Chinese-American Pork Roast

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. 

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