This is really two separate recipes but they go so well together that we strongly suggest making both. As this is essentially a dry dish, rice on the side is good but the fresh salad really makes it.
Wine Suggestion: We think this goes really well with a velvety Pinot Noir like Andre Dezat’s Sancerre Rouge, or Cline’s Sonoma Coast Pinot. The juicy fruit and lightness of expression plays wonderfully with the layers of spice, sourness, sweetness and charred flavours these dishes offer without overwhelming them, and without too many dry tannins which could fight the dish.
Char siu pork with a chilli, coriander & mint salad – serves 4
- 2 pork fillets (tenderloins), trimmed of fat and sinew
FOR THE MARINADE:
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 4 tbsp clear honey
- 4 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 4 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
- 4 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
FOR THE CHILLI, CORIANDER & MINT SALAD:
- ½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 lemongrass stalk, halved lengthways, sliced, then finely chopped
- 1 cm piece of root ginger, peeled and grated
- ½ lime, juiced
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½-1 tsp palm or caster sugar
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 cos lettuce, cut into thick strips
- ¼ cucumber, seeds scooped out and discarded and sliced on the diagonal
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- a large handful of coriander leaves
- a large handful of mint leaves
First make the marinade for the pork. Put the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over a low heat. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Put the pork fillets into a large container with half the cooled marinade, keep the rest for cooking the pork. Rub the marinade into the pork and leave for at least 2-3 hours, or ideally overnight, in the fridge.
When ready to cook, heat the oven to 230C/Gas 8.
Remove the pork from the marinade (don’t throw the marinade away) and place them on a wire rack over a foil-lined roasting tray.
Roast the pork in the hot oven for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 190C/Gas 5. Continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes, turning and basting with the reserved mainade every 5 minutes, until cooked. You can finish the pork on a hot barbecue for the last 5 minutes of cooking to get a nice barbecue flavour or under a hot grill.
Leave the pork to rest for 5 minutes, before slicing.
To make the salad, put 1 tbsp of the lime juice into a small bowl with the soy sauce, sugar and oil. Add the chilli, garlic, lemongrass and ginger and whisk to combine. Taste and add more lime or sugar if needed.
Put the lettuce, cucumber, scallions, coriander and mint in a large bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss to combine. Serve immediately with the sliced pork and some steamed rice.
(Original recipe from Leiths How to Cook by Claire MacDonald & Jenny Stringer, Quadrille Publishing Limited, 2013.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 