Chinese Pork Skewers

These Chinese Pork Skewers are sweet, spicy, and incredibly juicy. They're marinated with salt and garlic before being caramelized with a fish sauce glaze and generously seasoned with cumin, fennel, and chili flakes. You can cook them on the grill or broil them in the oven.

Can't get enough of Chinese pork? Try my Honey Garlic Spare Ribs next!

🥡 About This Recipe

At my house, I am always the head of the barbecue. I don’t actually do too much barbecuing, but since everyone knows I love cooking, I somehow end up in this position every summer.

One of my favorite items to barbeque is these Chinese-style pork skewers. I first got the inspiration for them from a Chinese barbeque restaurant. They’re spicy, savory, sweet, and they have the distinct flavors of Xinjiang lamb, aka a ton of cumin, chili flakes, and garlic.

The recipe is very simple, but you will need to marinate the meat for at least 40 minutes, the longer the better. After that, you just thread the pork onto skewers and then cook them. You can either do that on the grill or in the oven. Today I will show you how I do it in the oven.

🐖 What Type Of Pork To Use?

Pork shoulder and pork belly are the best cuts for Chinese Pork Skewers. These cuts have a lot of fat and marbling that keeps the meat moist and tender during cooking.

If I had to choose, I would pick pork shoulder over pork belly because pork shoulder has more intramuscular fat (fat within the muscle). Pork belly has a lot of fat, but it is mostly in thick layers outside of the meat, so the meat itself does not taste as juicy.

🧂 Ingredients

• Pork shoulder (or pork belly): Try to pick pieces that have a lot of fat, especially tiny streaks throughout the meat. Fat = more flavor and juiciness.
• Spices & seasonings: Dried chili flakes, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, brown sugar, and salt. If possible, use whole spices instead of preground spices. I use a mortar and pestle to grind them up. The flavor will be much better.
• Garlic: Freshly minced for the best flavor.
• Fish sauce glaze: This is made with fish sauce and honey. It adds umami, and the honey gives a delicious caramelized flavor after grilling.

🔪 Instructions

STEP 1: Add chopped pork, salt, and garlic to a large bowl. Use your hands to massage the meat. Allow the meat to marinate in the fridge for 40 minutes and up to 24 hours.

STEP 2: Use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to coarsely grind the chili flakes, cumin, and fennel seeds. You can use a plastic bag and rolling pin if you don't have a spice grinder. Stir in the brown sugar and salt.

STEP 3: Preheat oven to 500℉ and line a roasting pan with foil and add 1 cup of water or salt. This will absorb fat drippings and prevent smoke.

STEP 4: Now, it's time to thread the meat. Push the pork pieces through the pointy end of the skewer. About 8-10 pieces per skewer. The should fit snuggly with no space in between. Lay the pork skewers on the baking rack.

STEP 5: Combine the fish sauce and honey in a small bowl and brush the tops of the pork.

STEP 6: Broil on the top rack for 3-4 minutes until they have a nice char, then flip them over, brush with glaze, and broil for another 3-4 minutes.

STEP 7: Brush the tops with more glaze and sprinkle generously with the ground spice mixture. Return to the oven for another minute. Flip them over, brush with a final layer of glaze, generously sprinkle with spices, and cook for another minute. Serve immediately.

If you want to add vegetables to the skewers, you can definitely do that as well. I sometimes do it with bell peppers and it tastes delicious.

📋 Recipe

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