Stout Roasted Pork Tomahawk with Pomegranate Salsa - Great Christmas Dinner Idea

At Christmas, a day of universal celebration, it’s essential to gather a big group of friends and celebrate in style. How can you not have a couple of signature dishes to impress?

Today, I’m introducing a dish perfect for sharing with a large group—stout Beer Braised Pork Knuckle with Pomegranate Salsa. The pork knuckle is not only juicy and meaty but also irresistibly flavourful. I marinate the pork knuckle in stout beer, which makes the meat exceptionally tender and adds a caramelized richness to the exterior.

Why use stout beer?

Stout beer has a richer and more intense aroma compared to regular beer, with notes that fall between nuts and coffee. This is because stout beer is brewed using “roasted malt,” which undergoes caramelization during the roasting process, giving it a deep, dark colour. The result is a beer with a full-bodied flavour, combining bitterness with a caramelized sweetness and a more complex profile than regular beer. Therefore, using stout beer in cooking enhances the dish with a more pronounced and layered beer aroma.

For the side dish, I’ve made a pomegranate salsa with ingredients like pomegranate, cucumber, and onion. Its tangy flavour perfectly balances the richness of the pork chops, making it very refreshing! Serving this dish to your guests during Christmas is sure to bring them joy.

Ingredients

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Pork Tomahawk

Pork Tomahawk	2 pcs (weigh 300g each)
Red Onion	1/4 bulb
Garlic	3 cloves
Stout Beer	300ml
Honey	80g
Sea Salt	2 tsp
Paprika	1 tsp
Balsamic Vinegar	1 tsp

Pomegranate Salsa

Pomegranate	½ bulb
Red Onion	¼ bulb
Cucumber	½ stick
Parsley	1 sprig
Sea Salt	1 pinch
Lime	1 bulb
E.V. Olive Oil	2 tsp

Steps

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1. Place 1/4 of a red onion, garlic, stout beer, honey, 2 teaspoons of sea salt, red pepper flakes, and Balsamic vinegar into a blender and blend until smooth.

2. Pour the marinade over the pork rack, gently massage the pork to evenly coat it with the marinade, and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

3. Preheat the oven to 180°C. After marinating, brush off any excess marinade from the surface of the pork, wrap it completely in foil, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

4. While the pork tomahawk is baking, return the remaining marinade to a pan and simmer over medium-low heat until it thickens.

5. After 20 minutes, remove the foil, brush the thickened sauce onto the surface of the pork, and flip it over to apply sauce on the other side. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C and bake for an additional 30 minutes, brushing the sauce on every 10 minutes.

6. Mix the ingredients for the pomegranate salsa (take the seeds from the pomegranate, finely chop the onion and cilantro, and dice the cucumber). Add a pinch of salt and olive oil, squeeze in some lime juice, and mix well.

7. After taking out the pork, let it rest for 8 minutes before slicing. Then, top it with the pomegranate salsa and serve!