I got this craving for siew yoke!

Well, how do I make it for you?

Siew Yoke Crunch tl;dr

Soooooooooooooo, I made roasted pork shoulder at least 2 times and it has yet to live up to my expectations. And sooooooooooooo recently i was highly motivated (i say tricked, she said challenged) to try out another recipe involving pork belly. And this is the story of the hungry tummy adventure that ensued.

Ingredients

• to taste – salt / pepper
• 1-2 pounds – slab pork belly (not the sliced one but the whole piece)
• a little goes a long way – 5 spice powder
• 5 pieces – fermented bean curd
• 3 teaspoons – brown sugar
• drizzle – Pilipino white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons – chili bean sauce
• 2 tablespoons – sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons – soy sauce
• baking dish
• deep set dish to marinade
• aluminum foil
• a grill grate to place in baking dish
• lots of garlic

Day Before Cooking

1. get ingredients at local Asian superstore
2. clean pork (rinse the pork)
3. dry the pork (use paper towels)
4. sharpen knife
5. lightly crosshatch both the meat surface and the skin surface – TRY NOT TO CUT THROUGH THE MEAT INTO THE SKIN AND VICE VERSA but i did =(
6. Make marinade

Prep Time

1. Place the pork… meat side down into the marinade
2. Dry the pork
3. Dry the pork some more
4. No, seriously… dry the pork
5. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt onto the skin.. then add some more
6. 20 minutes later dry the skin of the liquid
7. Salt again
8. Dry again 20 minutes later
9. Salt again
10. Dry again after 20 minutes
11. Place in fridge UNCOVERED
12. and then wait till the next day

Marinade Directions

1. Get Pyrex dish
2. Mix well together – brown sugar / fermented bean curd / chili bean sauce / sesame oil / soy sauce / garlic / 5 spice powder
3. Place marinade in baking dish

F8T Tip

• Be careful when you cut through the skin. I cut through too far into the meat, the skin and I dont know what the difference would have been but it seemed to turn out a-ok.
• If you plan to reuse the marinade in another dish… make sure you cook it well because of the raw juices. I used the marinade as a sauce mixed with some red wine and sliced onions. Let it simmer in the oven with the pork till it cooked through.
• And I ate too much…

How We Cook It

1. Remove the pork/marinade from the fridge an 3 hours before you want to eat it
2. Leave it on the counter and let it come to room temperture (less time if its hot where you’re at)
3. Dry the skin
4. Remove pork from marinade
5. Get as much of the marinade off the pork
6. Set marinade to the side to cook with something else if you want
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
8. Salt the skin again
9. Get a baking dish
10. Line the baking dish with foil
11. Place grate grill thingy onto foil in the baking dish
12. Place dried room temperature pork onto grill grate thingy
13. Place all of that into the oven and let it gooooooo….
14. 20 minutes into the baking, pull out the pork
15. Drizzle a little bit of white wine vinegar over the skin and place back into the oven
16. 50 minutes into it check internal temperature for 160 degrees
17. Once it reaches 160 degrees change from bake to broil
18. Broil for about 15 minutes
19. Watch it as the skin pops and crisps
20. IF the skin get too black then take it out now
21. Let it rest for 20 minutes and scrape off the charred parts of the skin like you would burnt toast
22. Cut, dont cut.. whatever you want to do.
23. Then gorge yourself!

Tell me how your experience goes. Remember to adjust to your tastes and go wild with it. On another side note… my first recipe I wrote a ‘novel’ and this time I was rather minimalist.

Which kind of writing do you  prefer?