Pork belly is offered at Tru in Chicago, presented on a wooden plate with pickled kohlrabi, enoki mushrooms, microparsley and a touch of espelette pepper from Spain. The dish is part of an eight-course, $158 tasting menu.
About a mile south, pork belly is also on the menu at the local Arby’s, hickory-smoked and topped with cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce and fried onions in a star-cut bun. It’s wrapped in paper, which comes in handy when the first bite sends pork fat running free, threatening clothing and steering wheels. The price is $5.49.
Bacon may continue to reign as the pig-part prince, but the belly is booming in cuisine both haute and bloat. Those concerned about inequality between the wealthy and the rest of America can find consolation in this humble hunk of fatty heaven, which more than doubled its presence on U.S. menus since 2012. What started with the experiments of adventurous chefs in restaurants decorated with the works of Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter has trickled down to fast-food foodies selling pork belly in tacos, Southeast Asian banh mi sandwiches and Chinese bao out of to-go shops, trucks and drive-thru windows.
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