Nail Chinese BBQ pork with this recipe! My kids love going to a local Chinese dive because of the barbeque pork fried rice. They could eat that for lunch and then again for dinner! The restaurant isn’t close by and during Covid, we missed it much too much and had to try and replicate the recipe at home. The fried rice was easy, the bbq pork, not as much. A couple of recipe improvisations later, and we no longer need to step out for this bbq pork. Best of all, I know the cut and quality of the meat used and I don’t need to add red color.

Prep time: 10 minutes (not including overnight marinating time) Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless pork shoulder (the more fat, the tastier it will be)
• 2 tbsp finely minced garlic
• 1 tbsp salt
• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp soya sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tbsp red wine
• 1 cube red fermented bean curd
• 2 tsp five spice powder
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 5 tsp water
   

Method:

• Cut the pork into long strips or chunks about 2 inches thick. Aim for uniform slices so they cook uniformly. Don’t trim any excess fat, as it will add flavor
• Sprinkle the salt over the slices. Then poke each side of the long strips with a fork to help it absorb the marinade, when applied
• In a bowl, make the marinade – combine the garlic, oyster sauce, soya sauce, hoisin sauce, red wine, Shaoxing wine, garlic, five spice powder and the bean curd. Mix well till smooth
• Reserve about 2 tablespoons of the marinade. Cover and set aside in fridge
• In a large ziploc bag, pour in the remaining marinade. Add the pork to the bag and massage the pork allowing the marinade to cover the pork well. Close the bag and refrigerate overnight, or 8-10 hours
• When ready to cook, remove the pork from the fridge and let it rest on countertop while pre-heating the oven to the bake setting at 425F, with a rack positioned in the upper third of the oven.
• Line an oven-proof bowl with an aluminum foil. Place 3 tablespoons of water between the foil and the bottom of the bowl to create some steam. Place the pork slices in a single row on the foil.
• Place the bowl in the oven and set timer for 15 minutes
• While pork is in oven, combine the honey with 2 tbsp of water
• Cook for 15 minutes and then lather both sides with the pork marinade
• Cook for another 15 minutes and lather both sides with pork marinade again
• Cook for 10 minutes and lather both sides with the honey-water mix
• Now turn up the over to 450F, and cook for another 5 minutes
• Remove from oven and baste with the 2 tablespoons of marinade that had been set aside
• Let it rest for 5 minutes – then cut and enjoy
• Note: By now, the pork has cooked for 50 minutes total. It should be cooked through and caramelized on top. If it’s not caramelized to your liking, an option is to turn on the broiler for a couple minutes to crisp the outside and add some color. Please don’t walk away during this as it can sear quickly. You can also use a meat thermometer to check if the internal temperature of the pork has ready 160F

Serving suggestions:

This big batch of pork can be used right away or frozen. Use it for barbeque pork fried rice, as an appetizer by itself, or in Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches which my high-schooler LOVED enough to take to school two days in a row!