Chinese Barbecued Pork (Char Siu), Homemade Five Spice, + iPad Giveaway!

I have so much fun for you today! I have one my favourite recipes of all time and I’ve partnered with an amazing group of bloggers to give away something that I’m pretty excited about. I know you know WHAT it is because I stuffed it into the title, but let’s get to the recipe before we get into the whats, hows, and whens!

Are you familiar with char siu; that flavourful, luscious, sticky-sweet, bright-red pork served in House Special Soup, fried rice, and on skewers at Chinese restaurants? I have a serious fixation on the stuff. I can’t get enough of it. The problem with satisfying my need for it is twofold:

  • I don’t live near a Chinese restaurant. No. Really… It’s fifteen miles round trip to the nearest one and the nearest one is not worth driving fifteen miles round trip.
  • I’m not super fond of food dyes. They kind of weird me out, honestly… That’s why you don’t see a lot of things calling for food colouring here on Foodie with Family.

With these issues in mind, I started making my own a while back and I think it tastes vastly superior to what I can get at many restaurants. I use red beet powder (Amazon affiliate link)  because that not only adds a little sweetness, but adds a little red to the party without using food dye. Hey- I like pretty foods as much as the next gal,I just don’t like artificial food colouring! Does anyone else feel like diving face first into that plate?

Chinese Barbecued Pork (Char Siu) and an #iPad #GIVEAWAY | Make Ahead Mondays www.foodiewithfamily.com

I had a very pregnant friend visiting when I plated this dish the other day. She happily helped me dispatch of the evidence after I snapped a couple shots. Her daughter -who normally doesn’t love meat dishes- assisted in the effort, too. It didn’t take us much time to make that dish look as clean as it did before I threw a pile of food on it.

I have to say a couple of words about the ingredients out of which the marinade is made. Don’t skip the Five Spice Powder. I used to think I couldn’t stand the stuff. It turns out -unsurprisingly- that what I hated was the little jars of indeterminate age that I got from the regular grocery store that then languished in my spice drawer for years on end. Homemade Five Spice Powder is a revelation, to say the least. Made of cinnamon, fennel seed, Szechuan (or Sichuan) peppercorn, star anise, and clove, it might sound a little odd to add to a savoury dish, but I tell ya, it does something special to pork. Chances are you’re pretty familiar with all or most of those ingredients. If I were a betting woman, I’d say the ingredient that most people haven’t used is the Szechuan peppercorn. It’s a key flavour in most Szechuan food. Unlike black or white peppercorns, it’s not known to be spicy or hot, but rather, it’s citrusy and numbs the tongue a bit. All in all, after making my own Homemade Five Spice, I have to say that I’ve done a 180° on my stance and I now sprinkle a little bit of it into nearly everything! If you don’t want to make Homemade Five Spice, you can use five spice powder purchased at an Asian grocer or a well-stocked grocery store.

Are you wondering what in the world you’d do with four whole tenderloins cooked into Chinese Barbecued Pork? Aside from slicing them and serving over rice as pictured and serving to your pregnant friends, you can dice them and toss it into fried rice or onto salad, slice thinly and add to your own House Special Soup or put on split rolls with a slaw for Chinese Barbecue Pork Sliders… I’m sure there are other options I haven’t thought of yet. How would you serve these?

Chinese Barbecued Pork (Char Siu) and an #iPad #GIVEAWAY | Make Ahead Mondays www.foodiewithfamily.com

 

Chinese Barbecued Pork (Char Siu), Homemade Five Spice, and an iPad Giveaway!

Rating: 51

Fragrant, moist, and full of flavour (garlic, ginger, Sriracha, ) with a sticky-sweet, slightly charred glaze, this Szechuan Chinese restaurant standard is worlds better made at home! This recipe is for four pork tenderloins, leaving plenty to freeze for fast meals at a later date!

