Chinese-Style Barbecued Pork

by Mitchell Davis, Kitchen Sense: More than 600 Recipes to Make You a Great Home Cook

Makes 4 or 5 strips, enough for 4 to 8 servings, depending on how you intend to use it.
2 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt (shoulder)
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce or addition 1 1/2 tablespoons regular soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons Chinese oyster sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine, gin, or dry (amontillado) sherry
1/4 cup white, light brown, or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch freshly ground white pepper

1. With a sharp knife, slice the pork butt into long, thin strips, about 2 by 1 by 8 inches. Place these in a glass or ceramic baking dish, just large enough to hold the pork in an even layer. It doesn’t matter if the strips touch each other. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin, rice wine (or gin or sherry), sugar, five-spice powder, salt, and white pepper. Pour this mixture over the pork in the baking dish. Turn the pork strips over to coat with this marinade. Cover the dish with foil or plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator overnight to marinate.

2. The next day, when you are ready to cook the pork, preheat the oven to 400°F. Uncover the pan and set it in the preheated oven. Roast the pork for 30 to 40 minutes, basting the strips and turning them over frequently to keep them moist. The pork is done when it reaches about 170°F. on an instant-read thermometer. If you slice through a piece, it should be moist but cooked through. Remove the pork from the oven and cover with foil while it’s still hot.

3. The pork can be served at this point, either hot, at room temperature, or chilled. But I prefer to broil it for a few minutes before serving to give it a nice, crisp crust that’s closer to the way it is made in Chinese restaurants. (It’s also a good way to heat it up.) Just before serving, peheat the broiler. Lay the strips of pork out on a broiling tray and set under the preheated broiler. (Reserve the cooking liquid.) Broil for 5 to 8 minutes, until the pork takes on a nice dark, crisp crust—the sugar helps the crust to form. Turn the strips over and repeat on the other side. To serve, slice the pork about 1/4-inch thick on the diagonal. Heat up some of the cooking liquid and pour over the sliced pork.

The pork in this recipe is less red than the stuff you’ll find in Chinatown, it isn’t red at all, in fact, because I don’t add food coloring to the marinade. I don’t see the point. To get the crisp crust characteristic of the best roast pork, I broil the strips of meat just before serving.