What is the red stuff on Chinese pork?

Question

When you order won ton soup, or some other pork dishes (pork fried rice) you get pork that is thinly sliced or cut in cubes and soaked in some sort of red coating. That seems to give it all the flavour.

What is that, and how do you cook the pork to get it like that?

Thank you.

Answer 1

That's the sauce... you just cover in the sauce and bake it. Or thats what my aunt did...

Answer 2

I'm not exactly sure but I know I've been in a kitchen of a chinese kitchen alotta times. (my parents own one)Here's what I see how they make it. They put alotta raw pork in a huge bowl-shaped pot. Then they add all the flavorings, sauces, and I see them add red food coloring. Enough to make the meat a reddish color. The red food coloring bottle is tall, it's not like the small ones since it's a business, everything they order is larger. So then they get out a flat oven metal pan and with some tongs, they put each piece of reddish color meat spread out on the pan and bake it in the oven. After that, they take the meat out and let it cool down and then meat looks kinda dry but it's still good. Then they cut it into cube-like pieces and use it in whatever dishes they need it in. If you see those reddish chicken meat on a stick, the same things done but they slice it and they fry it when they need to serve it.

So I think why the coating tastes so good is because they mix the red food coloring with all the flavorings and sauces when they mix it.  Hope that helps<(^.^)>

Answer 3

It's a marinade. Try chinese cooking websites. I think it's called char siu, it's delicious.

Answer 4

Blood.

Answer 5

I believe the chinese used to use red yeast rice a.k.a. angkak - see wikipedia for definition but now red food colouring is used instead. Here's a recipe that should get you the taste and some of the colouring if you can't find red yeast rice

BARBECUED PORK

This tasty pork dish can be used in stir-fry dishes, served with noodles, or used as a stuffing for pork buns. Food coloring gives it the red coloring common to barbecued pork purchased in Chinatown.

Serves 4 to 6

Prep Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

    * 1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, shoulder, or butt

    * 2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

    * 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

    * 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

    * 2 tablespoons ketchup

    * 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

    * 1 tablespoon liquid honey

    * 2 teaspoons brown sugar

    * 1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder

    * a few drops red food coloring, optional

Preparation:

Cut the pork into strips approximately 2 inches wide and 5 inches long.

Smash and peel the garlic, and mash it with a mortar and pestle or with a fork.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the rice wine or sherry, hoisin sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, liquid honey, brown sugar, mashed garlic and five-spice powder. If using the red food coloring, add it now.

Place the pork in a shallow 9 X 13-inch glass baking dish. Pour the marinade over. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator, covered, for 3 hours. Remove the pork from the dish. Reserve the marinade.

Preheat the oven (425 degrees Fahrenheit for pork tenderloin, 350 degrees for shoulder or butt). Fill a shallow roasting pan with 1/2-inch of water and place in the bottom of the oven. Place the pork on a rack above the water. Roast until golden brown, brushing 2 or 3 times with the reserved marinade (about 30 minutes total roasting time for the tenderloin, 45 minutes total roasting time for the shoulder or butt). The internal temperature of the pork should be 160 degrees F. Remove and cool.

When the pork is cool enough to handle, cut across the grain into pieces 1/4-inch thick. Serve at room temperature, cold, or use to make steamed buns.

Answer 6

aloha!  that chinese pork is called char siu like some already mentioned above.  in addition to the recipes that they gave on how to make the bbq pork you could take the easy way out.  there's this sauce/marinade called cowyuk(i have no idea how to spell it!  it's kawyuk or something that sounds like cow-yook.)  it's found in some asian stores.  good luck!

Answer 7

It is a marinade of Chinese BBQ, ii can be bought at most Asian stores and makes the best BBQ pork  or chicken you can get. only takes 1 day

Use use water and the mixture and soak overnight, then place on baking pan and bake til pork is done , slice and enjoy with Chinese mustard and sesame seeds.

Answer 8

It's called Char Sui and it is a seasoning. It can usually be found in local asian markets in a package. It has all of the seasoning in it like the chinese 5 spice, star anise, etc...which all ends up turning the pork pink. If you can find it I suggest you get some and marinate some pork ribs and grill it. Use the leftovers for fried rice etc... You won't be sorry. :*)

Or you can make it yourself:

    * 3 tbsp. hoisin sauce

    * 3 tbsp yellow bean sauce

    * 5 tbsp dark soy sauce

    * 4 tbsp honey

    * 1 tbsp shoishing wine or sherry

    * 2 tsp five spice powder

Method

   1. Make four or five cuts just over half way through in the pork fillets at different directions horizontally. This allows the marinade to penetrate and also gives a more authentic look.

   2. Marinade: Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a container large enough to hold the pork fillets. Place the pork fillets in the marinade and marinate for at least 2 hourss and up to 24 hours covered in the refigerator. Turn the pork at regular intervals.

   3. To Cook: Place the pork fillets in the centre of a moderate barbecue and cook it 20 minutes, turning and basting it in the marinade after 10 minutes. Then remove the pork and dip in the marinade and place back on the side grills of the barbecue and cook for another 10 minutes. The pork should be a reddish colour and slighlty charred.

   4. Remove the pork from the barbecue onto a wooden board and brush with honey.

   5. To Serve:Slice the pork into slices and serve on boiled jasmine rice with papaya salad (optional). Serve with hoisin or soy sauce.

The pork can be cooked in an oven set at 200C with its marinade for 30-40 minutes. It will need to be turned and basted regularly.Storage: The pork can be stored in the refigerator for a couple of days or frozen for 1 month. To reheat it place in the oven at 170C for 10 minutes.

Answer 9

Typically, the marinade contains a red dye similar to what you might find in KoolAide. It's like red 40 or something. It's not always an ingredient in char siu.

Answer 10

Interesting and a great question! Can't wait to see your answrs, LOL I was wondering the same thing too!! Headed to my chinese buffet tonight, haha