Chinese crisp roast pork

[chef jeff]

I am putting together a proposal for a catering event. The potential customer asked that chinese crsip roast pork be served as one of the hors d'oeuvres, along with our regular Aurora style food. She says it's not bbq pork. Does anyone know much about this? How it's served, where it's available?

I implore the help of the EG Army!

Cheers, Jeff

[mtigges]

My guess is that they meant suckling pig. It's a traditional opening course in cantonese banquets for important birthdays or other special occasions.

Read here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=49705&st=0

BTW, it's delicious.

[Daddy-A]

My guess is that they meant suckling pig.  It's a traditional opening course in cantonese banquets for important birthdays or other special occasions.

Read here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=49705&st=0

BTW, it's delicious.

←

Could it also be perhaps "twice-cooked pork"? Here's a thread from earlier this year.

An event catered by Aurora? Lucky folk!

A.

[canucklehead]

Definitely it is the roast suckling / or young pig. This is readily available alot of Chinese bbq places. They can sell you the whole pig.

Usually it is displayed in it's uncut form. Depending on the event - the pig may be decorated and the guest of honor may be the first to carve it. Then it is taken away and chopped up by the chef. A place that sells it to you should be able to supply someone who knows how to hande a cleaver. If it is to be served cut up - then all you may want is the roasted belly portion that is cut into large cubes with the crispy skin attached. I have usually seen it served with a sharp Coleman's mustard. Given your skills with sauces - this may be a great place for Aurora to show some creativity. It is all about enhancing the porkiness of the roasted pig and the crunch of the crisp skin.

I am sure Ling (who seems to eat pounds of it in a sitting) or other posters can make specific recommendations as to whose roasted pigs are best. Let me know if you need more info.

Here is a picture of a roasted suckling pig and here is a larger guy See if these pictures are what your client has in mind.

Good luck

Edited August 12, 2005 by canucklehead (log)

[chef jeff]

It is all about enhancing the porkiness of the roasted pig and the crunch of the crisp skin.

mmm, enhanced porkiness...(said like homer j simpson)

Thanks for the help guys!

EG army forever!

[Ai Leen]

... chinese crsip roast pork... hors d'oeuvres... not bbq pork. 

←

Is roast suckling pig usually served as an hors d'oeuvres over the pond?

Hm... Chinese crispy roast pork possibilities:

1. Char sau = roast bbq pork = not, I guess

2. Sau rou = crispy roast pork = IMHO most likely option = belly pork (my favourite cut for this dish) + five spice powder/salt/sichuan pepper + very hot oven (mum's recipe)

3. Sau zhu = roast suckling pig = possible option, served with little cute paper crowns on its ears as pictured previously and gooey sweet sauce... mm...

Edited August 12, 2005 by Ai Leen (log)

[transfattyacid]

2. Sau rou = crispy roast pork = IMHO most likely option = belly pork (my favourite cut for this dish) + five spice powder/salt/sichuan pepper + very hot oven (mum's recipe)

←

Not that i`m an expert in chinoisary or any thing, but i interpreted it being kinda similar to the above quote too .

a piece of pork belly ( crackling intact ) marinated then slow roasted, slicd / chunked into managable sized pieces and crisped in a hot oven for service.

forgive me if i`m barking up the wrong tree.

[RooStew]

I always get ours from the Dollar Meat Store in chinatown. Super good with great crackling and salty anisey spice on the under belly. V' good.

[Ling]

^Yes, Dollar Meats is very good! I like their spice blend the best. We used to get our bbq pork from there every week but my parents don't often go to Chinatown anymore.

I like BBQ 2000 underneath the Superstore in Richmond--the crispy skin is thicker than most places, and the pork is fattier--you can see the layers of fat in between the flesh as opposed to some places where it's just a layer of fat underneath the crispy skin. I love the layers of fat--it makes the pork so succulent My parents prefer the Chinese bbq place in Parker Place--the layer of crispy skin is thinner, darker, slightly crispier, and the pork is a bit leaner. (My parents don't like BBQ 2000 as much b/c apparently they boil the pork first before roasting to cut down on the time.)

[tarteausucre]

Make sure when you buy your slab of crisp pork that you don't let the butchers cut it up for you lest they butcher it up. They may be able to wield a cleaver but they have little regard for presentation or uniformity of pieces. My family always takes it home uncut and gets my grandmother to cut it and plate it. Much more aesthetically appealling than the mess they make of it.

[cbuckthorp]

... chinese crsip roast pork... hors d'oeuvres... not bbq pork. 

←

Is roast suckling pig usually served as an hors d'oeuvres over the pond?

Hm... Chinese crispy roast pork possibilities:

1. Char sau = roast bbq pork = not, I guess

2. Sau rou = crispy roast pork = IMHO most likely option = belly pork (my favourite cut for this dish) + five spice powder/salt/sichuan pepper + very hot oven (mum's recipe)

3. Sau zhu = roast suckling pig = possible option, served with little cute paper crowns on its ears as pictured previously and gooey sweet sauce... mm...

←

Ai Leen was not willing to give away Mom's secret recipe for the Sau Rou crispy roast pork, I'm not so secretive. Actually, this is someone elses Mom's recipe but I had to really work hard to get it from her.

Here it is.

Chinese Roast Pork

• 2kg Pork spare ribs (bone and skin still attached) in whole from a good Chinese butcher, skin scored.

• Wash and pat dry with paper towels.

• Rub in the following ONLY on the meat. Leave the skin unseasoned for the time being.

o 1 tablespoon salt

o 1 tablespoon of Chinese 5 spice

o 1 sachet of "Spicy Bake Mix" by "Four Seasons" - Purchase from Chinese grocery store. It's a red box.

• Leave meat on rack for at least 6 hours uncovered.

• Pat dry skin occasionally or as necessary with paper towels.

• Pre-heat oven @ 240 degrees C for 15 minutes. Make sure you don't have the trays in there. It'll burn your fingers right off.

• Rub skin with approximately 1 tablespoon of salt before putting it into the oven.

• Roast @ 240 degrees C for ........ hmmm I forget.......... Hold on. For half an hour (30 Minutes).

• Turn down heat to 180 degrees C and continue to roast for 1 hour.

• DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR AT ANY TIME UNTIL MEAT IS COOKED ie. AT THE END!

That last point is pretty important.

Enjoy!!!!

[taryn]

^Yes, Dollar Meats is very good! I like their spice blend the best. We used to get our bbq pork from there every week but my parents don't often go to Chinatown anymore.

I like BBQ 2000 underneath the Superstore in Richmond--the crispy skin is thicker than most places, and the pork is fattier--you can see the layers of fat in between the flesh as opposed to some places where it's just a layer of fat underneath the crispy skin. I love the layers of fat--it makes the pork so succulent    My parents prefer the Chinese bbq place in Parker Place--the layer of crispy skin is thinner, darker, slightly crispier, and the pork is a bit leaner. (My parents don't like BBQ 2000 as much b/c apparently they boil the pork first before roasting to cut down on the time.)

←

My dad has a friend who drives from Coquitlam to Richmond every week just to go to there!

[mtigges]

[Ai Leen was not willing to give away Mom's secret recipe for the Sau Rou crispy roast pork, I'm not so secretive.  Actually, this is someone elses Mom's recipe but I had to really work hard to get it from her.

Here it is.

Chinese Roast Pork

• 2kg Pork spare ribs (bone and skin still attached) in whole from a good Chinese  butcher, skin scored.

<snip>

• Pre-heat oven @ 240 degrees C for 15 minutes.  Make sure you don't have the trays in there.  It'll burn your fingers right off.

• Rub skin with approximately 1 tablespoon of salt before putting it into the oven.

• Roast @ 240 degrees C for ........ hmmm I forget.......... Hold on.  For half an hour (30 Minutes).

• Turn down heat to 180 degrees C and continue to roast for 1 hour.

• DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR AT ANY TIME UNTIL MEAT IS COOKED ie. AT THE END!

That last point is pretty important.

←

Have you made this? I'm curious about the result. If my amateurish guess were asked for I would call this dish "pork charcoal".

Are those really the right times / temps?

[chef jeff]

[Ai Leen was not willing to give away Mom's secret recipe for the Sau Rou crispy roast pork, I'm not so secretive.  Actually, this is someone elses Mom's recipe but I had to really work hard to get it from her.

Here it is.

Chinese Roast Pork

• 2kg Pork spare ribs (bone and skin still attached) in whole from a good Chinese  butcher, skin scored.

<snip>

• Pre-heat oven @ 240 degrees C for 15 minutes.  Make sure you don't have the trays in there.  It'll burn your fingers right off.

• Rub skin with approximately 1 tablespoon of salt before putting it into the oven.

• Roast @ 240 degrees C for ........ hmmm I forget.......... Hold on.  For half an hour (30 Minutes).

• Turn down heat to 180 degrees C and continue to roast for 1 hour.

• DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR AT ANY TIME UNTIL MEAT IS COOKED ie. AT THE END!

That last point is pretty important.

←

Have you made this? I'm curious about the result. If my amateurish guess were asked for I would call this dish "pork charcoal".

Are those really the right times / temps?

←

I think those tempuratures are supposed to be in farenheit, not celcius. I don't think that's the recipe though. From everyone I've talked to, and read on egullet, it's either whole suckling pig, or belly.

[Ling]

^Yeah I'm sure it's the whole suckling pig or the belly.

[Ling]

My dad has a friend who drives from Coquitlam to Richmond every week just to go to there!

←

Which one--BBQ 2000 or the one in Parker Place?

[cbuckthorp]

[Ai Leen was not willing to give away Mom's secret recipe for the Sau Rou crispy roast pork, I'm not so secretive.  Actually, this is someone elses Mom's recipe but I had to really work hard to get it from her.

Here it is.

Chinese Roast Pork

• 2kg Pork spare ribs (bone and skin still attached) in whole from a good Chinese  butcher, skin scored.

<snip>

• Pre-heat oven @ 240 degrees C for 15 minutes.  Make sure you don't have the trays in there.  It'll burn your fingers right off.

• Rub skin with approximately 1 tablespoon of salt before putting it into the oven.

• Roast @ 240 degrees C for ........ hmmm I forget.......... Hold on.  For half an hour (30 Minutes).

• Turn down heat to 180 degrees C and continue to roast for 1 hour.

• DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR AT ANY TIME UNTIL MEAT IS COOKED ie. AT THE END!

That last point is pretty important.

←

Have you made this? I'm curious about the result. If my amateurish guess were asked for I would call this dish "pork charcoal".

Are those really the right times / temps?

←

I think those tempuratures are supposed to be in farenheit, not celcius. I don't think that's the recipe though. From everyone I've talked to, and read on egullet, it's either whole suckling pig, or belly.

←

These temperatures are definitely correct. I have done this a few times and it comes out just like the product you get from chinatown. The ribs are a chinese cut so the slab is about 12 inches square and about 3 inches deep. Looks like pork belly but with the bones still attached. You need the initial high heat to crisp up the skin. The meat comes out moist and tender and the skin is light and crunchy.

Whole suckling pig would be nice to serve for a dinner but the best part is always the skin. It is served kind of like Peking Duck without the little pancake but it's probably what they are looking for. Not sure how you would do a whole suckiling pick without the large chinese roaster though.

[RooStew]

I think those tempuratures are supposed to be in farenheit, not celcius. I don't think that's the recipe though. From everyone I've talked to, and read on egullet, it's either whole suckling pig, or belly

Try cooking meat @ 180 F for an hour and see what you get. Forget crispy pork, try food born illness.

[chef jeff]

I think those tempuratures are supposed to be in farenheit, not celcius. I don't think that's the recipe though. From everyone I've talked to, and read on egullet, it's either whole suckling pig, or belly

Try cooking meat @ 180 F for an hour and see what you get. Forget crispy pork, try food born illness.

←

You're right roostew, I was way off on my conversion

dammit Jim, I'm a chef not a mathmatition

[chef jeff]

not much of a speller either

[taryn]

Which one--BBQ 2000 or the one in Parker Place?

←

BBQ 2000. He raved about it so much that my parents braved the perils of No. 3 Rd. It was pretty tasty, but I don't know if it was worth the drive from PoCo!

Edited August 13, 2005 by taryn (log)

[Ling]

^The crunchy pork skin seems to get softer a bit quicker than the crispy pork at most Chinese BBQ places, so the secret is to eat it in the car.

[taryn]

^The crunchy pork skin seems to get softer a bit quicker than the crispy pork at most Chinese BBQ places, so the secret is to eat it in the car. 

←

Oh believe me, we did

[Paul B]

I always get ours from the Dollar Meat Store in chinatown. Super good with great crackling and salty anisey spice on the under belly. V' good.

←

Which street is this store on? There are a quite a few BBQ places in Chinatown but it sounds like I should check this one out. Chinese sausage, mmmm....

[canucklehead]

Dollar is a great meat store - on Pender I think - and has been around for decades.

The sausages they make now are shipped around the world and are very much favored in HK and other overseas Chinese communities. When I lived in California it was nice to see the big maple leaf on their packages in asian grocery stores - made me less homesick.

My father would bring down a few links for me to eat with my steamed rice. The sausage (lap cheong), an overeasy egg, and steamed rice is a universal Chinese comfort meal.