The Pig in the China Box is like It is known to the way of preparing the pig or roast pork in a Chinese box. This recipe is not native to our lands, but thanks to its delicious flavor it has conquered the hearts of many Peruvians. Don’t wait any longer and try it!
How to Prepare Pork to the China Box
The ingredients of Chancho a la Caja China include pork, spices to season the meat, and beer. It is prepared on a portable grill, widely used by the Chinese before arriving in Peru. Its exquisite flavor and the juicy meat that this dish offers us, makes it a very elaborate recipe at festivals.
🔪 Prep Time | 60 minutes |
🍲 Cook Time | 180 minutes |
⏲️ Total Time | 240 minutes |
🍽️ Servings | 3 servings |
🔥 Calories | 677 calories |
Ingredientsork to the China Box
- 1 kilo of pork belly
- 10 lemons
- ½ cup of Coke
- Salt and pepper to taste
- MSG or seasoning
- 1 beer
- 2 cloves of garlic
Method
- In a large bowl, pour water and add salt. Submerge the previously cleaned pork belly, cover the bowl with paper and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Light the charcoal in the china box and preheat to 150ºC for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix the coarse salt, pepper, cumin, dried rosemary and garlic powder.
- Drain the bacon, make oblique cuts in a diamond shape and macerate with the previous mixture, on both sides.
- Uncover preheated china box. Add the beer in the base tray, through one of the holes. Place the bacon and cover. Cook for 1 hour. After that time, turn the meat and cook for another hour.
- Add lemon juice over all the bacon. Cook for 30 more minutes. Serve hot.
Then I invite you to follow these 3 Tips so that you can improve this rich recipe if you can.
Tips and tricks
- The beer can be blonde or black.
- It can be accompanied with Creole sauce and chorizo tacu tacu.
- At first put the skin side down.
Additional information
It is said that this recipe for Chancho a la Caja China was made by a Cuban in the 1950s. In the famous Chinatown of the Havana capital, Chinese immigrants prepared pork underground, covering the food with a metal plate on which they placed embers and left it there for four hours.
A Cuban discovered this particular method and decided to put it into practice, with some modifications. He crafted a box of wood and metal sheets filled with embers, which he named Chinese box , and fulfilled the function of oven-grill or portable oven. This invention prepares delicious and juicy meat.
Although this dish is not native to our country and its history is very short, it has won the hearts of many Peruvians due to the juicy and soft meat that is obtained from the roast. Due to its recent diffusion, it is very popular in gastronomic fairs throughout our region.
One example is at the gastronomic fair in Mistura, where this recipe takes the first place and is one of the most demanded by mistureros . In this one, the chacho is roasted for more than seven hours to obtain juicy, rich and very soft meat, starting to cook at three in the morning.