Anybody know a market where I can get some pork neck? Looking to make Thai grilled pork neck. Closest to Watertown, the better. I know there’s a possibility that Asian markets will have it but hoping to know if somebody has actually seen it. Thanks!
Hmmm. Does this require a whole neck or just neck bones?
Meat cuts which are not immediately available (e.g. veal) we often order at Savenor’s - they are very helpful
Ideally it would just be the meat of the neck
Are you looking for jowl (cheek)? A lot of Asian places mistakenly label jowl as “neck meat”, but the texture and and flavor are unmistakable.
If so, you can find pork jowl at a finer Asian market such as HMart or any well stocked Japanese market.
I’m no butcher or Thai food expert - so I went to my go to blog about such things and here is what she said . . . for what it is worth
I’ve asked my trusted expert, Bob del Grosso, to put it all in layman term for you. According to Bob, in the US, pork neck and pork butt are synonymous. There is a misunderstanding going around that the neck and and the jowl are the same thing, but that is not the case. The jowl is a triangular cut that tapers from ahead of the shoulder, under the eye, in the direction of the snout. Think of it as a “cheek,” says Bob. Some of the other names for the butt are Boston butt, coppa (Italian), and échine de porc (French).
Sorry, not in Boston. In the SF Bay Area, we get our Pork Neck (Toro) from our Asian supermarket. The market has its own butcher department, and break down a few hogs per day. We put in our “order”, and the nice man saves a few days worth of neck meat for us to pick up on an agreed date.
One of our favorite cuts. Great roasted, grilled, stir fried, in soup, every which way we’ve tried. We average about 10+ lbs per pickup. They vacuum seal very well.
These are now marinating with some black pepper, worchestershire and soy.
In Japanese markets and recipes, I’ve sometimes seen this cut referred to as Toro. Japanese markets will charge twice as much Chinese markets, more if its Berkshire Pig.
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Again I’m not a butcher - that looks a lot like jowl to me (size and meat structure- thanks for including the garlic for reference, always super helpful ).
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Thank you so much for that! I kind of just assumed it was a specific cut without even thinking!
That’s unmistakably jowl and a fine looking piece. Locally in the Bay Area, we pick ours up from Nijiya Market.
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Call MF Dulock in Somerville. They are local, full-animal butcher and often have an entire pig head in their cooler, so they could probably get neck if you ask.
Really nice people. Not cheap, but meat like this isn’t cheap.
Pork neck bones are usually available in the the bigger Chinese markets, but I don’t know if they have the right meatiness for you. They’re typically purchased for making stock and soups for Chinese cooking, so most of the meat is trimmed off.
I do also see them at the Big Y every once in a while in Quincy/Wollaston neighborhood – maybe because of the big Asian population there again
It’s ironical, but meat “like this” – oxtail, neck meat, etc. – used to be the cheap cuts. Now that some of them are trendy, prices have gone up.
I agree entirely…long ago beef short ribs were cheap, and chicken wings were the cheapest chicken part you could get for making stock before buffalo wings became so popular. But, the meat at MF Dulock isn’t cheap because of how it’s raised and procured and butchered on site and local.
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