Chinese Char Siu Boar

Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Ah, Matilda. She is the boar that just keeps giving. Ever since my boar hunt in March, I have been working my way through every piece of this feral hog, who was nearly as fatty as a domestic pig. So fatty I saved the whole belly and made French bacon, as well as a spicy Calabrian bacon I will write about soon. But why let the Europeans have all the fun? You know who digs fatty pork belly? The Chinese, that’s who.

People, meet China’s answer to barbecue: Char siu. You probably have seen glimpses of it, as chopped up bits in fried rice, or those spare ribs many cheapy Chinese takeout places sell. That’s char siu, but it ain’t good char siu. That is to real Chinese BBQ what the McRib is to our real barbecue.

Char siu is sweet, silky and spicy — both in the heat sense of the word and because you can definitely detect the Chinese Five-Spice powder in here. You can buy the sauce in stores, and in fact I did. I am working on a duck cookbook right now, and I wanted to have some Chinese BBQ duck legs in the book. So I bought some sauce and tried it. Meh. Gloppy, overly sweet, no real heat. Back to the drawing board.

Turns out you can make your own char siu. So I did, and here it is. You’ll have to wait until fall 2013 for the duck version of this recipe, but I can assure you that this wild boar version is nearly as good; the only thing it lacks that ducks have is that crispy skin people will kill for.

As an American, I may not be overly happy that everyone’s calling this the Chinese century. But at least their barbecue is good…

Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Prep Time: 30 minutes, mostly marinating time

Cook Time: 2 hours

• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce, preferably dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 4 tablespoons Chinese Shaoxing wine, or dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon Chinese chile bean paste
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons grated ginger
• 2-3 pounds wild boar (or pork) shoulder or belly, cut into large pieces
• 1-2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar or malt vinegar (optional)
• 1-2 sliced fresh chiles, for garnish (optional)

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1. Make the char siu sauce by mixing all the ingredients except for the wild boar in a blender and pureeing for 1 minute. Pour into a bowl. Put the pork or boar into a plastic container that will just about fit it, and coat with a little of the char siu sauce. Leave at least 1/2 of the sauce for basting later. Marinate for at least 30 minutes, and up to overnight.
2. Get your grill going, leaving some space for indirect heat. If you are using a gas grill, turn off all but one burner. If you are using charcoal, leave an open space on one side of the grill. Make a drip pan out of aluminum foil and set that under where the pork will be. You are looking for slow, steady heat here, about 300°F. Alternately, you can cook the pork or boar in the oven at this temperature.
3. Set the boar on the grill over the drip pan and away from the direct heat. Cover the grill and cook until it’s tender, which will take between 2 and 4 hours, depending on how large a piece of pork you started with. Baste the boar with the char siu sauce every 45 minutes or so. Turn the pork every hour.
4. To serve, cut the boar into bite-size pieces and toss with the remaining char siu sauce. A splash of Chinese black vinegar or malt vinegar right at the end is a nice touch. Garnish with sliced fresh chiles and serve with white steamed rice, some pickles and lots of cold beer.

Photo by Holly A. Heyser

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