March 23, 2007
Home-Made Char Siew
I have been busy lately, planning for the arrival of my little one. There are so many things to buy! Will I still have money left to buy food?!? (I mean … how can a crib cost USD200-300 and why should a crib bedding set cost more than USD100!?!?!)
Also recently, because of my broken right wrist my right wrist is still hurting, I have been making the simplest of dishes. My sincere thanks to my readers who have asked about my wrist. Unfortunately it still hurts :(
Well, but my home-made char siew turned out OK :)
All thanks to Lee Kum Kee Char Siew Sauce, I had very little work to do. I just needed to marinate the pork for a good 4 hours (or overnight), half-cook it over a pan (a trick mom taught me), then broil it over the oven. What’s good about this home-made char siew is that I get to have some sauce to drizzle over my char siew.
Ingredients (Serves 2-3):
- 1 lb pork belly, skin removed
- 3-4 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Char Siew Sauce
Method:
1. Marinate pork belly in Lee Kum Kee Char Siew Sauce for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Heat up 1-2 tbsp oil in a saucepan. Medium heat. When oil is hot enough, transfer marinated pork to saucepan. Set aside the excess marinate liquid to make a sauce later.
3. Cover saucepan and cook for 5 minutes. Mom says this gets rid of the pork smell. I say ok.
4. At this time, the oil from the pork belly may start to ooze out. Uncover saucepan and continue to cook for a while more. Then add a bit of water to the saucepan. This is to prevent the Lee Kum Kee Char Siew Sauce from caramelizing too quickly and burning, cos if that happens, then there is no gravy.
5. Turn pork belly to the other side and cook for 10 more minutes. Whenever the saucepan looks like it’s drying out, add a bit more water, but not too much, because you don’t want to be braising the pork.
6. After 10 minutes, transfer the half-cooked pork to the oven preheated to 450F and allow to cook for about 30 mins. For the last 10 mins, set the oven to broil (meaning heat on the upper half of the oven only).
7. While the pork is roasting in the oven, pour the excess marinate into the same saucepan and add some water to dilute the marinate. Cook the excess marinate by allowing it to come to a boil, then turn off the stove and allow the cooked sauce to cool.
8. When pork is done, allow it to rest (and redistribute its juices) for about 5-10 mins, then slice and drizzle cooked char siew sauce over it.
Cook’s Notes:
1. If keeping excess char siew for next day’s meal, set aside sauce in a different bowl. Drizzle sauce over char siew only after char siew has been reheated in the oven, so that the sauce does not dry out in the oven during the reheating process.
2. If you have a cucumber, you can also cut some out and drizzle the char siew sauce over it.
Bite This!
More recipes:
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Found: Chai Tow Kway in Ranch 99
The Unorthodox Char Kway Teow Recipe
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March 23rd, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Looks like BBQ pork. Yummy! I hope you hand gets better soon. The dangers of shopping!
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Oh ya! It should be called BBQ pork and not Roast Pork! :O The pain in the wrist is affecting my brain function! I have changed the tag from roast pork to barbeued pork. Thanks!
March 25th, 2007 at 8:03 am
hope your wrist gets better.
hey, it looks good. nice and juicy.
March 25th, 2007 at 9:08 am
You are going to be a really good mother. You kid is going to be very well fed. :-)
The char siew looks delicious.
March 25th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Sorry to hear your wrist is still bad. :(
$100 for crib bedding? That’s insane. Is it 1,000 count thread sheets or something?
March 25th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Simple ingredients but still sounds quite a bit of work, esp. when your wrist is still hurting. Why was the skin removed? I recently cooked with pork belly and used every part of it :O
March 25th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
KM - Pork Belly ar… fatty and juicy :)
Ming - Ooh thanks for that. I am excited and nervous at the same time.
Chopsticks - 1,000 thread count with embedded gold.
Tiga! Char Siew got pork belly skin meh? That one is roast pork 烧肉 ya? I also made that. (adaptation from Pablopabla!)
March 25th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
is your little one coming soon? so exciting. this looks very delcious. this is one of the things on my list to cook. :D thanks for tips.
March 25th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Congrats! Better start practicing confinement food ;)
But indulge on the non-confinement food first :)
March 26th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
In high school I worked as the assistant manager at a department store which catered entirely to pregnant women and young children. The answer to your question is that it’s ridiculous for those things to cost that much. It’s a racket, much like the vendors you have to deal with when you get married. Expectant mothers are anxious and want the best for their children, and happy husbands or relatives are only too willing to pay. There are companies and stores willing to cash in on that, and they do.
March 26th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
BC - Ya.. Expecting chaos in June.
PP - Now can eat confinement food meh? A lot of ginger in the recipes. Chinese say ginger is “heaty”.
CP - My little one’s crib and stuff CANNOT be more expensive than my bed and bedding!! We settled for an Ikea crib at US$139, mattress at US$60 and a bedding set from Target at $45. But you know what? Ikea delivery cost is US$79!!! (In Singapore it’s only S$30. What a difference in service cost!!)
March 26th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
we usually self carry home, unless that thing is too too bulky. :-)
i love ginger. confinement food quite nice! :-p
March 27th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
We also self carry Ikea stuff, but this time, the crib was really really too big to fit into our car. KM - you enjoy confinement food? LOL!!!