for at least 15 minutes - the temperature of the meat will continue to rise as it rests. Put the ramekin of leftover tomato stuffing in the oven and heat for 15 minutes.
Carve the meat between the bones. Serves four to six.
Roasted asparagus with brown butter and toasted hazelnuts
This is a good accompaniment to the pork rack. Roast the asparagus and make the brown butter while the meat is resting; the hazelnuts can be toasted in advance (at the same time you're cooking the tomatoes and garlic for the stuffing).
12-16 fat spears of asparagus (green or white)
About 10ml olive oil
60 grams unsalted butter
12 hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed
Fine sea salt and rough-flaked sea salt (such as Maldon or fleur de sel)
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Roughly chop the hazelnuts. Trim off the ends of the asparagus spears, then use a vegetable peeler to peel the lower third of the stalks. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the asparagus and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain the vegetables and coat lightly with olive oil. Put the spears in one layer in a baking dish and roast at 220 degrees until crisp-tender and lightly charred in spots.
Make the brown butter while the asparagus is cooking: put the butter in a pan and melt over a low flame. Continue to cook the butter until the milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan and start to brown and give off a nutty smell.
Put the roasted asparagus in a serving dish and drizzle with the brown butter. Sprinkle with rough-flaked sea salt and scatter with the hazelnuts before serving.
Styling: Nellie Ming Lee


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Fathers' day recipes for roast pork rack and roast asparagus

Pork rack stuffed with parmesan, fresh basil, roasted tomato and garlic. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Fathers' day recipes for roast pork rack and roast asparagus

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Treat dad this Father’s Day with a roast worth remembering.

Treat dad this Father’s Day with a roast worth remembering.