Boston Butt Pork Should Roast Query

[blazedog]

I am tempted to make the Roast Pork recipe from September's CL but I am confused regarding the cut of meat. When I googled boston butt pork roast, it appears that this is a fairly fatty meat. Does the cooking method allow the fat to be cooked off. I would love to find a good preparation for Chinese roast pork as it is so good in fried rice and other dishes and I rarely get to the Chinese market in synchronicity with when I have the urge to make it at home.

I am always befuddled when it comes to large cuts of meat that I don't generally use. :p

Thanks.


Chinese-Style Roast Pork (Char Sil)


In San Francisco's Chinatown, char sil is often displayed hanging in a market window or layered in pans in Chinese delicatessens or restaurants. This versatile pork works well in stir-fries, lo meins, or dumplings. Wrap leftovers tightly in foil or heavy-duty plastic wrap, and place in a plastic bag. Freeze for up to three months. Serve with snow peas.

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons minced green onions
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds boneless Boston butt pork roast, trimmed and cut into (2-inch) cubes

Combine first 9 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add pork; seal and marinate in refrigerator 24 hours, turning bag occasionally. Remove pork from bag, reserving marinade.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Place pork on the rack of a broiler pan lined with foil. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Turn pork over, and baste with reserved marinade. Discard remaining marinade. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160° (slightly pink).
Preheat broiler. Broil pork 5 minutes or until browned.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 3 ounces)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 193(41% from fat); FAT 8.9g (sat 3g,mono 4g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 21.2g; CHOLESTEROL 73mg; CALCIUM 28mg; SODIUM 249mg; FIBER 0.2g; IRON 1.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 5.8g

Shirley Fong-Torres
Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2005

[stephanie678]

You're right: Boston Butt is quite a fatty cut. The fat is intramuscular rather than located on the edge like a pork chop. We use it for barbecue, and it takes a long time to shred the meat in order to avoid the fat. I was surprised that CL had suggested it for that recipe. I wonder how it would turn out if you used a pork loin roast.

[blazedog]

You're right: Boston Butt is quite a fatty cut. The fat is intramuscular rather than located on the edge like a pork chop. We use it for barbecue, and it takes a long time to shred the meat in order to avoid the fat. I was surprised that CL had suggested it for that recipe. I wonder how it would turn out if you used a pork loin roast.

Yes there was a picture of the cut on the website I found and it was just marbled with fat -- really not something I would ever purchase.

Is a pork loin leaner? The only pork cuts I ever use are the loin chops and the pork tenderloin.

[cocoa'smom]

I would think that by cooking them on the rack of broiling pan, a lot of the fat would drip off. Here's a recipe from CL for Char Siu using boneless chicken thighs. This has become one of our favorites at my house:

Chicken Char Siu

Brought by Chinese immigrants to Hawaii, this dish is typically made with baby back ribs. Skinless, boneless chicken thighs are a tender and tasty substitute with less fat.


1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 18 strips
Cooking spray

Combine all ingredients except the cooking spray; marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours.
Preheat broiler.

Thread 1 chicken strip onto each of 18 (6-inch) skewers, reserving marinade. Place skewers on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; broil 6 minutes. Turn skewers over; baste with reserved marinade. Broil 6 minutes or until done.

Yield: 9 servings (serving size: 2 skewers)

CALORIES 108(26% from fat); FAT 3.1g (sat 0.8g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 15.2g; CHOLESTEROL 63mg; CALCIUM 10mg; SODIUM 241mg; FIBER 0.1g; IRON 0.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 4.1g
Cooking Light, MARCH 2005

[cocoa'smom]

Me again....I don't think pork loin would be a good substitute because it has very little fat and would probably dry out very quickly when cut into cubes and baked for 50 minutes.

[blazedog]

Me again....I don't think pork loin would be a good substitute because it has very little fat and would probably dry out very quickly when cut into cubes and baked for 50 minutes.

