Char Sui Pork

At this present moment in time, I'm sat in Kwik Fit without Wifi Access and an hour wait for two new tyres. So what to do? Another one of mine, and my kids, favourite recipes.

I first had Char Sui pork about 30 years ago, and it was a revelation in flavour and texture. Up to that point I thought that all pork required a very sharp knife and very strong choppers(teeth). This pork had bags of flavour, was sweet, tender, moist with a spicy bite. Since then I've been trying to make it and thanks to about twenty different recipes on the net found some common methods and spice combinations.

But huge thanks to Ching He Huang for this one, because it wasn't until I bought her book, then went to her website that the method and flavours finally clicked.


Ingredients

Marinade
• 2 Tbsp dark soy
• 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp seasame seed oil
• 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 Tbsp yellow bean sauce
other
• 600 g pork loin
• 2 Cups jasmine rice
• 1 Pint chicken stock

Directions

1. For the Marinade
2. Mix together all the Marinade ingredients and pour into a freezer bag or into a deep dish and cover with cling film
3. place the pork loin in the bag or dish to marinade for at least 4 hours. I used to leave it overnight, but found that the pork started to toughen up and almost pre-cook in the marinade.
4. warm the oven to 180c
5. place the pork on a wire mess above. water bath, which helps to prevent the pork drying out.
6. use quarter of the marinade to cover the pork, then place in the oven
7. take out and turn the pork loin every 15 minutes, using more marinade each time, warm up the marinade to prevent it from cooling the pork. Found that adding the cold marinade shocked the pork and made the outside a bit tough.
8. depending on the thickness of the pork loin, it should be well cooked after 40 minutes.
9. The rice take 20 minutes so start the rice just afar the first time you turn the pork.
10. add the rice to a large saucepan, adding the stock and brining to a boil.
11. simmer the rice until the stock has almost gone, absorbed into the rice or evaporated. This makes the rice starchy and sticky if not rinsed well before you start to cook it.
12. serve slices of the pork with rice and coriander or parsley for garnish, but I also like to add some finely sliced ginger and carrot mixed with a little sesame oil.