CHAR-SUI CANTONESE ROAST PORK

by Paula Senior
(Nerja, Spain)

2-2½ lbs pork without bone or rind
2 tablesps. runny honey
For the marinade:
2 tablesps. hoisin sauce
2 tablesps. ground yellow bean sauce
4 tablesps. thin soy sauce
4 tablesps. sugar
1 teasp. salt
1 tablesp. Shaohsing wine or medium dry sherry

Method

Divide the pork into four strips. Leave any fat on as it is delicately succulent when roasted. Make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts from opposite directions cutting 3/4s through the width of a strip without cutting it into pieces. This allows for better absorption of the marinade and gives the pork the traditional char-sui look. Prepare the marinade: in a large bowl mix together the ingredients. Put in the pork and leave to marinate for 4 hours, turning it over every 30 minutes. Place the strips of pork side by side on a wire rack in the top third of the oven with a tray of water underneath to catch the drippings. The water prevents the juices that drip from the pork from burning, steam also keeps it from drying up. Roast in a pre-heated oven at 190oC, 375oF or Mark 5 for 25 minutes at the end of which time the top side will be reddish brown. Remove from the oven, dip each piece into the marinade and return to the oven with the bottom side up. Reduce the oven temperature to 180oC, 350oF, Mark 4 and continue to roast for another 25-30 minutes. Insert a chopstick or fork into the thickest part of the strip, if no pink juices run out the pork is cooked. Remove to a wire rack, brush all over with honey making sure not to miss the crevices. Carve into slices and serve.