Venison char siu
Rich, dark venison in a rich, sticky, sweet and spicy sauce is perfect as part of a Chinese-style feast.
Ingredients
- 700g/1lb 9oz piece venison
- vegetable oil, for frying
- freshly ground black pepper
For the char siu sauce
- 200ml/7fl oz soy sauce
- 100ml/3½fl oz sake
- 100ml/3½fl oz mirin
- 50ml/2fl oz hoisin sauce
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 25g/1oz piece fresh root ginger, peeled and sliced
- 3 star anise
- 5cm/2in piece cinnamon stick, broken up
Method
Pierce the venison all over with a skewer, pushing it right through the meat. Season with plenty of black pepper.
Put all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan just big enough to hold the venison. Put the venison in the sauce and top up with just enough water to cover. Cover with a cartouche (a circle of greaseproof paper that covers the surface of the liquid). Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and cover with a lid. Simmer for a couple of hours until the venison is tender. Remove from the heat and leave the venison to cool in the sauce.
Place the venison, in the sauce, in the fridge to chill, preferably overnight.
A couple of hours before you want to finish cooking the venison, lift it out of the sauce, pat dry and tightly wrap in cling film. Chill for another couple of hours to firm it up.
Return the sauce to the pan and simmer until reduced and sticky.
Remove the cling film and slice the venison very thinly – no thicker than 5mm/¼in. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over a high heat and fry the venison, basting with the sauce and turning regularly until the meat is dark and sticky.
Recipe Tips
Most cuts of venison are lean and will work well in this dish: you could use haunch, leg or loin.
It’s important to wrap and chill the cooked venison well before slicing.
