Monday, November 4, 2019

Recipe: Char Siu Pork (no red food coloring!)


No intro needed - here's my Char Siu pork recipe.

Ingredients
3 lb pork shoulder or pork butt (anything else will just be too dry)
1/2 cup ketchup (this is how we get the pork red without red food coloring)
1/4 cup mirin (sue me - I didn't use Chinese Shaoxing wine)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp of Chinese 5 spice
1 tbsp of minced garlic
1 tsp sesame oil

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and let sit for the ingredients to "marry"
2. Slice the pork into 3 long strips
3. In a large ziplock bag or a flat dish, pour the marinade over the pork
4. Marinate overnight but I usually marinate for 2-3 days
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (I ALWAYS default to a convection oven setting)
6. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.  Place a metal rack on top of the sheet pan.  Pour water onto the sheet pan but make sure it is below the metal rack. 
7. Heat in oven for 20 minutes.  Flip the pork for another 20 minutes in the oven.
8. While the pork is in the oven, heat the marinade in a sauce pan until it thickens.  Set aside.
9. Remove the pork from the oven and turn on the broiler.
10.  Baste the pork and put under the broiler until the edges are charred/crisp to your desire. 

Let rest before slicing and serving.  Can be paired with rice, noodles, or in a Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich.

Bon appetit!