This is one of the favorite recipes in our house. The roast pork almost always comes out as good or better than many Chinese restaurants. It’s pretty easy, but you do need to generate a lot of heat in the oven, so we also gave a version that uses the barbecue for during the summer. You can eat the roast or barbecue pork sliced thinly with fried rice or lo mein, or as chops. Your choice.
Chinese Roast or Barbecue Pork
For Roast Pork Preheat oven to 550 degrees
2lbs. Pork tenderloin, pork shoulder or loin chops
For the sauce:
1 clove garlic finely chopped
½ inch ginger finely chopped
1 Tbl. soy sauce (dark is better)
½ Tbl. red chili paste with garlic
¾ cup hoisin sauce
½ Tbl. plum Sauce
1 Tbl. rice wine
1 ½Tbl. honey
Sesame Oil or your favorite hot sauce can be added for a change of pace.
Mix all ingredients with fork or whisk to make sure the ingredients are blended well. Reserve ¾ cup of sauce.
Roast Pork
Cover heavy baking pan (with sides) in aluminum foil.
Cut pork into strips about 2 inches wide and 6 inches long. Cover pork in remaining sauce. If you have the time, let the pork marinate for up to 2 hours. I often simply leave the pork in the marinade while starting any side dishes (maybe 20-30 minutes) and it still pleases the crowd.
Lay the strips close together on the prepared baking sheet and place in preheated oven. Roast for about 10 minutes on each side. Be sure to remove from oven when pork is still a light pink in the center, as it will continue to cook internally for several minutes.
Place the strips of pork into the reserved sauce and make sure all of the meat is well covered. Remove pork from sauce and slice thin. The pork can be used as an appetizer, in Lo Mein, or our favorite, Roast Pork Fried Rice.
Grilled or Broiled Loin Chops
In the summer when I don’t want to heat the kitchen to 550 degrees, I use the same sauce on chops. Score the chops on either side and mix with the remaining sauce. Marinate for 20 minutes to 2 hours.
Remove chops from sauce and broil on highest rack. On a grill place about ½ inch above hot coals. About 7 minutes a side depending on thickness. Baste with reserved sauce when you turn them, then serve.
If you want to use this recipe as an appetizer, mix the chops in the reserved sauce and slice as above. Serve.
