The Chinese way

When a friend asked me to try my hand at bruffins, she had requested an adobo filling. Great, I thought. Not only did I have to make bread, which was trouble enough, but adobo, too? It sounded like too much work for a potential fiasco. So I settled for bacon and cheese instead, figuring it would take less time and effort to make.

It did, but what was I thinking? As long as it was pork I wanted to go with dough, I shouldn’t have looked further than the most popular siopao filling. Asado is a breeze to prepare, and by that I mean the Chinese kind, better known as char siu — or what others call Chinese barbecue, although if you ask me, it looks/tastes more like tocino. Filipino asado, on the other hand, is braised (humba-style), unlike its Latin American namesake, which is also roasted/barbecued (after all, the terms asado and inasal both derive from the Spanish asar — “to roast”).

I always use pork belly for my char siu. If you prefer leaner meat, use loin or shoulder (butt). Remove skin and bones, then slice three quarters of an inch thick. For marinade, you can use pre-made mix, unless you find it too sweet (and/or too red), in which case you can always make your own for a fraction of the price.

Char Siu Marinade

• ¼ cup maltose
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons light/regular soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
• 1 tablespoon five-spice powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• salt, to taste

If you don’t have maltose, double the amount of honey, although I advise adding it a tablespoon at a time and tasting for sweetness as you go along (maltose is not as sweet, see). No dark soy sauce? Use regular, plus honey (there it is again). No hoisin? Try fermented bean paste (hoisin is easier to find hereabouts, actually). No Chinese cooking wine? Water. As for five-spice, you may be more familiar with it as ngohiong powder.

Cook marinade mixture over medium to low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Taste; add salt if needed. Allow mixture to cool before rubbing all over pork. For best results, marinate overnight.

To cook, preheat oven to 350℉. Place meat on a sheet or pan (reserve the marinade) and bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway. To finish, brush meat with maltose or honey and place under the broiler until charred in places (you can also do this on a pan over the stove). Let meat rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Meanwhile, deglaze your pan with ⅓ cup water or cooking wine, add the reserved marinade, and cook until the liquid has reduced by a third. Season to taste before straining sauce over the sliced asado.

So, which asado do I prefer — Chinese or Filipino? As a cook, I’m partial to char siu. It is almost impossible to get wrong for its simplicity, and it’s a lot less work. Alas, my taste buds swing for the home team’s version, even if it seems I never could manage decent Pinoy asado. Oh irony. At least there’s always store-bought siopao.