Meat Recipes - Roast Pork (Cha Shao) Recipe

Ingredients

• 900g/2lb pork fillet (tenderloin), trimmed

• 15ml/1 tbsp clear honey

• 45ml/3 tbsp rice wine

• spring onion (scallion) curls, to garnish

For the marinade:

• 150ml/1/4 pint/2/3 cup dark soy sauce

• 90ml/6 tbsp rice wine

• 150ml/14 pint/2/3 cup well-flavoured chicken stock

• 15ml/1 tbsp soft light brown sugar

• 1cm/1/2in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely sliced

• 40ml/2 1/2 tbsp chopped onion

Serves 6

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Method:

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil, stirring, Simmer gently for 15 minutes. Leave to cool.

2. Put the pork fillets side by side in a shallow dish. Pour over 250ml/1 cup of the marinade, cover and chill for at least 8 hours, turning the meat over several times.

3. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Drain the pork fillets, reserving the marinade in the dish.

4. Place the meat on a rack over a roasting pan and pour water into the pan to a depth of 1 cm/1/2 in. Place the pan in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.

5. Stir the honey and rice wine or sherry into the marinade. Remove the meat from the oven and place in the marinade, turning to coat.

6. Put back on the rack and roast for 20-30 minutes or until cooked. Serve hot or cold, in slices, garnished with spring onion curls.

Note: This dish is often known as barbecue pork and is very popular in southern China. The marinade can be heated and served as a sauce.