Jenny is in perpetual search for easy, weeknight recipes to attempt to feed her family. When they balk, she just eats more.
Today: A weeknight twist on braised pork -- and one that's perfect for lunch all week.
![pork roast from food52](https://images.food52.com/lNqSKBSs0Ch2TDXY0Q25g1NaCxk=/313d2563-e641-4fa4-9398-e491b3a60df0--2013-1029_jenny_pork-roast-018.jpg)
There are few things my children love to eat for lunch more than ramen noodles. This choice appeals to me on some levels -- it’s a warm, hearty choice and very easy to prepare in the morning -- but I do fret over the lack of protein in a bowl of salt-laden noodles.
(They feel more saddened by a lack of chocolate bar, but this is about my needs.)
Inspired by a recent trip to Tokyo, I decided to make a lovely pork loin roast that I could chop into yummy bits for the bottom of the thermos. So I turned to Chinese-American Pork Roast and gave it a weeknight twist that is perfect for sack lunches.
I would like to stop here and say that I have tried many recipes written by monkeymom and feel confident that if you make this recipe just as written, it will be delicious in that life-defining way that slow-cooked meat often is.
But I substituted the pork shoulder with a 1 1/2-pound loin and cooked it up in a Dutch oven for roughly 30 minutes with the same proportions of sauce, poured over at the end. I skipped the whole fridge part.
Lunch for a week in under an hour. ?????!
Chinese-American Pork Roast by monkeymom
Serves 8
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 ginger slices
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 1/2 pounds pork shoulder (boneless, trimmed of skin and fat)
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 shallot, sliced thinly
2 green onions
4 garlic cloves, chopped
6 to 8 shiitake mushrooms (other types can be substituted)
1/4 cup sweet rice wine (shao-xing wine, dry sherry or sake can be substituted)
1 cup soy sauce
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
Photo by James Ransom
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