Pork Asado

This super delicious Pork Asado is Spanish in name (Asado means roast in Spanish) and Chinese in taste but for me it’s truly Filipino. It’s a little bit sweet, a little bit salty with the distinctive oriental flavour from the added five spice powder. In the Philippines, it makes it way into Fried Rice, as fillings in Pork Buns called Sio Pao, and in Stir Fries with noodles and veggies. However, the simplest and the best, is to eat it with piping hot steamed rice and a side of greens.

Pork Asado is very similar in to taste to the Chinese Char Siu Pork (you know the red tinged BBQ Pork that you see hanging from the window of Chinese BBQ Shops.). The difference is in the way it is cooked. While Char Siu is roasted or Barbecued, Asado is seared in a pan, and then braised until it’s fully cooked. This results in meat that is moist and full of flavour with a little bit of sauce to pour over. I love this particularly, as it’s a one pan wonder, and so less washing up. How good is that?

Need more Pinoy pork on your fork? Here’s Pork Belly Lechon for you.

What you need for Pork Asado

• Pork Tenderloin – If I’m cooking for 4 or less people , I use Pork Tenderloin. One piece which is about 400g is enough for 2 people. And don’t be afraid of leftover, there’s so many ways to use it up.
  If I’m serving more people, I use Pork Shoulder or Pork Butt, cut up into strips to resemble tenderloin.
• Pantry/Fridge Staples – Brown Sugar,Five Spice Powder, Rice Wine or Mirin, Soy Sauce,Hoisin Sauce, Garlic,Honey, Tomato Sauce (Catsup) and Sesame Oil.
• Red Food Colouring – Optional if you want a little bit of colour in it.
  

Easy does it…

• Mix the marinade ingredients together. Coat the Pork Tenderloin with the marinade, cover and set aside in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Sear the pork pieces in with a little bit of oil in a heavy bottomed pan, until lightly browned. Reserve the marinade which you will use for basting.
• To the reserved marinade, add half a cup of water and add this to the pan. Cover and cook for 15 minutes on low heat or until the pork is done. At this stage if you prefer, and if your pan is ovenproof, you can bake this instead for 20 minutes (160°C) or until the pork is cooked.
• Increase the heat to high to thicken the sauce and use this to glaze the pork until it’s glossy. Remove from heat and rest for 10 minutes before serving.
• If the glaze is too thick, loosen it with a little bit of water, then pour this over the pork before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and garnish with chopped shallots if desired.
• Serve with steamed rice and steamed Asian greens like Choy Sum or Bok Choy.
  

How to use up the leftovers…

• Great as a topping for ramen or jazz up a packet of instant noodles.
• Chopped up and use in place of ham or bacon in a delicious fried rice.
• Add to stir fried mixed veggies or noodles.
• And last, but no means least as a filling for steamed Bau buns or the Filipino Sio Pao

Pork Asado

Recipe by Lola AdeleCourse: MainCuisine: FilipinoDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Marinating

3 +

Hours

Moist and tender Braised Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

• 2 pieces Pork Tenderloin, about 800g in total

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil

• Marinade

• 8 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

• 2 tablespoon rice wine or mirin

• 2 tablespoon soy sauce

• 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 2 tablespoons Tomato Sauce(Catsup)

• 4 cloves garlic,peeled finely minced

• To Serve

• Steamed Rice

• Steamed Asian Greens

• Chopped Shallots,Sesame Seeds for Garnish

Directions

• Combine the marinade ingredients together. Coat the pork pieces in the marinade, cover and set aside in the fridge for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
• When ready to cook, heat cooking oil on medium in a heavy bottomed pan, then sear the pork pieces until golden brown on both sides.
• Add half a cup of water to the marinade and add this to the pan. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Cook on low for about 20 minutes.
• Uncover pan, increase the heat to high to thicken the sauce and use a spoon to baste the pork until it’s glossy. If the sauce is too thick add a little bit of water to desired consistency. Remove from heat and rest the meat for 10 minutes.
• Slice the meat and place in a serving plate, then pour the rest of the glaze over the meat. Sprinkle with chopped shallots and a bit of sesame seeds.
• Serve with steamed rice and steamed Asian greens.

Notes

• Serve with Steamed Rice and Asian Greens