Sliced Crispy Suckling Pig

Name: Sliced Crispy Suckling Pig
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 2 h 25 min
Ingredients: 5000 g suckling pig (cleaned); 125 g layered flatbread; 150 g sweet and sour pickles; 150 g pickled pearl onions; 5 g minced garlic; 65 g sugar (25 g used for marinating); 100 g bean paste; 1000 g sweet bean sauce; 25 g red fermented tofu; 25 g sesame paste; 7.5 g Fenjiu (Chinese sorghum wine); 65 g five-spice salt; 150 g roast suckling pig vinegar; 25 g peanut oil; 7500 g charcoal

A classic Cantonese specialty: a suckling pig is marinated and roasted, then the crisp skin is carved off tableside. The result is crackling skin, tender meat, and a glossy, ruby-red finish.

2h 25m

Easy

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Ingredients

suckling pig (cleaned) 5000 g

layered flatbread 125 g

sweet and sour pickles 150 g

pickled pearl onions 150 g

minced garlic 5 g

sugar (25 g used for marinating) 65 g

bean paste 100 g

sweet bean sauce 1000 g

red fermented tofu 25 g

sesame paste 25 g

Fenjiu (Chinese sorghum wine) 7.5 g

five-spice salt 65 g

roast suckling pig vinegar 150 g

peanut oil 25 g

charcoal 7500 g

Instructions

Preparing the suckling pig

Place the suckling pig on a cutting board (chest up). Starting from the mouth, run along the neck to the tailbone at the end of the spine, then split along the centerline of the breastbone to remove the internal organs. Wash the inside and outside of the pig thoroughly and drain, shaping the carcass into a flat board form. Scoop out the brain, make a cut on each side of the jaw joint so the skin separates from the flesh above and below, remove the third rib, cut open the scapula joint and remove the shoulder blade, then lightly score the thick meat and rump meat around the shoulder area with a few cuts.

Marinating

Rub five-spice salt evenly inside the pig cavity, hang it with an iron hook, and marinate for about 30 minutes to dry out the moisture. Then mix the bean paste, red fermented tofu, sesame oil, Fenjiu, garlic, and 25 g of sugar together, spread the mixture evenly inside the pig cavity, and marinate for another 20 minutes. Insert a special roasting fork into the rump, push it through to the scapula joint, and finally pierce all the way to the cheek. Once mounted on the fork, brush on a layer of sugar-vinegar glaze with a soft brush.

Roasting

Place the charcoal in the roasting oven and ignite it. Set the suckling pig inside and roast over low heat for about 15 minutes until about half-cooked, then take it out. Insert a 4 cm-wide wooden stick inside the cavity, running straight from the rump to the neck. Use additional wooden sticks to brace the front and rear legs into an I-beam shape so the body extends outward on all four sides. Tie the front and rear trotters with grass or thin string, and use iron wire to hook the front and rear legs symmetrically.

Finishing the roast

Divide the charcoal in the oven into two piles at the front and back. Roast the head and rump for about 10 minutes until rosy red, then brush peanut oil evenly across the pig skin. Rearrange the charcoal into a straight line and roast the body for about 30 minutes, until the skin turns deep red.

Slicing and plating

Lay the roasted suckling pig with its fork tilted beside the cutting board. Remove the bindings from the front and rear trotters. Make a horizontal cut behind each ear and at the rear end of the rump, then a straight cut down the spine centerline, and two cuts on each side, producing four rectangular pieces of skin of roughly equal size. Slice them off cleanly with a knife. Place a large bowl upside down in the center of a serving plate, then invert the pig onto the plate and pull out the iron fork, keeping the pig in a reclining shape. Cut the sliced skin into 32 pieces and lay them back over the pig's back in their original pattern for the first serving.