Monday, July 27, 2015

Char Siu

This is going to sound weird, but one of my fondest road trip memories is having a carton of char siu to share with my siblings while we drove off to...I don't even know where.  I just remember the meat!  I love pork and having a good char siu recipe became a necessity when it wasn't just 10 minutes away.

I tried this with pork belly as written but I didn't love the cut.  My dad suggested pork shoulder instead and it was just right.  The pork shoulder I bought was huge so I froze some of it with the marinade.  I actually might do this in the future because it came out great and I didn't have to make the marinade a separate time.

I've made it with and without the fermented red bean curd and I think it just came out sweeter without it (besides not having the signature color.)  I might cut back on the sugar a little next time, too.

Thank you, Rasa Malaysia!  My Chinese food repertoire is more complete now.



Ingredients:
1 lb (450 g) skinless pork belly, cut into 2 long strips
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
Char Siu Sauce:
2 pieces Chinese fermented red bean curd 1 tablespoon maltose
1 tablespoon Chinese Shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon dark and thick soy sauce
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
3 1/2 oz (100 g) sugar, or 8 1/2 tablespoons
Method:
1. Get a big bowl, mix all the Char Siu Sauce ingredients, add the garlic and pork belly and marinate overnight in the fridge.
2. The next day, heat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Place the pork belly on a wire rack and bake for 15 minutes.
4. Removed from oven and turn the pork belly over, brush the remaining char siu sauce over and place the pork belly back in the oven for another 15 minutes or until cooked. The char siu will look dark in color, it’s normal.
5. Slice the char siu into thin and bite-size pieces, serve immediately with steamed white rice.

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