Hirino me Selino Recipe (Greek Pork and Celery in Egg-Lemon Sauce)

This is the dish Greek families make when it turns cold, and it is far less known abroad than it deserves to be. Pork shoulder cooked slowly with a very large quantity of celery, then the whole thing pulled together with avgolemono.

The celery is the thing to understand. Greek recipes mean selino, a leafy Mediterranean celery closer to what is sold as Chinese celery or celery leaf, with thin stalks and a much stronger, greener flavour. Ordinary supermarket celery works but you need the leaves as well as the stalks, and plenty of them.

The avgolemono at the end is the same technique as the soup, and the same rules apply: off the heat, temper slowly, never boil afterwards.

Key preparation steps

1. Brown the pork hard, in batches.
2. Blanch the celery briefly to take off the raw edge.
3. Simmer together until the pork is completely tender.
4. Take off the heat and finish with tempered egg and lemon.

Which celery, and how much

A lot more than feels right. Two large heads for a kilo of pork, using the leaves as well as the stalks. The celery is a co-star here, not an aromatic.

If you can find Greek selino, Chinese celery or a bunch of celery leaf at a Middle Eastern grocer, use it. The flavour is greener and more herbal and it is what the dish is built around.

Cut the stalks into generous 4 cm lengths so they hold their shape, and add the chopped leaves near the end so they keep some freshness.

Why blanch the celery first?

Two minutes in boiling water, then drained. It takes the raw bitter edge off, which is more pronounced in Mediterranean celery, and it sets the colour.

It also means the celery goes into the pot part-cooked, so it needs less time in the stew and does not disintegrate over an hour and a half.

Some cooks skip this and fry the celery in the pork fat instead, which is also good and gives a sweeter, more caramelised result.

The avgolemono finish

The same technique as everywhere else on this site, and it is worth restating. Take the pot completely off the heat and let it stop bubbling. Beat the eggs hard for two minutes, whisk in the lemon juice, then add hot cooking liquid to the eggs a ladleful at a time while whisking.

Four or five ladlefuls, until the bowl feels properly hot, then pour it back into the pot in a steady stream while stirring. Do not return it to the heat.

The sauce should be pale, glossy and just thick enough to coat. If it needs to be hotter, warm it very gently and stop well short of a simmer.

Serving

Bread, and nothing much else. This is a complete dish and the sauce wants mopping.

It does not keep especially well because of the egg, so eat it the day it is made or reheat very gently the next day without letting it approach a simmer.

A dish of pork and celery in a pale lemony sauce is not much to look at, so a heavy hand with chopped celery leaf and black pepper at the table helps.

Tips from my kitchen