Chinese style pulled pork

I love pulled pork, but I don't make it very often, because it takes so long. Today I went for Chinese flavours. A pulled pork with Char Siu BBQ sauce with the beautiful red colour.

Ingredients for 1 kg pork neck (4p):

Rub:

• 1½ tbsp Chinese 5-spice • 1½ tsp garlic powder • 1 tsp onion powder • 1½ tsp MSG (or 1 tsp salt) •

Chinese BBQ sauce:

• 4 crushed garlic cloves • 4 cm grated fresh ginger • 6 tbsp hoisin sauce • 3 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine • 4 tbsp soy sauce • 2 tbsp oyster sauce • 6 tbsp sugar • 1 tbsp rice vinegar • 1 tsp Chinese 5-spice • 2 tsp red food colouring (optional, but it looks fun) •

1. Pre-heat your oven at 120°C. Mix the ingredients for the rub and rub this all over the meat. Put a thin layer of oil on the bottom of your Dutch oven. Put the meat in there and put the lid on. Put in the oven for 3 hours. If you have a larger piece of meat, add 45 minutes extra per 500 gram meat.

2. While the meat is in the oven, put all the ingredients for the sauce in a small pan and simmer for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the sauce is slightly thicker.

3. Take the meat out of the oven and brush a thin layer of sauce all over te meat. Put the lid back on the pan and turn the heat of the oven up to 150°C. Place the Dutch oven back into the oven and wait for 1 hour. Repeat the sauce glaze and put back for another hour.

4. Get a clean baking tray and transfer the meat onto the tray. Add another thin layer of sauce and put back into the oven for a final 20-30 minutes. Safe the dripping in the Dutch oven to stir through the pork once it's pulled.

5. When the meat is done, take out of the oven and start pulling. Add the drippings and extra BBQ sauce to taste. Optional: after pulling, grill for an extra 5-10 minutes on 200°C for some crispy, dark pieces.

Serve on bao buns, with white rice, in a lettuce wrap or in rice paper. Add your favorite hot sauce to taste.

Enjoy!