Homemade Char Siew Rice

I bought a big chunk of pork butt last week when it was on offer. Normally I would steer away even when the offer was irresistable.It is simply too laborious to trim off the fat embedded in the pork butt, eventhough I admit the meat itself is really flavorful after cooking.

Last week, a sudden craving of charsiew (chinese roast pork) prompted me to the poultry section and grabbed a slab of pork butt. There's nothing glamorous in butterflying and chopping the butt into small pieces of meat.(That is after I removed most of the fat!) In fact, I was exhausted after all these works. I think I must have working on it for almost 2 hours! Suddenly I miss home, where the biggest issue is when I want my charsiew...

Having said this, my effort was handsomely paid off. The homemade charsiew was fabulous! And it sees us through a few meals, with other dishes of course. The only complaint OCT had was the charsiew being a bit too dry, either because of the lack of fat, or a prolonged roasting time. But it was just the way I liked it. I never liked fatty charsiew anyway. I guess I could leave more fat behind next time, which I believe "the next time" will not come so soon....

There is still half a pack of the trimmed pork butt in the freezer. I think I will use it to make pork carnitas soon. Although the temptation of eating more charsiew is great.


Chinese Style Roast Pork (Charsiew)
Adapted from Cookinglight

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons minced green onions
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds boneless Boston butt pork roast, trimmed and cut into (2-inch) cubes

Combine first 9 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add pork; seal and marinate in refrigerator 24 hours, turning bag occasionally. Remove pork from bag, reserving marinade.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place pork on the rack of a broiler pan lined with foil. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Turn pork over, and baste with reserved marinade. Discard remaining marinade. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160° (slightly pink).

Preheat broiler. Broil pork 5 minutes or until browned.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 3 ounces)

A note on the marinade: I threw away a lot of the marinade in the end. I think half of the amount should be sufficient, as the meat would be marinated overnight in the fridge.(long enough for the flavor to infuse into the meat)