Recipe: Slow Roasted Pork Neck Fillet with Dried Mandarin

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This ‘secret’ recipe was given to us by Mrs Chu, one of our regular customers at the farmers market. According to Mrs Chu this is a basic Chinese marinade and has multiple uses. It’s great for marinating chicken pieces to be used in a noodle dish or for a pork neck fillet. The marinade will keep in the fridge for up to a week and goes equally well with beef. Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Pasture Fed Pork neck fillet
1/2 cup dark soy sauce*
1/3 cup light soy sauce*
1/4 cup white wine
2 star anise
1 small cinnamon stick
4 slices of ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup dried mandarin peel (see Tip)

Method:

Combine marinade ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Lower heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
Strain marinade to remove ginger, anise, and peel. Allow to cool.
Pour the marinade over the pork neck fillet and leave in the fridge overnight.
Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
Place neck fillet in a baking tray and pour over a small amount of the marinade.
Bake the pork for 45 minutes per 1 kilo of weight.
Towards the end of the baking time, place the reserved marinade in a saucepan and heat on high. Reduce the marinade until it’s thickened to your liking.
Remove the pork from the oven and allow to rest.
Serve with boiled rice, Asian greens and the reduced sauce over the pork.

Tip: Dried Mandarin peel is very easy to make. First, try to remove as much of the white pith as you can as this will give a bitter taste, then rinse the skin and pat dry with a clean towel. Lay the peels out flat (skin side up) on a drying rack (cake rack or oven shelf works fine) in sunny spot inside your house. It will take about 3-4 days of direct sunlight to get the skins crisp and dry. If you don’t have a good sunny spot, you can dry them in your oven. Pre-heat oven to 100 degrees C, place on a baking tray and bake for approximately 1 hour or until crispy. * For a gluten free option, you can use Tamari

About Alison Clinch

Alison Clinch has 20 years marketing experience gained in small and medium size business. She is especially passionate about supporting local communities, communications, and brand management. In her role with The Free Range Butcher Alison is responsible for the company’s branding, promotion, advertising and website. Her experience in the kitchen and passion for good food also brings refreshing new ideas for our recipe suggestions. Initially working alongside her husband Ben at the farmers markets, Alison is more ‘behind the scenes’ now, and keeping busy with two young apprentices’ / kids, Tom and Georgia.