Pages

Wednesday 29 May 2013

pan-grilled hoisin pork steaks (a 3-ingredient recipe)

3-ingredient pan-grilled hoisin pork steak.

Sometimes the rescuer in me wakes up, and seeks out neglected ingredients that have been sitting in a lonely corner for far too long. It makes me happy when I save them from oblivion and find them a good home. On a plate. In my belly.

My recent efforts revolved around a full bottle of hoisin sauce in Simon's fridge. No one really knows who bought it, or how long it has been there. Every time I open the fridge, it niggles at me a little. I started to think about how awful the bottle of hoisin sauce must feel, because surely if you are a bottle of hoisin sauce, all you want to do is mingle with other delicious things, to create even more delicious things.

Because I'm that kind of crazy woman.

It just so happened that I won a competition and received the prize of an incredible meat tray around that time (thanks, The Vegetable Connection and Cherry Tree Organics!) so there were plenty of carnivorous delights to go around. One of the items in the meat tray were some lovely boneless butterflied pork steaks. I thought they would match well with the sweet, rich hoisin sauce, which is often described as a Chinese BBQ sauce.

And thus, these 3-ingredient pan-grilled hoisin pork steaks came into our world.

pan-grilled hoisin pork steaks

1/4 cup hoisin sauce* (more to taste, later, if desired)
1 tablespoon oil with a high smoke point (e.g. rice bran oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil)
2 boneless pork butterfly steaks or chops (approx. 300g / 2/3lb total, and 2cm / 3/4" thick)

Combine hoisin sauce and oil. Rub all over the pork steaks and let them marinate for 1 hour, or longer.
Heat a grill pan over a medium high flame. Once the pan is hot, slap the steaks down. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side. (If they curve up during the cooking process, you can press them down a little so that they continue to sear well and evenly.)
Remove the steaks from the pan and rest for another 3 minutes before serving.

If you'd like to brush a little more hoisin sauce on your pork, or add other condiments like pepper... go for it!

I served mine with a simple vegetable side dish: steamed bok choy, drizzled with soy sauce and sesame oil. (This is only 3 ingredients, too - yay!)

*Since this recipe has so few ingredients, it is important that you use a hoisin sauce that tastes good to you. The one I rescued from Simon's fridge is Ayam brand, and it also happened to be gluten-free. However, not all hoisin sauces are gluten-free, so if you are that way inclined, do check the label and list of ingredients. I also try to look for sauces that have a fairly natural ingredient list.

easy-as-anything pan-grilled hoisin pork butterfly steak with a simple side of bok choy.

26 comments:

  1. I love that the meat tray came from companies called "Vegetable" and "Cherry Tree". What? ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, The Vegetable Connection is a nice little providore that sells a mix of things - fruits, vegetables, meat, milk, condiments, pasta, etc. Cherry Tree is an organic meat producer. :)

      Delete
  2. Poor sad and nearly-abandoned hoisin sauce. Why would anyone purchase you only to forget you and leave you lonely?

    You are the heroine of this epic tale. Good work!

    Now I just need to find someone to give me a meat tray.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. EXACTLY. I knew you would understand. There's still half a bottle left. I'll make sure to use it up soon. Go enter all the meat tray competitions, if you're lucky you might win one, too! ;)

      Delete
  3. I'm not very familiar with hoisin sauce, but I seem to recall that I tasted it once, with duck breast, and I liked it ;-) must look for the sauce here and try with pork!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, hoisin goes well with duck and also pork. :D

      Delete
  4. YUM :)
    Love that it's 3 ingredients, and of course the grill lines make it better :)
    Will definitely try this soon!
    xx

    gemma @ http://andgeesaid.blogspot.com.au/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gotta love those grill lines! They do add extra pizzazz. ;)

      Delete
  5. Oh I love simple and minimal ingredient recipes - mostly because I'm too lazy to go shopping and that's all I have lol! Those hoisin pork chops look so juicy mmm!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can be like that, too! Many a recipe I have created from odds and ends around the house... :D

      Delete
  6. I love using up items like that in the fridge. It makes me feel very resourceful. Love the bok choy there, too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Amy! Yeah, I think there's an Asian theme going on in that dish. ;)

      Delete
  7. i'm sure everyone has a 'lurking' jar in their fridge that they can;t recall why they bought it or how long it's been there for! for me it's a jar of capers. any ideas welcome ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I rarely eat capers, so that's a tough one! Maybe in a buttery or creamy sauce? You may be on your own there, I'm afraid. :p

      Delete
  8. Omg how juicy do those look!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, nice and juicy... I particularly like the bits of untrimmed fat. ;)

      Delete
  9. Love the char on the pork! Such a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You won a meat tray - haha so cool :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. I would hate to be a neglected Hoisin bottle too! Don't worry, you're not crazy ;) These look sooo delicious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We totally need to show all those neglected bottles some love. ;)

      Delete
  12. damn, those look AMAZING. like seriously, I've just had dinner and cannot stomach anything but I am really thinking of getting some steaks tomorrow. I don't use hoisin sauce that much to be honest, just never found the right use for them, but this looks RIGHT.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And it's so easy too! Nothing amazingly complex, just good simple stuff. :)

      Delete
  13. So succulent and delicious looking! I always enjoy your recipes.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails