Abanico Ibérico a la Plancha

Abanico ibérico a la plancha belongs to the dehesa belt of Extremadura and western Andalucía. It is the thin, fan-shaped sheet of meat covering the outside of the Iberian pig's ribs, crossed with fine seams of fat and cooked on iron with coarse salt. This isn't a pork chop beaten flat, and it doesn't need a marinade. It is one of the fresh cuts that shows why the Ibérico animal matters before a single leg is cured.

The method that decides it is fierce heat for very little time. I dry the meat well, heat the plancha until the oil shimmers at once, and count in seconds. Those seams of fat must brown before the lean muscle has time to tighten. A lukewarm pan slowly renders the fat, boils the surface in its own juices, and leaves the cut dry. The extra minute is the danger here, not the missing sauce.

If you cannot find abanico, ask for well-marbled cabecero de lomo, pork collar, and have it sliced across the grain to 8-10mm. It will be firmer and less deeply flavoured, but it takes the same quick plancha treatment honestly. No hace falta haber pisado España, you don't need to have set foot in Spain. The Margin beside mine says, "Set the table first." The meat waits for nobody. Siempre sale, si lo sigues, it turns out if you follow it.