Ingredients

    For Homemade Five Spice Powder:
  • 2 teaspoons Szechuan Peppercorn
  • 8 whole star anise
  • 1 tablespoon fennel seed
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • For the Chinese Barbecue Pork:
  • 4 good sized boneless pork tenderloins (about 4-6 pounds total weight)
  • 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1/2 cup soju (Korean rice liquor) or light rum
  • 1/3 cup brown rice syrup or honey, plus additional for brushing while grilling
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons Sriracha
  • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons ground ginger
  • 2 tablespoons granulated onion or onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons red beet powder (can omit or substitute with 1 teaspoon red food colouring)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Homemade Five Spice or purchased five spice powder
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated garlic or garlic powder

Instructions

To Make the Homemade Five Spice:

Put a clean, dry, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium low heat. Add the Szechuan peppercorns and shake the pan back and forth until the peppercorns are fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Immediately add them to a spice grinder with the fennel seed and star anise. Grind until the mixture is as finely powdered as you can make it. Shake it through a fine mesh strainer. Discard what remains in the strainer. Take the sifted spices and stir in the ground cinnamon and cloves. Return this mixture to the spice grinder and grind momentarily to better combine the spices. Store in an airtight container in a dark, cool cupboard. For most potent flavour, use within three months.

To Make the Chinese Barbecued Pork (Char Siu):

Add everything but the pork tenderloins and the spare honey to a large, resealable, zipper-top bag. Seal the bag and use your hands to gently squish and combine the ingredients until it is evenly mixed. Open the bag and add all of the pork tenderloins. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can, reseal it, place it on a rimmed baking dish and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours, turning the bag halfway through the marinating process.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place the tenderloins on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. While the tenderloins are roasting, begin preheating a grill, using high heat on half of the grill and low heat on the other half. When the tenderloins have roasted for 20 minutes, transfer them to the HIGH heat side of the grill. Drizzle honey over the tops of the tenderloins and use a heat-proof pastry brush to distribute the honey. When the bottom of the tenderloin has good colour, about 4 minutes, flip it over, drizzle it again with honey and brush to distribute. The second side should colour up more quickly than the first as it was brushed with honey. When that has nice colour and a couple of charred bits, transfer it to the LOW heat side of the grill, flipping it over in the process. Continue drizzling with honey, brushing, and grilling until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the tenderloin measures at least 145°F (medium rare). Transfer the cooked tenderloins to a clean, rimmed baking dish and lightly tent with foil. Allow them to rest for at least 3 minutes before slicing or chilling.

To Serve Immediately:

Slice or dice the pork -hot, warm, or room temperature- and serve over rice, in soup, or on sandwiches or salads.

To Freezer for Later Meals:

Chill the cooked Chinese Barbecue Pork (Char Siu) before wrapping tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of foil. Place the wrapped pork on a baking sheet and put into the freezer. When the pork is frozen firmly, place the wrapped pork in a labeled, resealable zipper top bag and freeze for up to 6 months.

To Reheat:

For best results, remove the desired number of cooked tenderloins from the freezer, remove the foil and double layer of plastic wrap, and thaw in the refrigerator overniht. Reheat in a 350°F in a foil covered rimmed baking dish until heated all the way through, about 15-20 minutes.

If you're in a hurry, remove the foil and one layer of plastic wrap, then defrost gently in the microwave. Remove the last layer of plastic wrap, place in a rimmed, microwave safe dish, cover the dish with plastic wrap, venting one corner, and reheat on medium temperature until hot all the way through. The timing of this will depend on the strength of your microwave.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/06/17/chinese-barbecued-pork-char-siu-homemade-five-spice-and-an-ipad-giveaway/

Here is a list of marginally difficult to find ingredients available for purchase on Amazon.com (affiliate links all!):
Hoisin Sauce
Szechuan Peppercorns
Whole Star Anise
Fennel Seeds(Pssst. You can make THIS DELICIOUSNESS with your extra fennel.)
Brown Rice Syrup
Red Beet Powder
Toasted Sesame Oil
Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce

 

 How about an iPad giveaway?!?

iPad giveaway on www.foodiewithfamily.com #ipad #giveaway

I teamed up with this fabulous group of bloggers to give away an honest to goodness, brand-spankin’ new, glorious 16 GB iPad with Retina Display. My husband and I bought one of these 16 GB iPads with wi-fi for our family last winter. We have it crammed full of educational apps that make homeschooling so much easier. Okay, we also have some news apps and some silly photo filters on there, too, but as a tool for homeschool or other students, it is absolutely invaluable. Our favourite application is the astronomy app ‘Star Walk’. If it’s a clear night, there’s a good chance one of us is outside gazing up at the sky with the iPad in tow figuring out which constellation is where. My eleven year old has turned into a walking, talking, mini Carl Sagan who tells me about the billions and billions of stars in our Cosmos.

How to enter the giveaway:

Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter (Oh, so many ways to enter!) Be sure to leave a comment here and register it on the widget to be entered to win from Foodie with Family.  And since I’m involved with such a great group, you can visit each of their blogs for more chances to enter! How awesome is that?

Avery Cooks

Bakeaholic Mama

Bless This Mess

Climbing Grier Mountain

Crunchy Creamy Sweet

Domestic Fits

Foodness Gracious

Nutmeg Nanny

Savory Simple

Very Culinary

iPad Giveaway Fine Print:

The giveaway ends one week from the start date of 6amEST, June 17th, 2013.  With apologies to my buddies in Canada, Mexico, Korea, and the rest of the world, the winner of this giveaway must have an address in and ship to an address in the United States. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or will forfeit the prize, so pretty please, check in at the end of the contest! Sometimes those emails get routed to spam folders and we’d hate to have you lose out because of that!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by a group of bloggers including me. We paid for the item ourselves and it is not a compensated post. There is an Amazon.com affiliate link for ingredients and another for an iPad in the post. If you choose to purchase any of those ingredients or an iPad after clicking through those links, I receive a small commission from Amazon.com which in no way effects the price of the item. Thank you!

Joy’s Prize Winning Secret Ingredient Tropical Icebox Pie | Grain and Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Raw.

Joy's Secret Ingredient Icebox Pie | www.foodiewithfamily.com

If you've been visiting Foodie with Family for any amount of time, you know by now that I won't give you a recipe JUST because it's healthy, right? You know that I take a serious stand on the fact that food must -above all else- taste great.  Have I steered you wrong yet? So when I tell you I have a creamy, lemon-lime, sweet, luscious, icebox pie with a lovely crumb crust that is *GASP* actually good for you and has ZERO sugar, dairy, gluten, or grains in it, will you believe me? Oh you'd better believe me. What's the secret? Let me tell you a story... I have a friend on a very restrictive diet. She's become something of a wizard at making delectables that fit all of the rules that limit what she can and cannot eat. A few weeks ago, a highly-regarded local restaurant held a pie contest. Contestants were asked to bring the pies along with a copy of their recipe. The recipe was to remain sealed and unexamined until the blind taste test was done. The winner would receive a meal at the restaurant, a generous cash prize (or gift card for the equivalent), and have their pie featured on the restaurant's menu for the summer. There were categories for fruit pies, custard pies, and savoury pies. My friend entered her grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free pie in the contest with few hopes that it would get any attention. When she came back later to collect her pie plate, she couldn't find it anywhere. She found one of the contest organizers to ask where it was … {Read on...}

Grilled Mexican Street Corn Salad

Grilled Mexican Street Corn Salad | www.foodiewithfamily.com

I'm on a bit of a salad bender right now. Tossed salads, chopped salads, marinated salads: I can't help myself. I can't go a day without having a big bowl of one sort or another. One of my favourite things to do these days is turn regular vegetable side dishes into spectacular salads. The top of the heap right now is a salad based on one of the most iconic Mexican street foods; Elote, or Mexican Sweet Corn. Elote makes me want to purr. I can't get enough of the charred corn that is rubbed with mayonnaise, sprinkled with ground chipotle or chili powder, rolled in crumbled cotija cheese and chopped cilantro then topped off with a squeeze of lime juice. Mrawwwrrrrrrrrrr... I'm not much of a finger licker, but I am compelled to get every last bit of goodness from my fingers after eating it. Etiquette? Pshaw. I wanted to do it up salad style so that it would travel a little more easily to a potluck because it is a touch on the awkward side to lay waste to someone else's kitchen with a box full of corn to grill and all the other accoutrements in tow. The idea was to pack all of the classic Elote flavours into one easily portable, undeniably derivative, eminently edible marinated salad. Thankfully, this is a dish that translates easily to the bowl from the cob. The mayonnaise and cheese that would otherwise be slathered and rolled onto the grilled corn serve to hold the salad together a bit, and the lime juice helps distribute the ground chipotle (my choice!) or chili … {Read on...}

