Roast Pork - Take One

We tried making roast pork with pork shoulder and pork belly earlier this summer. The pork was baked for a few hours and then broiled until the skin crisped up. A seasoned hoisin sauce was brushed on the meat as it baked. When the pork was finished cooking, it didn't look bad at all.

The pieces of blistered puffy cracklings were very fragrant and tasty. But while some of the skin became crackling, half of the skin became hard and chewy. It was a womp womp moment when we ate those pieces.

The pork was tender and juicy, although someone said that the pork was a bit over cooked. This particular tender piece of pork reminded me of pulled pork. After all, it was a slow cooked piece of pork shoulder. As for the seasoned hoisin, it became a seasoned oyster-sauce instead after mistaking a jar of oyster sauce for hoisin sauce. Another womp womp moment.

Our dinner consisted of the roast pork, plain jasmine rice, hoisin sauce (for dipping), sprigs of mint, and pickled cabbage, carrots and bean sprouts.

It wasn’t a terrible first attempt, but I can’t call it a success either. It doesn't come close to the roast pork we get during Chinese New Year (for some reason, those always taste so much better). We need to keep experimenting.