Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Grilled Hoisin Pork


Grilled Hoisin Pork

Once again, we were trying to decide what to have for dinner when T1 mentioned we haven't had anything with hoisin sauce for a while. I have to admit, my Chinese recipe repertoire isn't very extensive. I guess I never really had to learn, growing up with a Mom who cooks fantastic Chinese food. I can manage to throw together all the westernized Chinese dishes like beef broccoli, sweet sour pork , walnut shrimp, and fried rice, but when it comes to really authentic stuff, my Mom's kitchen is the only place I know where to get it.

So this is what I came up with, grilled hoisin pork served with jasmine rice and stir fried veggies. Hoisin, often referred to as Chinese barbecue sauce is a complex, smokey, savory, slightly sweet sauce and like most Chinese flavor bases, contains many umami flavor compounds.

Thin sliced pork was marinated in hoisin for no more than thirty minutes before being thrown on the hot grill for just a few minutes on each side. The sugars present in the hoisin allows the pork to char nicely and like barbecue sauce, forms a nice sticky glaze. The end result tastes as if a lot of effort went into it when really, nothing could be quicker and easier. For the veggies, anything you have on hand will do. We happened to have broccoli florets so they were combined with some onion, celery and a couple of quartered tomatoes and seasoned with mirin, soy sauce, garlic, and cracked black pepper.

I've got a lot to learn about Chinese cooking There's an endless amount of ingredients to work with so I guess I better get to work! As they say in Cantonese, "Sic Fan!" (translation: Eat Rice or Dig In!)


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