Anatomy of a Breakfast Bowl (Char Siu & Egg Over Rice)
I love Sunday morning breakfast. Instead of the rushed quick bite Monday through Friday grind, weekend breakfasts are leisurely and quite the production.Waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and homemade buttermilk biscuits or if we are feeling ambitious, puffy French omelets. Just brewed coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice round out the meal, or mimosas for special occasions, ahhhhh the good life. Often, our Sunday breakfasts will have an Asian vibe.
During football season you will always find a big pot of congee sitting on the stove. Congee or jook is a delicious savory rice soup and is great for breakfast or halftime. The soup starts with chicken stock flavored with ginger and scallions. Add rice and simmer until the kernels have softened to an almost creamy consistency. Hot steaming bowls are brought to the table where everyone adds their own toppings. Shredded chicken, green onions, pickles, lettuce, and cilantro. To go along with the jook, Chinese donuts–deep-fried pillows of yumminess that give beignets a run for their money.
Hands-down, a favorite breakfast for my kids is homemade Chinese bbq pork (char siu) served with eggs–barely scrambled or sunny side up (keep that yolk runny) on top of a bowl of steamed white rice. I found a new recipe for char siu on Burp Appetit’ that looked and sounded mouthwateringly good. Naturally, I had to try it. Instead of oven roasting, it calls for braising the pork in a sweet, salty sauce which includes hoisin paste and 5 spice powder. By braising, we don’t need marinading which shortens the cooking time. Best of all, it’s delicious! With a batch of char siu made, this past Sunday’s breakfast was a no-brainer, Char siu, eggs, and rice. Yep living life one bowl at a time.
Char Siu and Egg over Rice: Anatomy of a Breakfast Bowl
The perfectly cooked egg by Jamie
Kid tested and approved by Jordan
Hi Claire 🙂
Char Siu, Chinese BBQ Pork (Braised method)
Ingredients
~1-1.25 pound pork belly without skin, or pork neck or cheek meat cut into strips (3)
Marinade/Sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon Hoisin sauce for a less sweet version, sub oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
- 1/2 -1 tsp 5-spice powder
To cook:
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 cup water
Instructions
Method:
- 1. Heat wok on medium heat. When the wok is hot enough, pour 2 tbsp vegetable oil into the wok.
- 2. Place the pork belly strips into the wok and brown both sides for about 3-4 minutes. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients into the wok. Stir and ensure the pork strips are coated well with the sauce.
- 3. Turn the heat to low and gently simmer for 40 minutes or until pork is tender. Turn the pork every 10 minutes to ensure both sides are evenly cooked.
- 4. By 30 minutes, the sauce will be reduced by half and start turning sticky. Once the pork belly is tender to touch, remove from the wok. Then pour the sauce into a clean bowl and reserve that to dress your steamed rice. Leave a tbsp of sauce/oil in the wok.
- 5. Heat the wok on medium heat and return the pork belly back into the wok. Sear the meat on both sides for about 2-3 minutes each side until they are charred to your liking.
- 6. Remove and glaze with honey. Then, slice the pork belly. Serve with warm steamed rice, noodles or bao.