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Chinese Barbecued Pork

Sun, 12/20/2009 - 12:55 — Bryan Lambert

Me, September 28:

"Chinese barbecued pork is one of the greatest meat products or byproducts known to man. Even more so because I can't make it, and I can't even buy it that easily."

My kitchen, yesterday:

Here's the deal. I had a bunch of dry rub left over from the Rib Orgy. I also had a pork shoulder roast in the freezer. So I decided I'd try to make use of all the research I did on barbecue pork for the ribs and try to make a version of the real thing.

It worked. It's not as good as the real thing, but it was still very good. If you want to do it the way I did it, you'll need:

  • Two to three pounds of pork shoulder roast
  • 1/2 cup of Chinese rib rub (see Rib Orgy link for recipe, the recipe there makes about 1 cup).
  • 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 2 tablespoons red chili bean curd
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • White wine
VARIANT (1/31/09):
If you're just starting from scratch, and don't want to make a batch of rib rub, then use half of it here, this is how I did it this morning. Since I wasn't making a rub, I could replace the salt and sugar with more liquid, and appropriate, components.
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1.5 tablespoons honey
  • 1.5 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 heaping teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
  • 1/2 heaping teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 heaping teaspoon ginger
  • 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 2 tablespoons red chili bean curd
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • White wine

PREP: In a small food processor or a blender, combine the hoisin sauce, bean curd, and rice wine vinegar, and puree until smooth. Add the rub and blend, slowly adding white wine until all the rub is dissolved and you have a thick sauce. For the variant recipe, add everything except the white wine to the bowl of the food processor or blender, combine, and thin with white wine to the desired consistency.

Cut the pork into inch-thick slices, add them to a zip-top bag with the sauce, and marinate for as long as you can get away with. Overnight would be better, but I managed 4-5 hours. 

COOKING: Preheat the oven to 425. Place a rack on a sheet pan, and add about two cups of water to the pan. Place the pork slices on the rack, shaking off any excess marinade and placing any slices with significant fat fat-side up.

Cook the pork for 15 minutes at 425, then reduce the heat to 350, turn the meat over, and baste it with some of the remaining marinade. Cook for another 40 minutes, turning and basting the meat every ten minutes.

I increased the heat to 500 for the last five minutes, in the hopes of getting a bit more of a dry crust on the meat, but I don't know if it helped. Feel free to skip that step.

Take the meat out and let it rest, ideally on a rack, until you're ready to use it. Then slice it or chop it.

As a serving suggestion, I suggest fried rice made with two bunches of thinly sliced scallions, with a side slaw of napa cabbage and thinly sliced cucumber, dressed with sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and a bit of sriracha: