Estonian recipes: fried pork escalopes in marinade

I'm thrilled to share another wonderful Estonian dish with you - fried pork slices in marinade, served cold. It's been a popular dish on various buffét tables for many decades, and as it can be made ahead - and it keeps well in the fridge - it's a useful recipe to have in your repertoire. You can eat it alongside a traditional potato salad, or perhaps on a slice of good dark rye bread - remember, it's a cold dish.

I've used pork shoulder (kaelakarbonaad) for making this, but you could also use any other soft boneless cut.

Fried pork in marinade
(Praetud sealiha marinaadis)
Serves 10 to 12

1 kg boneless pork (blade shoulder, Boston butt, loin)
a scant cup of all-purpose flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 large eggs, lightly whisked
oil, for frying

Marinade:
1.5 litres water
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
2 onions, peeled, halved and sliced
10 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1.5 Tbsp sugar
1.5 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp vinegar (30%)

Cut the pork into 1 cm slices, across the grain. Place the meat between two sheets of cling film or parchment paper. Using a mallet or a rolling pin, pound the meat on both sides until it forms a thin escalope. Cut each escalope into smaller pieces, about 4x5 cm in size.
Season the flour with salt and pepper, dip the meat pieces into flour and then into whisked egg.
Heat the oil on a frying pan over moderate heat. Fry the meat slices until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Remove from the pan and transfer into a bowl and let cool.

Now make the marinade. Place all the ingredients - apart from the vinegar - into a small saucepan and bring into a boil. Simmer gently, until the carrot slices are al dente (crisp). Remove from the heat, add the vinegar, and let cool.

Pour the marinade over the meat slices. Cover and let stand for at least 24 hours before serving.