Barbecue pork at Sun Wah
Sun Wah Bar-B-Q Restaurant (1132-34 W. Argyle St.) has been an Uptown Chicago destination since 1987. Owner Eric Cheng learned Chinese barbecue, in Guangdong Province in Southern China, home of Cantonese cuisine. He fled Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution in China in 1972 by swimming eight hours to Hong Kong where he apprenticed and became a Barbecue Master. He emigrated to New York in 1976 and Chicago in 1986. Here's how he makes barbecue pork:
Strips of pork loin marinate for 20-30 minutes in red bean curd paste, soy bean paste, sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, oyster sauce, ginger, and dried shallots.
The marinated pork loin strips are skewered and hung in the oven to roast for about 50 minutes. Some ovens use charcoal, but most use gas. The burners go around the bottom of this well-insulated cabinet. There is no smoke.
When done they are dunked in a molasses based sauce similar to Char Siu sauce. Barbecue pork loin sections can be bought in slabs or sliced.
Click here for more pictures of Sun Wah.
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Chinatown Char Siu Pork
I love the "barbecued" pork and ribs in Chinatown. They have a distinct pork flavor, a glossy sheen that implies the sweet glaze beneath, and a glowing red-pink color that penetrates the surface (that's barbecue pork loin above, not ribs).
Unlike traditional Southern American low and slow smoke roasted barbecue, there is no smoke flavor, even though there is a pink ring beneath the surface of the meat. How do they do it?
Well, it turns out that Char Siu, even though it sounds like charcoal, is not grilled or smoked. It is roasted in a special oven. And it gets its ruddy tone from red food coloring. Sigh.
But it still tastes great. You can buy Char Siu sauce in Chinese specialty stores, and it makes a fine glaze, but it doesn't make ribs that taste like Chinese restaurant ribs. That's because you need to marinate the meat in a thin sauce first. I've worked on this recipe for a while and I think I've finally nailed the technique for making Chinatown Char Siu Ribs at home in the oven or on the grill. Here's how to do this dizzingly delicious favorite.
Recipe
Yield: 1 1/2 cups marinade, enough for 2 slabs of baby backs.
Preparation time: 20 minutes to make the marinade, 3-12 hours to marinate.
Cooking time: About 90 minutes.
The ribs
2 slabs of baby back ribs, cut in half
The marinade
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup brandy (or rum or bourbon)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons hot sauce such as Tabasco
2 tablespoons powdered ginger
1 tablespoon powdered garlic
1 tablespoon five spice powder
2 tablespoons powdered onion
2 teaspoons red food coloring (this is necessary for the authentic color)
The glaze
About 1/4 cup of honey or Char Siu sauce
About the meat. Many Chinese restaurants use spare ribs that are chopped into 3-4" riblets. If you want, your butcher can make you riblets with her band saw. I like baby backs for this recipe because they are a bit meathier. You can also substitute 4 pounds of pork loin for the ribs if you wish.
About the Chinese ingredients. There are no substitutes for hoisin sauce, five spice powder, or sesame oil. They are responsible for most of what we think of as the flavor of Chinese food. Click on the links for more info on these ingredients. If you have trouble finding them in your grocery store, try AsianFoodGrocer.com
About the hot sauce. If you have an Asian chili sauce you can use it, but any old hot sauce will work fine in this marinade since it provides more heat than flavor.
About the food coloring. I am told by readers that you can substitute beet root powder for the red food coloring, but I've never tried it.
Serve with. The classic accompaniments are Chinese beer or jasmine tea. If you can find it, try hibiscus tea or Pinot Grigio from Oregon (most of the California Pinot Grigios are borrrrring).
Do this
1) Mix the marinade thoroughly in a bowl. Don't skip the booze. It helps penetrate, and even if you're a teetotaler, don't worry, there isn't any measurable alcohol in the ribs. If you must skip it, use apple juice or water, but booze is better. You can substitute fresh ginger and garlic for powdered ginger and garlic if you wish.
2) Marinate the meat for at least 3 hours in zipper bags. Overnight is better.
3) Heat your cooker to about 300F. These ribs taste great cooked in an indoor oven. Just place them on a wire grate over a pan or on a broiler pan. If you are using a gas grill, turn off one or two burners and place the meat over the cool burners. If you are using a charcoal grill, set it up by banking the coals against one side for indirect cooking, like this. Roast for about 60 minutes.
4) After about 60 minutes, paint the bone side of the ribs with a coat of the glaze. Cook for 10 minutes, underside up. Turn them over, meat side up. Paint with glaze. Cook another 10 minutes. Remove them, let them sit for 5 minutes, cut them into individual ribs, and serve. I like to sprinkle them with chopped fresh chives.
This page was revised 1/24/2009
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