' I love Chinese food. One of a favorite/comfort memories from my childhood was going to visit Uncle Norbert and Omi (my paternal grandmother), and then going to the Blossom Inn for supper. We’d order a wide array of dishes for everyone to share, but there’d always be the Blossom Inn Special Shrimp, a special little dumpling of spiced ground pork on a small chunk of green pepper, topped with a slice of spicy Chinese sausage (I can never remember what that dish is called), and my brother and I would get Shirley Temples. Oh, and we mustn’t forget the almond cookies. I liked those better than the fortune cookies.
I haven’t been to the Blossom Inn in over 20 years, but I remember those dishes so well that I can almost taste them, and it makes my mouth water. Donovan has my love of Chinese food, and we’re working on converting Ari. I get really excited when I find recipes that interest me, and I always try to find ways to sneak Chinese (or Chinese inspired) food onto the menu.
Finding the Slow Cooker Char Siu Pork Roast recipe was one of them. I adore the dim sum steamed bbq pork buns, and while I know a store nearby that sells them, I always go “eek!” when I see the price. No, it’s not really that expensive, but I always think I can make them cheaper. The recipe you’ll find below the break is actually double the original, as I wanted to make sure I had extra to make the buns.
I served the roast with home made vegetable fried rice. The roast was a hit (even with Matt, which is truly gratifying, as he’s an “I’ll eat Chinese, but only when I’m in the mood” (which is almost never)), and I will make the fried rice again, but adjusting the seasoning. My memory of the pork was that it was sweeter, but then in finding the recipe for the buns, I see there’s a sweet sauce you mix the pork with, so it could be that. Regardless, this recipe is being moved from the “to be tried” binder to our “family favorites”.
I can’t take credit for that – it was suggested for my eldest niece, who’s a bit older than Donovan.
by Dana Carpender. I’ve never had a mustard-based bbq sauce before, so I was curious as to how it tasted. It was good, as was the ribs. I discovered, when putting it all away after supper, that the meat tasted better room temperature!