Ingredients

Serves 4-6

Pork:
Preparation: 25 minutes
Cooking: 40 minutes + 2 hours marinating


8 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tbsp grated ginger
4 tbsp honey
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
125ml soy sauce
1kg boneless pork neck, cut into 5cm-wide strips
Five-spice salt
3 star anise
12 cloves
2 cinnamon quills
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
2 tsp sea salt flakes

 

Greens:
Serves 4 as a side dish

1 bunch of Chinese or English spinach (you can use other Asian greens however this will affect cooking time)
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp neutral flavoured oil
500ml water

 

Method

Pork:
Pork neck is an underrated cut of meat, but its fat content makes it perfect for roasted or barbecued dishes like this. Char siew (grilled pork) is often seen hanging in the windows of Chinese barbecue shops, dyed red. I don’t like to use too many colourings or preservatives in my cooking so I have left out the red colouring. If you prefer your char siew a more traditional colour, add red colouring.

1. To make the five-spice salt, roast the spices and salt in a dry frying pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes until fragrant. Cool, grind to a powder with a mortar and pestle and transfer to a bowl.
2. Combine 1tbsp of five-spice salt with the garlic, ginger, honey, sugar, wine and soy in the mortar and grind to a loose paste. Put the pork neck in a non-metallic shallow dish, pour the loose paste over the top and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.
3. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Transfer the pork and marinade to a roasting dish just big enough to hold the pork. Bake the pork for 10 minutes. Turn to coat with the reducing marinade and bake for 25–30 minutes until glazed and caramelised and just cooked through. (Alternatively, cook on a barbecue over medium heat.) Rest the pork for at least 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

Note: You only need half the five-spice salt for this recipe. Keep the rest in an airtight container to use next time.

 

Greens:
Bring water to the boil.
 
Chop off root end of Chinese spinach and wash greens thoroughly, either under the tap or in a sink of water. Shake off the excess water and cut into 7cm lengths.
 
Add half the salt to the boiling water, stir and drop in the greens (stalks first, leaves last). Add the oil and remaining salt on top of the greens and, using chopsticks or tongs, agitate the greens to "wash off" the oil and salt in the boiling water.  Enough of the salt and oil will stick to the leaves to flavour them and the remaining salt will dissolve in the water.  Cook for about 30 seconds until tender.
 
Pull the greens out with tongs or chopsticks and place in a colander. Use the tongs to squeeze out the excess moisture and lift into your bowl, ready to eat.
 

From Two Asian Kitchens by Adam Liaw, Ebury Press, RRP: $49.95