When last we left our pork, it had been squished together with a tasty marinade combination of Vietnamese(ish) sauce, tamari, and Busha Browne’s Jerk Sauce, then stashed in the fridge for five hours (or mebbe overnight).
Now, it’s time to finish it off so we can get to the main goal – Pork Buns! OK, so, it started out as Vietnamese tacos, but the more I built the pieces of the recipe, the sauces, the pork, the buns, the more I became convinced that buns were the way to go.
Details on the buns coming tomorrow, let’s finish the pork first by making a Ponzu sauce while the pork is marinating in the fridge (you’ll want some time to let the sauce cool before adding it to the pork).
INGREDIENTS
•1-1/2 tbsp white sugar
•1-1/2 tbsp Ponzu
•1-1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
•1 cup water
•2 tbsp cornstarch
•2-1/2 tbsp water
•2 tbsp solid shortening
•1-1/2 tsp sesame oil
•1/4 tsp ground white pepper
Whisk the sugar, Ponzu, oyster sauce, and water together in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Dissolve the cornstarch in the 2-1/2 tablespoons of water, then add to the boiling sauce.
Stir until thickened.
Stir in the solid shortening and sesame oil until the shortening has dissolved into the sauce, then season with the white pepper and set aside to cool while you prepare the pork that has been resting in the fridge.
Heat a stir-fry pan over medium-high heat and add the marinated pork.
Sauté the pork, breaking it up into small pieces, until cooked through and most pan liquids (ermmm, fat) have been cooked off.
Go ahead, taste it.
It’s good, but it’s about to be better!
Add the cooled ponzu sauce to the cooked pork and stir to combine.
Yep. Much more better.
SO. Two days, two posts, two sauces and a marinade; it’s getting to be time to wrap this thing up…
Coming tomorrow: Char Siu Bao – my take on Asian pork buns – with concepts and ingredients borrowed from Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese cooking traditions.
Are they worth it?
Ooooh yeah! Check out all the details…