Greek Pork with Celery and Avgolemono Sauce That You’ll Love!
Although we normally have this dish made simply with lemon juice added at the end of the cooking time, this Avgolemono variety makes a delicious alternative. Get knives and forks ready for this stunning pork with celery and avgolemono sauce!
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Pork in Avgolemono Sauce
Although pork with celery is a typical dish eaten often in Crete during the colder months, this variation with avgolemono sauce is a bit less common on the island, but, of course, equally delicious… or more!
The combination of white meat cuts with lemon has always been a classic in many different cuisines, the Greeks take it to the next level adding the texture of whisked egg whites and yolks.
This recipe is made a bit like every dish… changing from region to region and home to home. It is not uncommon to find pork with celery and egg-lemon sauce that also incorporates boiled potatoes and carrots.
In many different areas of Greece, avgolemono can be replaced with simple tomato sauce, making it a great winter stew variety for this traditional dish.
You might have found this recipe also as fricassee another popular name that this dish receives all over Greece. Also remember that, in many areas, pork is replaced by chicken, and hence the very common Greek chicken fricassee served in restaurants all over Greece.
About this Sauce
Although avgolemono is one of the most Greek-styled sauces you can find in the country, famous all over the world for its unique Mediterranean taste, truth to be said, the recipe has very different origins!
Avgolemono sauce is, in fact, a traditional Sephardic Jewish dish, that has spread all over the Mediterranean, reaching even the Balkans, and that today is found as agristada in the Sephardic tradition, as bagna brusca, brodettato, or brodo brusco (In Italy) while it is known as tarbiya or beida bi-lemoune (egg with lemon) in Arabian.
Terbiye is the name it receives in Turkish, the same term that is used in Balkan cuisine. Wikipedia explains it even better.
How to Make Avgolemono Sauce
This avgolemono (literally egg-lemon) sauce recipe can be found down, inside the pork with celery and avgolemono recipe, however, we have copied it also down here for easy access and use in case you want to try it with other meats or on its own!
You will need:
- stock or vegetable broth
- juice of one large lemon
- 2 eggs
- salt and pepper to taste.
- Separate the 2 yolks from the whites, and beat the egg whites.
- After a while, add the yolks and continue beating slowly adding the lemon juice.
- When adding the avgolemono to any food, you must temper the eggs, this means that it is necessary to add them to the food slowly for them not to cook.
- Once the avgolemono sauce is ready you slowly drip a ladle of broth into the sauce (like you would add oil to a mayonnaise) and continue beating so the eggs don’t have the slightest chance to cook.
- When you have incorporated the full ladle of broth into the avgolemono sauce, slowly pour it onto your dish, once again stirring constantly.
- Taste to check if it needs extra lemon juice, more salt or pepper, and season to your own flavor.
Remember that it’s always better to use eggs at room temperature.
Want to make this dish without avgolemono? Here’s the recipe!
Pork with Celery and Avgolemono
Ingredients
- 1 kilo boneless pork cut into cubes, preferably pork neck or pork leg
- ⅓ cup olive oil extra virgin
- 3 garlic cloves thinely sliced
- 1 large (or 2 small) onion halved and thinly sliced
- 3 leeks sliced in thick (about 1 cm) slices
- ½ kilo celery leaves tender
- ½ glass wine (preferably white)
- 4 spring onions chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh dill chopped
- 1 cube chicken or vegetable stock
- 6 ½ cups water
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Avgolemono sauce
- stock or vegetable broth.
- 1 large lemon juice
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut the pork into big cubes and season the meat with abundant salt and pepper.
- Heat a large pan, add a drizzle of olive oil, and add the meat to the hot pan to fry.
- Make sure it turns a nice golden brown color on all sides and then remove from the pan.
- In a cooking pot, add the 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil and when it has been slightly heated, add the onion, the leeks and the garlce.
- When everything has turned into a slightly brown color add the meat.
- Pour the wine, allow a few minutes for the alcohol content to evaporate.Add
- Add water and chicken stock. Cover and cook until the pork is tender, usually about an hour.
- When the pork is soft, add the celery leaves, spring onions, and some dill and let it cook for an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and prepare the Avgolemono Sauce.
Avgolemono sauce
- Separate the 2 yolks from the whites, and beat the egg whites.
- After a while, add the yolks and continue beating slowly adding the lemon juice.
- Once the avgolemono sauce is ready you slowly drip a ladle of broth slowly into the sauce (like you would add oil into a mayonnaise) and continue beating so the eggs don’t have the slightest chance to cook.
- Once the full ladle has been incorporated to the avgolemono sauce, slowly pour onto your dish, once again stirring constantly.
- Taste to check if it needs extra lemon juice, more salt or pepper.
Notes
- To prepare the avgolemono, it is better to use the eggs at room temperature.
- When adding the avgolemono to any food, you must temper the eggs, this means that it is necessary to add them to the food slowly for them not to cook.
Nutrition
Have you Tried Cretan Pork with Celery and Avgolemono? Let me know!
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Pork and Avgolemono Recipe
Gabi Ancarola
Gabi is a travel writer who has lived in Crete for over a decade. Through her blog, Crete Insider, she has helped travelers uncover local experiences. Passionate about food and Cretan cuisine, she now attends Greek cooking lessons to bring the island’s flavors straight to your kitchen!
>> Interested in learning to cook in Crete, or discovering all of the top spots to eat in Chania and around the island? Book a food tour or plan your trip with me.
