Chef Ted Hopson and business partner Ann-Marie Verdi just opened The Bellwether over the summer in Studio City, and they’ve already cultivated a loyal following with a warm environment and a menu of delicious dishes, perhaps none better than Crispy Pork Rillettes.

I could see and taste why this savory dish is so successful. Chef Hopson later revealed all of the painstaking details necessary to produce this plate, which deserves a pork prize.

Hopson starts by curing pork shoulders overnight in a herb and salt mixture. The next day, the shoulders are cleaned, covered in pork fat and cooked low-and-slow for six hours. Shredded pork is molded, frozen, dusted in flour and seared, resulting in a crisp coat.

Rosti incorporates shredded potato, onion, garlic, and egg that’s molded and seared.

To form the gravy, Hopson pressure-cooks ham hocks in water with aromatics “because it really extracts all the gelatin from the hocks and breaks them down.” Gravy incorporates ham hock stock, roux, chopped ham hocks and a prodigious amount of black pepper.

Pig ears also cook in the pressure cooker with aromatic broth. They’re laid flat, chilled, julienne, dusted in light tapioca starch and fried until crispy.

Once a Bellwether customer orders Crispy Pork Rillettes, plating comes together quickly, with rosti stacked with rillettes, sunny egg and crispy pig ears, all plated in a pool of ham hock gravy. All this effort, and such flavorful results, make the $15 price tag feel like a bargain.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.