CHAR SIU ROASTED PORK

Giving you this along with my Peking duck recipe is like telling you my PIn numbers It took me nearly ten years of begging and deciphering to get hold of these recipes.Although this dish is universal to all chinese restaurants（there are even restaurants that specialize in this one dish only with a menu comprised ofwith or without rice），very few go to the trouble of making it as special as it deserves to be.I was recently at one restaurant where diners were required to preorder the dish in advance of arrival，as the chef only made it to order.I canassure you that no restaurant in Hong Kong would use pork fillet or loin for thisrecipe.Chinese love fat，and this dish requires the fat that marbles through the neck of the pork to ensure that the meat remains moist and succulent after roasting.

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

600g slice of neck end of pork，3-4cm thick

1/2 quantity of Char Siu Sauce

For the sugar syrup

1 litre water

500g sugar

1.Add the pork to the char Siu sauce and turn to coat then cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 6 hours

2.Preheat your oven to its highest setting Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and place this at the bottom of the oven to catch any drips

3.Brush off the excess marinade from the pork and hang from the top shelf in your oven using a metal hook

4.Cook the pork until you begin to see charring on the outside If at this stage the internal temperature has not reached 63 C，turn the oven down to 160 C，Gas mark 3，and cook for a further 15 minutes

5.Meanwhile，for the sugar syrup，bring the water and sugar to the boil in a saucepan，stirring until the sugar has dissolved leave to cool until warm

6.Remove the pork from the oven，add to the warm sugar syrup and leave at room temperature for 6 hours or until the meat has been candied.You will be able to tell whether it is ready by checking the inside of the meat，which should be darker in colour and firmer in texture indicating that the syrup has penetrated all the way through

7.When ready to serve，preheat the oven to 160C，Gas Mark 3 Lift the pork out of the syrup into a roasting tray and heat through in the oven for about 10 minutes

8.Meanwhile，warm the sugar syrup in a pan on the hob

9.Spoon a little of the syrup over the top of the pork and serve

CHEFS TIP

Don’t be afraid to eat this cold it is normally served tepid or at room temperature.And it is supposed to be chargrilled，so don’t cut off and discard any blackened bits

hancheng

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