Chinese Five Spice

Day 25 of Spicemas

The Advent is in the past, and today is Christmas. There’s a tradition, I’m told, of getting Chinese takeout for Christmas dinner. It’s not my family tradition, but I have seen Christmas Story. Today’s spice from my own spice cupboard is Chinese Five Spice, a blend of cinnamon, fennel, star anise, cloves and a pepper - either a white pepper or Sichuan pepper, not the peppercorns we call black pepper. I should… probably do a pepper post. The link is to a recipe, you certainly can buy it all ready to use, just know the blend can vary quite a bit. I was using this one:

My husband had been craving fried rice, and specifically pork fried rice, so recently we’d made our way to the local Chinese takeout place, and gotten some along with other entrees. Now, this place is run by a Vietnamese family, and depending on the day of the week you’ll get that, or the Chinese options. It’s a really versatile way to manage a small restaurant and they make very good food. What they don’t make is char siu.

My husband got home, opened the fried rice, and made disappointed noises. I asked what was wrong. “There’s not any red stuff?”

I looked, and there was pork, but it was stir-fried and white. I understood. The fried rice was ok, he assured me. It had satisfied his craving.

No, I told him, I can make the Chinese barbecue pork, I’ve done it before; although it had been a couple of years since Asian food was something the kids loved but he was ambivalent about. It would be a good excuse to make a fun Christmas meal to share with a couple of friends, and make a good way to feature spices on the blog.

The red stuff, in the marinade. So vivid!

You’ll want to start this a day or two before you plan to make fried rice. In fact, if you make enough of it like I did, you’ll have some to freeze for those days you have leftover rice to make into fried rice - as it should be. I broke down a very inexpensive bone-in pork shoulder roast for this. Any boneless pork roast should work - you want to butterfly or cut it so that it’s not terribly thick as you want lots of surface area for the marinade. I’ll give instructions for making it in the oven, but this really should be done on the grill if you have the ability. Still good inside, though, and much more controlled temperatures.

I’ve adapted the recipe for Hoisin-Chili Marinade for Barbecued Pork which is in my Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook by Gloria Bley-Miller. It is one of my favorite cookbooks, and I do recommend it if you are interested in authentic Chinese cuisines.

Char Siu

• 3 lbs (more or less) boneless pork

Marinade:

• 1 tsp chili garlic paste

• 1/4 c sugar

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp 5-spice powder

• 1/2 tsp white pepper

• 1 tsp sesame oil

• 2 tbsp rice wine

• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce

• 1 tbsp honey

• 5-6 cloves minced garlic

• 3/4 tsp red food coloring (optional for that restaurant red meat)

Glaze:

• 2 tbsp honey

• 2 tbsp water

Marinade the meat, refrigerated, at least overnight, but 24-36 hours is best. Reserve about two tablespoons of the marinade before you put the rest on the meat. Set this aside in a little container for the baking process.

To bake, preheat your oven to 475F. Line a roasting pan with foil, and put a rack in it to keep the meat suspended. Spread the meat out on the rack, and bake at 475F for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375F. Flip the meat over on the racks, carefully, sturdy tongs will help with this.

Bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Microwave the water and honey glaze for about thirty seconds, then stir to mix. Brush this on the meat, then flip. Cook for another ten minutes, and repeat the glaze brushing. Cook for another ten minutes, glaze, and remove from oven. Total baking time will be about 55 minutes. Internal temperature should be 145F. Take the reserved marinade and brush it over the meat just as it comes off the heat. Allow to rest about ten minutes, then carve into thin slices.

Serve with fried rice, of course!

This makes far more than four people can eat, which is perfect because you can slice it all up, then freeze some for future fried rice cravings.

Today’s dinner included green onions from my garden, and some of the last of my pepper harvest that has been waiting to be used up.

Mise en place for fried rice. I don’t use a recipe for fried rice, it’s what I have on hand, and season to taste with soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, and nuoc mam.

Merry Christmas! And tomorrow, I plan to feature marigold, which is sometimes called poor-man’s saffron.