To turn out soft and tender pork with a crunchy finish, try cooking it two ways. A variety of Asian ingredients plus apple juice combine to bring complexity of flavour to a slab of pork sirloin with the fat on, that is first baked and then turned golden and crisp on the coals.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp sautéing oil

1 x 1 kg slab of pork sirloin, fat cap on

400 ml apple juice

80 ml rice wine vinegar

80 ml sherry vinegar

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1 Tbsp dark soy sauce

80 ml sweet chilli sauce

½ cup of pink pickled ginger strips

2 tsp crushed garlic

½ tsp white pepper

Salt to taste (sparingly)

Method

Preheat the oven to 160℃. 

Combine all ingredients (except the pork, salt and white pepper) in an oven dish that can hold the slab of pork snugly and give the mixture a stir.

Heat the oil in a large, flat pan and brown the joint on all sides. Place the meat snugly in the oven dish and make sure it is well coated with the cooking stock. Cover with aluminium foil.

Bake in the low oven until tender, about two and a half hours.

Remove from the oven and allow it to cool while still covered with the foil. Don’t discard the cooking stock. The above can be done earlier in the day if you’re eating it that night. 

Once the meat has cooled, pour off the sauce and strain it into a saucepan. Put it on a moderate heat and reduce it by half. Retain half of this sauce to serve with the meat (pour it off to be reheated later) and reduce the remainder down to a sticky but still runny baste.

When you’re ready to finish the pork, baste this over the meat, season with salt and white pepper, and crisp it over hot coals until caramelised. Heat up the sauce to pour over or serve with the pork. I also braaied mielies (corn on the cob) to serve alongside it, basted with butter mixed with chopped coriander. DM/TGIFood

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Champion 2021. His book, foodSTUFF, is available in the DM Shop. Buy it here. 

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