Char Siu Barbecued Pork

One of the main things standing between me and vegetarianism or certain religions is Pork. You see I adore BBQ pork ribs, char siu and bacon. For that reason alone, I am unable to fully commit myself to being a vegetarian preferring the dabble in it 4 nights a week or so. I make this Chinese chair siu or barbecue pork once a month and while the marinating process is boring for the time challenged, it produces such a lovely taste at the end that I've never skipped or shortened it. I would never suggest making Char Siu sauce from scratch, mainly because the bottle stuff is so good, you really don't want to mess with perfection. I use Pork Forequarter chops as they are juicy with a nice amount of fat on them but not too much. You could certainly use the extra trim pork fillets although it won't be as juicy as the juice comes from the fattiness of the cut.

Char Siu Barbecued Pork

Ingredients:

• 1kg/2.2lbs of Pork Forequarter chops

• 4 tablespoons of Lee Kum Kee Char Siu sauce

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 2 teaspoons white sugar

• 3-4 garlic cloves chopped

• 4 tablespoons honey

In a ziplock or plastic bag, add in all of the above ingredients except for the honey and smoosh around the bag so that the pork chops are coated with the ingredients (I sometimes find it easy just to layer one chop, cover it with the sauce & seasonings and then put another on top and sauce that and keep layering). Marinate overnight.

About an hour before you want to start cooking, take it out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 180C degrees. Place pork on rack above a tray of hot water (I use a non stick cake cooling tray). The tray of water keeps the pork moist. Cook on one side for 15 mins and then turn over and cook other side for 15 mins.

Then, increase heat to 200c. Heat honey slightly in a bowl in the microwave so that it becomes more runny and using a silicon pastry brush and covering your hand with an oven glove, baste one side of the pork and cook for 5 minutes, then turn over baste other side with honey and cook for 5 minutes.

It should be sticky and sweet and very hot so using tongs and a very sharp knife, slice thinly watching for the bone.

Serve with steamed jasmine rice and steamed broccoli