The other day I was on Facebook and I came across one of those suggested pages things in my news feed. It’s where they have a page that they think you’d be interested in based on all their big brother watching of you. Sometimes they are hit and miss, but this time it was a picture of food. Oh, Facebook, you know me so well. OMG, the pic looked delish so naturally I was drawn into their web-like trap.
I posted a comment asking what the freak was that delicious dish in the picture, and the answer was Pork Char Siu Buns. Um, pork what buns? Of course my next move was over to Google to give Facebook even more big brother details on me, but I had to know what they were. In translation, Chinese Pork Barbecue kinda in a calzone style bun. I filed that knowledge away for later use.
It didn’t take long. I was at the Aldi on Monday and they had pork tenderloin on sale. I took it as fate telling me that I needed pork barbecue Chinese style so I made the purchase. I’ve done regular pork barbecue in my slow cooker before, but this time I changed up the ingredients a little bit to give it the Chinese flair. I’m not sure exactly how close to the real thing I came though, but it was good and easy.
Slow Cooker Char Siu Shredded Pork 
- 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp gochujang
- 2 Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 1/2 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 16 oz pork tenderloin
Mix all of the ingredients but the tenderloin in a slow cooker. I just measured them right in and stirred well with a fork to combine. Plop the pork tenderloin into the sauce to coat the tenderloin on one side. Flip to coat the other. Cook on low for 6 – 8 hours.
Remove from pot and chop or shred the tenderloin. Scrape the remaining sauce from the slow cooker and use for dipping or drizzling.
Makes 4 servings at approximately 163 calories – 22g protein, 9g carbs, and 4g fat.
Notes
- Gochujang is actually a Korean sauce similar to hoisin sauce. I’ve played with a few Korean recipes so I had gochujang in my fridge. If you’re looking for a few more recipes to use it in, try Korean Bibimbap, a Banh Mi Sandwich, or Korean Stewed Chicken.
You can use the meat on little slider buns and make pork barbecue sliders. That’s the simple version. Ha, I opted for the not so simple version and I actually made the homemade buns. It was a bit of work BUT well worth the challenge after I tried them. It is not a weekday recipe for sure. I will post the bun recipe next time so you will have several options – traditional steamed buns, baked buns, and the sliders I mentioned.
Stay tuned for the bun recipe next time. By the way, Facebook lost the battle. I got all this and I never liked the page they suggested. Booyah! 😉
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