Whipped Fruit Ice Pops

Whipped Fruit Ice Pops, Dairy Free | www.foodiewithfamily.com

I am happy to be part of the 2013 Kraft Tastemakers team. This post is part of my continuing commitment to bring family friendly recipes to you that are made from things you're likely to have in your pantry at most times.  Do any of you remember the Jell-O Pudding Pops from the 80s? I ate my weight in those as a kid because the camp my dad ran procured them by the crate. I used to slip into the walk-in cooler for a pudding pop whenever the fancy struck. Less present, but equally loved, were the Jell-O Gelatin Pops. Fruity, icy, and no drip, the pops seemed almost like they were whipped before they were frozen. I got it in my head the other day that I wanted these and since they're no longer on the market, I made my own! I busted out my Knox Unflavoured Gelatin (that's an Amazon affiliate link, by the way), a bottle of Cran-Raspberry Juice, a wee bit of sugar, and my trusty stand mixer and Vie-Oh-Lee! We had Whipped Fruit Ice Pops. Super smart snacking for summer, I'd say, wouldn't you? They're a little crazy looking, but I can explain! I wanted my ice pops to have the same consistency that I remembered so I made classic Knox Blocks, chilled 'em until they were as firm as they should be, cut the stuff into small cubes, then beat the tar out of it all with my stand mixer. It got fluffy and airy and looked a little like I had whipped cream into it. That was fun and a little gross looking, honestly, but it made filling the ice pop molds evenly a bit of a challenge. … {Read on...}

Mixed Berry and Basil Sangria-By-The-Glass (and mocktail variation)

Mixed Berry Sangria by the glass with a Mocktail variation! www.foodiewithfamily.com

I like sangria a lot, but there's one massive problem with most sangria recipes that are circulating out there. They assume you: a) have an enormous number of people partaking with you, b) you're a lush, or c) you're okay with leftovers going flat. None of these options suit me. Oh sure, I have an enormous number of people at my house at most times, but five-sevenths of them are not of drinking age, and I'm not that kind of mom. Can I get an amen out there from someone? I have a solution. You knew that was coming right? Raise your hand if you want a straw and a lounge chair and a glass of that right now. Yes? My hand is up, too. Way up. This solves all of my sangria related issues simultaneously PLUS another one I didn't mention yet. Sweetness. Good golly, the prepackaged stuff is awfully sweet. And a lot of homemade recipes call on you to pour in lemon-lime soda or simple syrup which just about makes my teeth rattle. Never fear, though, my darling sweet-tooth friends... This is my favourite word; customizable. Happy sigh. So what do we have here? We have a mixed berry and basil (don't look at me like that. I'll explain shortly.) sangria that is made up by the glass rather than pitcher or vat (Hallelujah!) and can be made with white wine ("leaded") or white grape juice (Mocktail). That's right... Foodie with Family is pleasing all the people all the time. I am doing a victory dance you wouldn't believe right now. How do we make this happen? We make this magic with ice … {Read on...}

Filthy Burgers (Beef, Barbecue Pulled Pork, & Bacon Burgers)

Filthy Burger (Beef, Barbecue Pulled Pork and Bacon Burgers) | www.foodiewithfamily.com

