I love some good char siu (her in Japan pronounced "cha shew"), especially in a bowl of ramen. I've got my ideal dinner planned out, with gyoza (pot stickers) from Ohsho, ramen from Hanamichi, and fried rice from a little mom and pop place in my old neighborhood, but until then, I figured I'd learn to make char siu pork belly.
I used this recipe from bbqpitstop which calls for a marinade made from:
It also calls for a dry rub of brown sugar, white pepper, and five-spice.
A pork belly from the local butcher, about 1kg (2.2 lbs):
Dry rubbed:
I only used about half the dry rub, saved the rest for the next day. I cut the belly into two pieces because there was a marked difference in thickness, so it was going to cook at vastly different speeds. Turned out to be a wise decision. Put the rubbed belly into a ziplock bag that I "vacuum" sealed using the partial immersion method and left it in the fridge overnight. This morning, I heated the MES-30 up to 250F, and put in a block of cherry smoke wood (compressed sawdust for smoking, roughly equivalent to using an Amaze-N-Smoker).
Took the meat out of the bag and dusted it with the remaining dry rub.
Separating the meat was a good idea, the thinner section hit 158 after only about an hour, when the thick piece was still at 100 or so. Since the sugar hadn't really carmelized yet, I put in under the broiler (Japanese fish grill) for about two minutes.
Sliced into it:
Missus and I had it with cheese and crackers as an afternoon snack while the thick chunk was still cooking.
That took about two hours, wasn't paying attention and let it get up to 160, but it looks fine.
It tasted great, nice and sticky and crispy on the outside. Had a definite five-spice flavor to it, but now that I know the basic concept works, I'm thinking about some other options. Mexican char siu anyone?
Thanks for looking!
-val
I used this recipe from bbqpitstop which calls for a marinade made from:
- 7 tablespoons honey
- 7 tablespoons soy sauce
- 5 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 5 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 3 tablespoons chopped ginger
It also calls for a dry rub of brown sugar, white pepper, and five-spice.
A pork belly from the local butcher, about 1kg (2.2 lbs):
Dry rubbed:
I only used about half the dry rub, saved the rest for the next day. I cut the belly into two pieces because there was a marked difference in thickness, so it was going to cook at vastly different speeds. Turned out to be a wise decision. Put the rubbed belly into a ziplock bag that I "vacuum" sealed using the partial immersion method and left it in the fridge overnight. This morning, I heated the MES-30 up to 250F, and put in a block of cherry smoke wood (compressed sawdust for smoking, roughly equivalent to using an Amaze-N-Smoker).
Took the meat out of the bag and dusted it with the remaining dry rub.
Separating the meat was a good idea, the thinner section hit 158 after only about an hour, when the thick piece was still at 100 or so. Since the sugar hadn't really carmelized yet, I put in under the broiler (Japanese fish grill) for about two minutes.
Sliced into it:
Missus and I had it with cheese and crackers as an afternoon snack while the thick chunk was still cooking.
That took about two hours, wasn't paying attention and let it get up to 160, but it looks fine.
It tasted great, nice and sticky and crispy on the outside. Had a definite five-spice flavor to it, but now that I know the basic concept works, I'm thinking about some other options. Mexican char siu anyone?
Thanks for looking!
-val
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