CHINESE BARBECUE

In China, to barbecue is to cut meats—most often pork—in specified ways, coat them with a marinade, and then cook them over an open fire of wood or charcoal. When I was growing up in China, we seldom barbecued meats at home because we had no indoor oven. Most often, we bought meats already cooked in the market, where they were prepared in huge, wood-fired brick ovens. Only occasionally did we cook them at home, in a portable open-topped red-clay stove that stood in the open air just beyond our kitchen door. When we wanted to barbecue, we would light the coals or the wood in the portable cooker, spear marinated meats on a long metal fork, and roast or barbecue them by holding the fork over the fire. It was very tiring.

This custom gave its name to the popular dish known as char siu in Cantonese or chashao in Mandarin—literally “fork over fire”—or barbecued pork, which is made from long, wide strips of pork and is most commonly found in Guangdong and in Cantonese enclaves elsewhere. A second Cantonese phrase, siu jeu, is used for a whole pig roasted over a fire until the skin is crisp, glistening, and golden brown. You often see these pigs hanging in windows of Chinatown butcher shops and restaurants. If you buy a piece of one of these whole pigs, you are buying siu juk.

Before you begin to make barbecued pork, a word about color: Most of the barbecued pork you see hanging in shop windows and restaurants is red. Once, these meats were colored with red vegetable dye. Nowadays, they derive their color from liquid of ground red rice or from the liquid of red wet preserved bean curd, available in bottles labeled “bean curd juice.” The color is for presentation only and does not affect the taste.

When I make barbecued pork, it has a slight red tinge after roasting. But this comes from a combination of soy sauce, honey, and a bit of the red wet preserved bean curd mashed with its liquid.

BARBECUED PORK

MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS

This tasty, sweet, pungent pork can be sliced and eaten hot or cold as a first course, or it can be sliced or diced and stir-fried with vegetables or noodles. It is also a popular filling for steamed or baked pork buns.

INGREDIENTS

5 pounds boneless lean pork butt, in one piece

MARINADE

cup honey
cup double dark soy sauce
cup light soy sauce
cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
3 cubes red wet preserved bean curd, mashed with 1 tablespoons of its liquid
1 teaspoons ĥve-spice powder (see sidebar)
teaspoon salt
teaspoon white pepper

1. Cut the pork along its length into strips l½ inches wide and 2½ inches thick. With a small knife, pierce the meat at l½-inch intervals to help tenderize it.
3. To make the marinade: In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients. Add the pork strips and turn to coat. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 4 hours, or cover and refrigerate overnight. Occasionally, turn the pork in the marinade.
3. If the pork has marinated overnight, it should be removed from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat the broiler for 20 minutes. Line a roasting pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Lay the pork strips in a single layer in the pan. Pour the marinade from the bowl over the pork. Place the roasting pan under the broiler about 4 inches from the heat source. Broil, basting the meat with the marinade 5 or 6 times and turning the meat over 4 times at even intervals over 30 to 50 minutes. If the marinade in the pan begins to dry out, add a little boiling water. To test if the pork is ready, remove 1 strip from the pan after 30 minutes and cut a slice from it to see if it is cooked through.
4. When the meat is done, turn off the broiler, remove the pan from the oven, and let the pork rest for 10 minutes. If it is to be served as is, slice the pork and serve it with some of marinade from the pan. If it is to be used at a future date, allow it to cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate for 4 or 5 days. It can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Allow it to thaw to room temperature before using.

FIVE-SPICE POWDER

MAKES 6 TABLESPOONS

There are various brands of five-spice powder on the market, all of them adequate, some better than others. As with many of the Chinese basics, you will be better served if you grind your own.

8 eight-star anise
4 cinnamon sticks, 2½ inches long, broken into small pieces
30 whole cloves
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
2 teaspoons aniseeds

Heat a wok over high heat for 30 seconds. Add all of the spices and stir to mix together. Lower the heat to medium and dry-roast the spices for 3 to 4 minutes, or until their fragrance rises. Regulate the heat as needed to prevent burning. Turn off the heat, transfer the spices to a bowl, and let cool completely.
Pour the cooled spices into a spice grinder or a blender and process to a coarse powder. Transfer the powder to a jar with a tight-fitting lid and store at room temperature for up to 3 months.

BARBECUED PORK RIBS

MAKES 12 RIBS, OR 4 SERVINGS

This Cantonese preparation is found, at least in name, in almost every traditional restaurant in southern China and throughout the West. It is a legacy of immigrants. In Guangdong, these ribs, like barbecued pork (see recipe), were rarely made at the home because of the absence of indoor ovens, and by habit and tradition, they are still usually purchased. They are quite simple to make, however, and easy to enjoy

INGREDIENTS

1 rack pork spare ribs, 4 pounds (12 ribs)

MARINADE

6 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons double dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
2 tablespoons red wet preserved bean curd liquid or bean curd juice
teaspoon white pepper

1. To prepare the ribs, remove the flap and extra fat from the rack of ribs, then, with a sharp knife, score the ribs all over. Line a roasting pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place the ribs in the pan.
2. To make the marinade: In a small bowl, mix together all of the ingredients. Pour the marinade over the ribs. Using your hands, rub the marinade into the ribs. Cover the pan and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to overnight, basting the ribs with the marinade from time to time. Remove from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before cooking.
3. Preheat the broiler for 20 minutes. Place the roasting pan under the broiler 4 inches from the heat source. Broil the ribs, basting them twice and turning them over twice, for 30 to 40 minutes. If the marinade in the pan begins to dry out, add a little boiling water to it. To test for done-ness, pierce the thickest part of the rib rack. If there is no redness, the ribs are done.
4. Turn off the heat, remove the pan from the oven, and let the spareribs cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Transfer the rack to a cutting board and, using a cleaver, cut between the ribs to separate. Serve immediately, with the basting sauce in the pan as an accompaniment.

BARBECUED PORK WITH LEEKS

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

In the past, I made this stir-fry with barbecued pork and garlic shoots, the sweet, mild green shoots that grow out of garlic bulbs. In recent years, these have become scarce, and I have used Chinese chive flowers and scallions in their place. But I now find that I prefer Western leeks, which look like oversized scallions, have a tender sweetness similar to that of garlic shoots, and are widely available. They are also far more tender than their Chinese counterparts, which have large bulbs and are quite tough. This recipe is a favorite of mine and an excellent illustration of barbecued pork as an ingredient.

INGREDIENTS

1 pounds leeks
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon peeled and minced ginger
1 cups thinly sliced Barbecued Pork
1 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
3 tablespoons basting sauce from Barbecued Pork

1. Remove the tough outer leaves of the leeks and wash the leeks thoroughly to remove any sand and grit. Cut on the diagonal into ¼-inch-thick slices, using both the white and the tender green portions. You should have about 2 cups. Reserve.
2. Heat a wok over high heat for 45 seconds. Add the peanut oil and, using a spatula, coat the wok with the oil. When a wisp of white smoke appears, add the ginger and stir briefly. Add the pork and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, or until very hot. Drizzle in the wine, adding it along the edge of the wok, and mix well. Add the pork sauce and stir until well mixed. Add the reserved leeks and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, or until the leeks are tender.
3. Turn off the heat, transfer to a heated dish, and serve.

By Eileen Yin-Fei Lo in "Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking", Chronicle Books, USA, 2009, part I, lesson 7. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.