Char Siew or Barbeque Pork

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2lb/ 750g lean pork loin
• cooking oil for brushing
• 1 cucumber (sliced)
• 1 tsp cornstarch (mixed with 2 tbsp water to form paste)

SEASONING INGREDIENTS (mixed together)

• 1 1/2 tbsp dark soya sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp red bean curd sauce
• 1/4 cup/ 60ml light soy sauce
• 5 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cooking wine
• 2 tbsp honey or corn syrup
• few drops red colouring
• salt to taste

• Cut pork into 2 long strips, following the grain. Put them in a bowl.
• Pour seasoning ingredients onto meat and mix well.
• Marinate for at least an hour.
• Preheat oven to 240C or 475F.
• Place strips on a rack with a drip trap underneath it.
• Roast for 30 minutes.
• Baste meat strips with remaining marinade and oil.
• Turn each strip over and repeat.
• Reduce heat and bake for another 10 minutes.
• Remove from oven and slice thinly across the grain.

To make sauce: Save a bit of the marinade, reheat and thicken with corn starch mixture.

Serve with sliced cucumber and marinade sauce or chillie sauce if preferred.

TIP: To ensure that the char siew is succulent and juicy, put water into the drip tray that is placed below the pork. This will prevent the char siew from being dry.