"What do we want for dinner?" "MEAT!" If I had a dime for every time that call-and-response happened in this house, I'd be able to buy some amazing cuts of meat. Meat is expensive! I walked into the fabulous meat market Oscar's in the Adirondacks with my dad a couple of weeks ago. Oscar's specializes in bacon. Am I the only one who starts drooling at the mere thought of a meat market full of bacon? Next to their beef bacon, hickory bacon, applewood bacon, jalapeno bacon, English, Irish and Canadian bacons were their preformed, fresh burger patties. One burger type in particular stood out because, well, it looked wonky. The meat was full of chunks of something I couldn't quite identify from a distance. As I scootched along the glass case admiring all the porky goodness, I got close enough to catch the name on the tag; "Dirty Burgers". In tiny little letters below the name were the words "Beef and BBQ Pork". What? WHAT?!? This was brilliant for a whole host of reasons. Make your ground beef stretch further! For starters, beef is expensive: pork shoulder (the base for my favourite pulled porks, both Number One and Number Two) is wickedly cheap. Using the far less expensive barbecue pulled pork as an extender in the beef lowers the overall cost of the burger. Don't worry, though, they play nicely together: barbecue pulled pork brings a whole lot of flavour to the party without overwhelming the distinctive beefiness of a burger. The Evil Genius is usually a purist … {Read on...}

Homemade Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Soda (Stevia Sweetened)

Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Soda | www.foodiewithfamily.com

I know it's not popular to like soda let alone diet soda, but dangit, I do. I don't let myself have it often, but I indulge in a diet Coke or Pepsi or Dr. Pepper about once a week. I know I'm not alone judging by the stacks upon stacks at the grocery store but I still feel like of naughty saying it because I know the stuff in those is pretty not great for you, particularly when consumed in abundance. The full-sweet versions are scarcely any better for you with their wall-to-wall calories and whatnot. What it boils down to is that soda, pop, or whatever you call it where you're from is considered a treat to have infrequently in our home. I get my fizzy fix on a daily basis, though, because I'm the devoted owner of a rather elderly SodaStream Home Seltzer and Soda Maker and I have worked that puppy out since the day I got it. I mostly make seltzer with it because that satisfies my fizz addiction. (That link is an affiliate link to Amazon.com. If you purchase that item through the link, the price doesn't change for you but I get a small commission which helps keep the goodies coming here at Foodie with Family.) Sometimes, though, we just want that sweet bubbly stuff. Most of the time I take care of my kids' desires for fizzy lifting drinks by pouring a little unsweetened juice (grape, apple, cranberry... Whatever is on hand!) over ice then filling the rest of the glass with seltzer. As an adult, though, I'm a little wary of drinking my calories (hence the forbidden love … {Read on...}

Watermelon, Feta, Pickled Red Onion and Arugula Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Watermelon, Feta, Arugula Salad with Pickled Red Onions and Balsamic Reduction | www.foodiewithfamily.com

The names a mouthful, eh? It is so long, in fact, that I had to leave off the whole Make Ahead Mondays part of the title. Leaving the moniker off of the title doesn't make it any less of a Make Ahead Mondays superstar, though because this salad is f-to the-abulous! It is beyond good. Last week, I was at Disney attending Food Blog Forum and I brought my mom and two of my sisters along with me. While I got inspired and educated (oh, and choked and almost died, but who's keeping track, really?) by a-list bloggers, my mama and sisters wandered around Disney in the ninety-degree temps and fifty-thousand-percent humidity riding rides and finding the best salads Disney had to offer. The one they raved about was an arugula, watermelon, feta, and pickled red onion salad that was drizzled with a balsamic reduction. "It's so good, Beccy! We HAVE to get you one!" they said. Not in unison, but you get the idea. On our last day in Florida, I finally got to grab one of these salads at the Florida Fresh booth in Epcot Center. I understood the enthusiasm with my first bite. Peppery arugula topped with sweet, icy cold watermelon, crunchy pickled red onions, briny crumbled feta, and balsamic vinegar that was so concentrated it tasted almost sweet? Hoo yeah. I was hooked. Aside from a Dole Whip (soft serve pineapple frozen yogurt) I can't think of another thing that would've satisfied my hunger without weighing me down in that oppressive heat. I vowed to them I would recreate it STAT when … {Read on...}