# Pork belly substitute



## aliphares (Jan 7, 2018)

My girlfriend does not like pork, so I'm looking for a non-pork pork belly substitute for char siu, so something to BBQ. Fresh turkey isn't available here easily and I don't want to use chicken since I'm already using that for something else, so I'm guessing I want the best red meat substitute? What cut of what animal would be best suited in this case?


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

Technically I believe that dish is by definition a pork product. But the sauce might be interesting on beef ribs. I’d certainly try that if chicken is out of consideration.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

You could use beef short ribs. Generally, anything with a reasonably good fat content and a bone will work.


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## planethoff (Apr 25, 2011)

Beef short ribs would work, but my first thought was brisket.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Brisket was mine as well, but I changed my mind. The flat would be pretty easy to prep, but I think the point's greater marbling would pay off better.

Boneless Chicken thighs is what I settled on. More neutral like pork, better final temperature. Yes, even though you don't want chicken. Dark meat Turkey would be fine too but is less neutral. It's not repetition, it's a theme. 

If you really want to break with tradition, I think sweet potato wedges or hard squash cubes seasoned with a powdered red cooking packet and brushed with butter a few times during smoking would be outstanding. Haven't tried it yet myself but I think I will. 

The choice of pork belly strikes me as odd for Char Shu anyway. Too fatty, so much sugar on a grill/barbecue is just a recipe for scorching the sugar. Most of the time you see pork sirloin or loin for this use and that works well if you cook to about 145 which makes the exterior sugars easy to manage. Shoulder is better with it's fat for moisture and mouth feel, but you start to push the envelope with the sugars in the same way as for the short ribs or brisket. 

Next time you want to do pork belly in this vein, I would suggest red cooking to start, then a smoke finish. Red cooking and pork belly go together very well as does red cooking and smoke. I love to buy a 5 pound bag of wings, red cook then smoke. Delicious.


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## aliphares (Jan 7, 2018)

phatch said:


> Brisket was mine as well, but I changed my mind. The flat would be pretty easy to prep, but I think the point's greater marbling would pay off better.
> 
> Boneless Chicken thighs is what I settled on. More neutral like pork, better final temperature. Yes, even though you don't want chicken. Dark meat Turkey would be fine too but is less neutral. It's not repetition, it's a theme.
> 
> ...


I thought that's whats usually used hence I mentioned belly. And my first thought was chicken thighs too, they're neutral and have a bit of fat. But again something different.
I love the vegetarian options though, will definitely do them in a separate experiment for sure!


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

These hard vegetables have a pretty high finish temp to be tender too, around 180 as i recall. So watch the sugars so they don't scorch.


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## aliphares (Jan 7, 2018)

Will do.
Also I realized that most recipes actually use pork shoulder. So would you stick to those substitutes or switch over to something else, like chuch for example, for that?


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I tried the sweet potato idea today along side some BBQ chicken. Pretty good. Next time I'd season more heavily, it can take the stronger flavor. Didn't have a problem with scorching like I feared either.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

veal belly or shoulder


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

brianshaw said:


> Technically I believe that dish is by definition a pork product. But the sauce might be interesting on beef ribs. I'd certainly try that if chicken is out of consideration.


Well, no. 叉燒 just means "fork roasted," i.e., you put stuff on a fork and hold it up to fire to roast. You can do this with anything, but the Chinese have long been bonkers about pork in sort of the way the Koreans are bonkers about beef. In addition, this cooking method is particularly well suited to meats with a lot of delicious fat: low fat and you'll have a dry product, and more intense fat and you could have something really greasy and unpleasant. Pork belly is a pretty common cut for this.

My take is simple: stick close to the conceptual origin of the dish, using the marinade only to accent and enhance, so much more lightly than is (unfortunately) usual with char siu. For meat, again, you want lots of delicious fat, something that grills up well, and something that will be great as leftovers.

Lamb: I'm shuddering at the leftovers, but if you're clever about it you could succeed very well

Veal and turkey: not enough fat, imho

Beef can work; somebody suggested brisket, or you might try a flank or chuck or something.

Duck and goose are done this way in Hong Kong.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

I’m bonkers for pork because I love the delicious fat :emoji_bacon:


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

chrislehrer said:


> Lamb: I'm shuddering at the leftovers, but if you're clever about it you could succeed very well
> 
> Veal and turkey: not enough fat, imho
> 
> ...


Veal belly has some good fat layers, and should work great for this IMO:










Lamb belly is amazing but it has a LOT of fat.

Duck and goose... that sounds amazing.


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## aliphares (Jan 7, 2018)

Damn those are some good ideas. I will have to try more than one lol. I like pork, but a lot of people around me don't, so I have to work around that 
Thanks again everyone.


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