Char Siu Roast Pork    叉 燒

Roast pork or Char Siu in Chinese literally means fork roast, a traditional cooking method used to cook the pork over an open fire. This is a popular dish that everyone loves with its meat marinated in rose wine for the fragrance and with other rather delicious ingredients. It is always roasted in the oven to prefect that sticky, sweet, savoury and melt in the mouth meat.

The hint of sweetness in this dish is due to a secret ingredient similiar to honey. Guessed it?  It`s the Chinese maltose. You can purchase maltose from any Chinese supermarkets. If you have any roast pork or Char siu left over you can use it in your fried rice, noodles or to make Char siu Buns! The left overs always flavours other dishes giving them a real kick of flavours.

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Marinade: 1-2 hours or best overnight
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Cooling time: 20- 25 minutes

Ingredients
1 kg pork shoulder/ pork neck or pork butt

Ingredients to Tenderise the Char Siu
1 tablespoon cold water
1 ½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

Ingredients for Char Siu Marinade
2 chopped garlic cloves
2 tablespoons maltose
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon groundnut oil
1 tablespoon preserved red bean curd
1 tablespoon Hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine
½ teaspoon five-spice powder

Method
• Cut the pork length ways of 6 inches and 2 -3 inches in width. Tenderise the meat on a plate with bicarbonate of soda mixed with water and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

• Combine the Char siu marinade into a pot, mix well until the sauce blends into one colour. Crush the garlic cloves and combine into the marinade. Heat the marinade on a low heat setting for 1 minute, keep stirring. Turn the heat off and cool for 20-25 minutes.

• Rinse the pork stripes under cold running water to rid of the any bicarbonate soda. Marinade the strips in the fridge for 1-2 hours or overnight.

• Preheat the oven to 230 degree Celsius, 450 degrees Fahrenheit= gas mark 8. It is best to use the S-shape hook and hang the Char siu at the top rack/top shelf of the oven with a roasting tray, filled half with water and placed at the bottom shelf to reduce smoke and to catch any drippings. This also helps to bring moisture into the meat.

If you don`t have S-shaped hooks, place meat on roasting tray with a separate tray of water on the bottom shelf. Oven for 30 minutes, slices and serve.

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