Roast Pork (烧肉): Hong Kong at Home

I am obviously obsessed with pork. I never got why they called it “the other white meat” because people who prefer chicken seriously need to have their heads examined. In China, the pig is taken pretty seriously. Beef is niu rou (牛肉), or cow meat, chicken ji rou (鸡肉) or chicken meat, but pork? Usually just rou (肉) – as the default Meat (with a capital M) of choice. As I’ve previously documented (blog post here), the Shanghainese know how to fry up a fine piece of pig, but to me, nothing brings out the flavor and porky potential like Cantonese roast pork (烧肉 shao rou, or siu yuk in Cantonese).

Since moving to Beijing, I’ve not eaten much roast pork – it’s been impossible to find a great Hong Kong-style roast meat place, and my tastebuds have been spoiled by a dad who has made it a near life’s mission to find the perfect slab in every city he’s lived in. So I was resigned to only eating good roast pork on trips back to the H.K. But last week, my parents told me they tried, with great success, what I thought was nigh impossible – making this delectable meat at home.

It ended up being almost embarrassingly, deliriously, easy. Just a good piece of fatty meat, a little seasoning, and then roasting (in a TOASTER OVEN of all things) until the meat is juicy and tender, moisture retained by the protective layer of  fat and the skin. Oh, the skin, crackling, crisp, highlighting the best property of pork fat – insane crunchiness – without being greasy. I could wax on and on. And now, the euphoria of being able to make this luscious meat at home is fighting the terror of knowing I can make this luscious meat at home (and in a TOASTER! My wonder knows no bounds). I fear for my waistline, and so should you.

Recipe (adapted from this recipe)

-A large piece of pork belly (look for a piece with some good layers of fat, but not too much – also, look for fat that is more solid than flabby, and meat that is at least 1 or 2 inches thick)
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp sugar
-1 tsp five spice powder
-1 tsp black pepper
-1.5 tsp fermented bean curd (one big chunk)
-1 tsp shaoxing wine

(This marinade is good for about one pound of meat – multiply accordingly)

1. Prep your pork. Boil a pot of water, and pour it slowly over the skin side only… this will contract the skin a bit, but no worries. Use a knife and scrape the skin to get rid of any left over bits of hair or funky bits. The important bit is this – poke many many holes into the skin. As many as you can – this will help the skin crisp and crackle. If you can’t find something pointed and sharp enough, a small paring knife is also a good tool to try.

Cut into smaller chunks if needed (about the size of 2 packs of cards). Next, flip the pork over, and using the paring knife, cut a number of deep slits into the meat to help out the marinade.

2. Mix the marinade all together in a bowl, and rub into the pork, the meat side only. Rub into the slits and sides, but avoid getting any on the skin. Rub the skin dry with a towel, and put in a pan to marinade. A few hours is good, overnight would be even better.

3. When it’s ready, slap a piece onto the topmost grill rack of your toaster (or oven, but I think getting closer to the heating element is better – if you use an oven, maybe pop the pork into the broiler for the last bit). Turn it on high (about 225C) and toast for 40 minutes (for a piece about 1.5 inches thick). Rotate the pork a few times in the last 15 minutes, so that all of the skin has a chance to sit directly under the heating element and get crazy crackly and crisp.

4. After the skin is all perfectly brown and crackling, take it out of the toaster and let sit for 15 minutes (tempting to cut right in, but the fat is SUPER hot). Chop up, and pig out. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.