recipe: asian roast pork (char siu)

ever since having one of THE best sandwiches i've ever had in my life in Puerto Rico, a "roast pork with i don't even know what on it but it was so good i blacked out the ingredients" sandwich, i've been dying to make roast pork. i picked up a small 2.5 lb roast on sale at PC this week, and started photo grazing on seriouseats.com for inspiration. i ended up straying away from puertorican / cuban realm into asian - the photo on My Asian Kitchen looked (and sounded) so good i had to give it a whirl. 

ingredients list: (note: the original recipe calls for a 4-5 lb roast... i used a 2.5 lb one but kept the sauce quantities the same so i had extra glaze)
- 2-3 lb boneless pork roast, rinsed and dried with ppr towels
- 5 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 cup sugar (no that's not a typo... 1 whole cup sugar)
- 5-6 tbsp lo so soy sauce
- 3-4 tbsp Chinese cooking rice wine (i substituted dry Sherry since i didn't have this... mental note added next time i'm at an asian market)
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp 5 spice powder
- 2-3 drops red food color (optional)
- honey for brushing

to make: combine all seasonings (which is everything EXCEPT the honey) in a large container or zip lock bag, and marinate pork for 5 hours or overnight in the fridge.

when ready to cook, preheat oven to 350 degrees. pork should be cooked for about 30 minutes per pound on a tiny roast (between 2-3 lbs)... mine took about 1.2 hours to get to 140 degrees in the center which is when i stopped it since it will also be broiled. make sure to flip the roast 30 minutes into baking, and pour some of the reserved marinade over top 1-2 times during baking.

when finished baking, set oven on broil, and roast pork for an additional 10-15 minutes, just until the roast has a slight char to it (after broiling, my roast was about 150 degrees which was just right - i'm skeptical to eat at the "new" minimal temp for pork, 145 degrees).

remove roast from oven, and brush with honey. let sit for about 5-7 minutes, then carve & serve.

verdict: YUM! really liked this. the cup of sugar seemed insane to add, but it really carmelized nicely, giving a nice crisp sweet coating to the meat. the meat was nice and juicy in the center (and is not pink even at 150 degrees). solid 7.5 *******~, would def make again (next time with an asian-inspired side instead of potatoes).