Hoisin Braised Pig Cheeks
An easy, aromatic and deeply flavourful meal
Equipment
- 1 Digital scales
- 1 Heavy duty flameproof casserole dish
Ingredients
- 4-6 Pig cheeks, depending on what your butcher has available trimmed of fat and sinew
- 1 - 2 Tablespoon Rapeseed Oil or other good quality vegetable oil
- 150 ml Orange juice approx 1/2 cup
- 2 Large Spring Onion
MARINADE
- 100 ml Hoisin Sauce Note 1
- 50 ml Dark Soya Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Clear Honey I used cream honey and warmed it so it would be "runny"
- 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Chinese Black Rice Vinegar Note 2
- 1 Large Knob of ginger, peeled and grated 8-10 grams [ about 1 Tablespoon]
- 1 Large Clove of garlic, peeled and grated
- ¼ teaspoon Dried Red Chilli's seeds removed You can use 1 fresh chilli, seeds removed and flesh chopped finely
- 2 teaspoon Chinese Five-spice powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground Szechuan pepper if you can't find this use ground black pepper
- 1 Handful Sesame Seeds, toasted
Instructions
- Gather and weigh your ingredients
- Add all the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add the pig cheeks and turn to coat evenly. Place a lid or clingfilm over the top and pop in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours and ideally overnight.
- Heat the oven to 150c [300 fahrenheit]. Remove the cheeks from the marinade and scrape off any excess back into the bowl.
- Place the casserole dish over medium/medium high heat and add enough of the oil to cover the bottom. Add the pig cheeks and brown them quickly- the marinade will cause them to brown, so take care they don't burn.
- Pour in the orange juice and the reserved marinade. Add enough water to cover the cheeks, and put on a tight-fitting lid.
- Pop into the oven for 2 - 2.5 hours until the meat is really tender [check after 2 hours]
- Remove the pot from the oven and carefully lift out the pig cheeks and set aside. Put the pot back on the burner on medium heat and allow the sauce to reduce, uncovered until it turns a bit thick and sticky
- Place the cheeks onto the plate and spoon over the sauce
- Slice the spring onions including the green bits and sprinkle over the pig cheeks along with the toasted sesame seeds
- Serve with steamed basmati rice and sauteed spinach OR Chinese Cabbage or Bok Choi
Notes
Note 1. I didn't have hoisin sauce when I tested this recipe for the 3rd time. I panicked and googled hoisin substitutes and found this fabulous suggestion:
Puree the following ingredients in a blender:
- 170 grams [3/4 cup] tinned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp. molasses
- 3 tbsp. teriyaki sauce
- 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar [I also didn't have red wine vinegar and used 1 tablespoon each of a dry red wine (Merlot) and organic cidre vinegar
- 2 tsp. Chinese five spice powder