Sous Vide Char Sui Pork and An Intro To Yummly

I have added a new feature to the blog, right over there ------------>
It's a yummly button so that you can save my recipes straight to your yummly box. I have been using yummly, myself, forever and for some reason I just never got around to adding The Yum Yum Factor to their gene pool. If you aren't using yummly to search for recipes, it's time to change that so go over there and check it out but first, go straight to The Yum Yum Factor page (don't worry if there isn't anything there yet - this is a new venture so it will take time to get it going)

So, let's move on to something to eat, I am starving.

Char siu is that sweet, sticky Chinese BBQ pork that you see hanging from hooks in the window of any decent Chinese restaurant. I make my own version of char sui all the time at home so it made sense that my first attempt at doing some sous vide pork tenderloin would be a batch of this stuff, right?

I didn't really change anything, apart from the measurements because I made a double batch and instead of roasting it in the oven, I used my sous vide cooker.

Okay, this was probably the most tender pork I have ever cranked out of my kitchen and I am not sure I can ever go back to roasting it in the oven. The meat was so soft that you barely need a knife to cut it. Don't be put off by the pink tone of the meat either - it is fully cooked. In fact, I cooked it 5 degrees F higher than most of the recipes I found online called for.  It is done in 2 hours but I left it in closer to 3 hours just because at the two hour mark, I wasn't ready for it. How much do I love having that kind of timing wiggle room?

It's up to you whether you use a blow torch or the broiler to finish it off at the end and to be honest, both methods produce a great finished product and I only lean towards the torch because it's more fun. Broiling it at the end with a couple of layers of reserved sauce works beautifully.

Sous Vide Char Sui Pork

2 pork tenderloins (approx 2 1/2 lbs)
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbls honey
3 tbls dark soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 1/2 tbls sesame oil
6 cloves of garlic
6 slices of ginger

Mix everything but the pork in a saucepan, bring to a boil and boil for a solid minute or so, stirring a few times, take off the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Reserve 1/3 cup of the sauce and, halving each tenderloin, cover the pork with the remaining sauce in a container and put in the fridge for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hrs.

When it's time to cook, preheat your sous vide bath to 140F (60C).

Remove the pork tenderloins from the marinade but don't wipe off the excess and place them in zip lock bags, using the water displacement method. I didn't vacuum seal because they were still pretty saucy but you can try it using the pulse vac or gentle setting. I also use a clip to clip the bag to the side of the container so it's not floating around - if there is any chance that the ziplock seal is not 100%, this prevents water from getting into the bag. just make sure the water level is high enough that the meat is totally submerged in the water with the bag clipped to the side.

this binder clip works perfectly

Let the pork cook for at least 2 hours to ensure pasteurization and up to four hours.

Remove from the bags and set them on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment. **If you are not using them right away, put the unopened bags of pork in an ice bath to cool and store in the fridge until you need them. You can reheat them, in the bag, in your sous vide bath set to 140F (60C) for 30 minutes and then continue with the searing.

It's your choice whether you torch them or broil them.
If torching, brush some of your reserved marinade over them and begin to sear them with your propane torch, adding more sauce if needed as you go until you have a nice, caramelized crust. Slice and serve.

If broiling, set the pan under the pre heated broiler and broil, turning the pork from time to time and brushing more marinade as you go until you get a nice, caramelized crust. Slice and serve.