Ch'a-Shao - 叉烧 - Roast Pork Strips

Ch'a-Shao

叉烧

From Time/Life's Foods of the World - The Cooking of China, 1968:

To serve 4 to 6 as a main course or 8 to 10 as part of a Chinese meal:

2 pounds boneless pork, preferably butt

2 tablespoons chicken stock, fresh or canned

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown-bean sauce, mashed

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine, or pale dry sherry

1.5 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

2 to 3 drops red food coloring

PREPARE AHEAD:

1. With a cleaver or a large, sharp knife, cut the pork butt into 1½-to 2-inch-wide strips. Lay the strips flat and cut them in half lengthwise. Depending on the original size of the butt, you should have from 6 to 8 long, thick strips. Lay the strips flat in one or two layers in a large, shallow dish or pan long enough to hold them easily.

2. In a small bowl, combine the chicken stock, soy sauce, and brown-bean sauce, wine, sugar, salt, garlic and food coloring. Stir until the ingredients are well mixed. Pour the sauce over the pork strips, baste them thoroughly and let them marinate for at least 3 hours at room temperature or for at least 6 hours in the refrigerator. Turn the strips over in the marinade every hour or so.

TO COOK:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. To catch the drippings of the pork strips as they roast and to prevent the oven from smoking as well, fill a large, shallow roasting pan with water and place it on the lowest rack of the oven. Insert one curved tip of an S-shaped hook at the end of each strip of pork (any hook will do: a curtain hook, S-hook, even a 5- or 6-inch length of heavy-duty wire or unpainted wire coat hanger bent into that shape). Hang the hooks from the uppermost rack of the oven, directly above the pan of water. Roast the pork undisturbed for 45 minutes. Then increase the oven heat to 450°F and roast for 15 minutes longer, or until the pork strips are crisp and a rich, golden brown. Remove the pork from the oven, take out the hooks and cut the strips crosswise into paper thin slices. Serve the sliced pork hot, arranged in overlapping layers, on a heated platter.

If you like, the pork may be cooled to room temperature, or wrapped in aluminum foil and chilled in the refrigerator, and then presented as a cold meat course or as part of a Chinese cold plate. Leftover roast pork can be wrapped tightly and stored in the refrigerator or freezer for use in such recipes as Steamed Buns with Pork Filling or Ten-Variety Hot Pot.