Char Sui (Chinese BBQ Pork)

This recipe was conglomerated from a variety of web sites.  I started with two Chinese cookbooks that I have in my kitchen, thought they looked uninteresting, which led me to three other recipes online, which led me to making my own hoisin sauce.

Hope you enjoy.

3 lb pork shoulder, deboned and sliced into 8 in x 3 in x 1 1/2 in strips

Marinade

1/2 c white sugar (I use turbinado)
4 tsp salt
1 tsp five spice powder
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
2 T rice wine
2 T soy sauce
2 T hoisin sauce
4 tsp molasses
1/4 tsp red food coloring
6 cloves minced garlic

As usual, if you have been reading my recipes, I didn't measure much of any of this, just chucked it into the shaker bottle.

Combine in a shaker bottle.  Full disclosure, the recipe pictured I actually made a batch of hoisin sauce and then marinaded the pork in that, because I forgot that I was making the hoisin to go in the marinade.  I then mixed all the other ingredients and re-marinaded the pork.  It came out good anyway but I don't have any hoisin sauce for next time I need it.

Basting sauce:

2 - 4 T marinade
2 T maltose (honey if you can't find maltose but they have it at Asian groceries)
1 T hot water
Mix and shake well to dissolve sugar

Marinate overnight in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 475 - 550 °F and put rack in top third of oven. (I did 525°F)

Line a sheet pan with foil and place a metal rack on top.  Place the pork on the rack, leaving as much space as possible in between pieces, and pour 1 1/2 cups of water into pan below pork.  This should cut down on smoke.

Note: I recommend a large heavy sheet pan.  I used two normal pans and they were thin enough that the heat caused them to warp during baking.  This caused the water to flow to one end and defeated the purpose.  I had a lot of smoke.

Roast pork for 25 minutes and then flip over.  Add water if necessary.

Roast for 15 minutes then baste both sides and roast another 10 minutes.

If pork is not sufficiently caramelized, broil for a couple minutes but watch closely as it will burn.

Remove from oven and baste with the leftover sauce, let sit 10 minutes, slice thinly and across the grain and serve.

Various sites say that this freezes really well for inclusion in fried rice later.

Hey 19)

Doesn't really have a name.  Alton Brown made it up during quarantine kitchen . They called it a Hey 19 but I don't know why (yes, I get the Steely Dan reference).

Anyway, grate about three inches of ginger, add a dozen cardamom pods, and one star anise to some water (I did a little more than a cup).  Bring to a simmer, then strain and cool.  Boom, ginger syrup.

Use a juicer to extract the juice of half  a large lemon.












2 oz bourbon (I am partial to Maker's Mark)
1 oz ginger syrup
juice from a half lemon

I shake this up with ice in a cocktail shaker but then just dump the whole thing, ice included, into a glass for drinking.

Grill burgers

Can't remember where I saw this, but it wasn't anything super complicated, just really good.

Take your hamburger and gently form patties about 2 inches across.

Heat up some butter til it sizzles and starts to turn brown.

Set patties in butter then mash down with a solid spatula until they are about 1/2 inch thick.

Cook until they start to brown a bit on the edges (about 2 minutes), then flip. 

Pile a small heap of grated cheese (cheddar pictured) and cover with a lid until cheese is mostly melted (about a minute or so).

Serve with carmelized onions and a green salad (or don't, that's what's in the picture)

And yes, that's a lot of blue cheese dressing.  Don't judge me, it's why I eat salad.

Hoisin Sauce

1/4 cup light soy sauce

2 T peanut butter
1 T honey
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 clove garlic, grated (I used minced)
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tsp spicy fermented bean paste (careful here, stores will sell you the wrong stuff)

Add to a shaker bottle and shake well until completely mixed.

From The Omnivore's Cookbook

Pictured at right, me using the Hoisin Sauce to make Chinese BBQ Pork.

The Asian grocery in town sold me Spicy Soybean Paste, which is not the same.  For your protection I include the following link, also from the Omnivore's Cookbook

https://omnivorescookbook.com/pantry/fermented-bean-paste