I love Char Siu Pork. I love jerky. Why not put the two together? I had to give it a try.
I started with a pork loin. You want to find the leanest piece of pork you can. Trim off any surface fat and slice the pork into ¼ inch (6 mm) thick slices. I like to do this when the pork is slightly frozen, but a good slicing knife can do the job even on a thawed pork loin.
You will hear a lot of discussion about whether to cut with or across the grain of the meat. It is true that cutting across the grain makes a less chewy jerky and with the grain gives more chew, but both are fine. Cut it whatever way is easy for you.
Mix:
- 250 ml (1 cup) soy sauce
- 60 ml (4 tablespoons) hoisin
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) five spice
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) sriracha (could substitute 3 ml (1/2 teaspoon) hot pepper sauce)
- 125 ml (1 cup) brown sugar
- 3.2 grams (2.5 ml) (1/2 tsp) Prague Powder #1
Put the pork in a nonreactive container and pour the marinade over it. Cover the container and put it in the fridge for two days, stirring the meat around a couple of times.
Spread the pork on a rack and pat the surface dry with a paper towel. Flip the meat and pat dry with paper towel. Let sit in the open for 2 hours to dry.
Preheat an oven or smoker to 200 F (95 C) put the jerky on the racks. If you don’t have enough room for all the jerky, you can put a skewer through 1 end of the meat and hang the slices between the rack bars.
Cook for 2 hours until the meat is leathery but not dry.
The surface should crack on bending but not break. I start checking about 1 hour 45 minutes.
The Verdict
This is terrific. It has a real Asian flavour reminiscent of Chinese BBQ pork. If you have not made jerky from pork loin before, do it. It gives a great texture. This is one of my favourite jerkies.
The Old Fat Guy
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 pounds) pork loin, after trimming
- 250 ml (1 cup) soy sauce
- 60 ml (4 tablespoons) hoisin
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) five spice
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) sriracha (could substitute 3 ml (1/2 teaspoon) hot pepper sauce)
- 125 ml (1 cup) brown sugar
- 3.2 grams (2.5 ml) (1/2 tsp) Prague Powder #1
Instructions
- Trim any surface fat from the pork loin. Cut the pork loin into 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick slices.
- Mix the remaining ingredients together.
- Put the pork in a nonreactive container and pour the marinade over it.
- Cover and refrigerate for 2 days, stirring the meat around occasionally.
- Take the meat out of the marinade and spread it on a rack. Pat both sides dry with paper towel.
- Let the meat dry on the rack for 2 hours.
- Cook in a 200 F (95 C) smoker or oven until leathery but not dry, about 2 hours. The surface should crack on bending but not break.
7 Responses
Do you add any smoke to this? I was thinking some apple chips..
I used apple pellets when I use the pellet grill and apple biscuits when I use my Bradley electric smoker.
Thank you. They will go into the smoker tomorrow at a balmy 1 below F.
Har! Perfect smoking weather!
Made it tonight. It is excellent. I must have a hot spot in my smoker because a few in the back corner went a little far in the cooking process. Excellent flavor.
Some smokers do have areas where hot air accumulates. Try starting to check a bit earlier. Glad you liked the flavour and thanks for letting me know.
Thanks so much. It is one of our easy dinners when we are feeling lazy. We make it often and it is nice to know you like it. As for Atlantic salmon, it is an excellent choice!