So maybe that's why the fattier cut is used in this recipe since all of the fat will have drained off but the meat won't have dried -- similar to WW recipes which let you keep the skin on chicken as long as you don't eat it. :D

I had seen that chicken thigh recipe but the idea of skewers has always stopped me. Too labor intensive -- why only ONE chicken strip on 19 skewers. I don't own 18 skewers - I think I tossed my 4 skewers after years of non-use :p

[cocoa'smom]

I actually put more like 4-5 on each skewer, kind of loosely bunched up. I think that one per skewer might be more for an appetizer party. I use longish bamboo skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes which are cheap and disposable. I'll bet you could make the chicken just laying them out on a broiling pan, not using the skewers. I think that pork recipe sounds awesome, but I'm also a little intimidated by that large roast - never used a pork butt roast before. Please post here & let us know how it turns out if you make it.

[swquilts]

Blaze, sometimes a Boston butt is also called a pork shoulder roast which has LOTS of fat marbleized all throughout the meat. We typically buy a pork butt roast which has much fewer fat veins in it. This is the cut we also use to make our sausage and we have very little fat in the pan after cooking.

[blazedog]

Blaze, sometimes a Boston butt is also called a pork shoulder roast which has LOTS of fat marbleized all throughout the meat. We typically buy a pork butt roast which has much fewer fat veins in it. This is the cut we also use to make our sausage and we have very little fat in the pan after cooking.

Thanks Susan but my utter confusion at the meat market is the reason I usually wind up with chicken breasts every week :D and WHY is a butt a shoulder/leg instead of a tush? :p

[sneezles]

WHY is a butt a shoulder/leg instead of a tush? :p


Because it butts up against something not because of where it's located on the carcass.

[swquilts]

Beats the heck outta me. I think Alton dissected this dilemna in one of his episodes...... :confused:

[Gilgamesh37]

just for comparison, here's the chinese roast pork recipe I use, which is similar in ingredients---it does use Boston Butt, but you roast the pork hanging in the oven (put the top rack all the way at the top) so the fat drips off.....hence the pan of water in the bottom, because otherwise you have a huge mess and lots of smoke. It's kind of labor intensive, but it is very very good, and as they note, it does freeze.

CHINESE ROAST PORK

3 lbs boneless pork butt
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup dry sherry
¼ cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices fresh ginger, shredded or minced
1 tsp salt
1½ Tbl sugar

Trim excess fat from meat and cut pork into 3/4" thick by 2" wide by 4-5" long strips. Mix remaining ingredients together in large (non-reactive) bowl, shallow pan, tupperware, or large ziplock; add meat, making sure all the surfaces are covered with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate, turning occasionally, at least overnight and as long as 3 days. Preheat oven to 375° and move one rack to very top position, other rack to lowest position (or remove lower rack entirely). Fill large roasting pan with ½" water and place in bottom of oven. Take meat one piece at a time, let excess marinade drip off and push a hook through each strip of meat (S shaped hooks can be made from paper clips, but metal shower curtain rings work wonderfully--boil them first to sterilize). Hang hooks off top oven rack; meat should not touch, but should hang over water-filled pan. Roast for 50 minutes, or until cooked; overcooking will make pork dry and tough, so watch carefully. You may brush the pork with light corn syrup upon removing from oven for a nice glaze. Serve thinly sliced, either cold or warm. Can be frozen for 1-2 months; freezes better in whole pieces.

[blazedog]

just for comparison, here's the chinese roast pork recipe I use, which is similar in ingredients---it does use Boston Butt, but you roast the pork hanging in the oven (put the top rack all the way at the top) so the fat drips off.....hence the pan of water in the bottom, because otherwise you have a huge mess and lots of smoke. It's kind of labor intensive, but it is very very good, and as they note, it does freeze.

.
:D :D :D That's an understatement. :p A recipe like Peking Duck which is also hung (and I'm not even getting into the bicyle pump aspect) I have no delusions of ever attempting -- but certainly admire those who do. :p

Thank God for Sam Wu's and the Monterey Park is all I can say when the urge for the stuff becomes urgent. :)

[Bawstinn]

I am tempted to try this recipe too, but after my first and only experience with a Boston Butt roast, I am hesitant to use one again. The piece of meat was so fatty throughout, which I couldn't tell from the outside, that there was very little edible meat left.

My grocery store/butcher sells a pork loin roast and a pork roast, which has a bit more fat on it. I wonder if the pork roast would work, if I decrease the cooking time a little.