Usually when I roast pork, I keep it pretty simple when it comes to seasoning. I like a crispy, crackling skin with loads of salt. However, when I received a beautiful leg of pork from the team over at Biltong@za, I decided to do something different -and the results where amazing.
I covered the pork with foil and slow cooked it in the oven for 3 hours. After this time, I combined a few Asian inspired ingredients and ended up with a basting sauce made from honey, soy sauce, fresh ginger, lemon zest, garlic and chili.
I kept my oven low and basted the piece of meat every ten minutes for about an hour. It turned out sticky, sweet and tender with chewy pieces of skin – absolutely mouthwatering really.
We had some friends over for dinner, so after I styled and photographed my leg of pork, I sliced it up and added some fried onions to the roasting tray with the leftover Asian basting sauce. I left this in the oven and by the time we had dinner the meat just sucked in all that flavorsome goodness.
I served the Slow Roasted Leg of Pork with a simple Ginger and Coriander Pesto, creamy mashed potatoes, blanched sugar snap peas, green beans and sprouts with lemon oil and caramelized butternut (not in pic).
We ate until our bellies were full – with loads of wine – this was the perfect comforting meal…
It’s weekend and it’s going to be a cold one here in Jozi. I recommend getting your hands on one of these delicious cuts of pork from your closest Biltong@za store, and allow the oven to heat up your kitchen while cooking this satisfying meal for the crowds. You will thank me later…
| Prep Time | 20 min |
| Cook Time | 4 hours |
| Servings | servings |
- 1.2 kg leg of pork
- salt and black pepper
- foil to cover during roasting
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
- 4 teaspoons minced ginger
- 1 lemon zest retained
- 2 bird eye chili finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander
- 2 teaspoons roasted almond flakes
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
Ingredients Pork Roast
Asian Basting Sauce
Ginger and Coriander Pesto
| Rate this recipe! |
- First off, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
- Arrange the leg of pork in a large roasting tray, season and cover with foil. Set the oven on 140 degrees Celsius and roast for 3 hours.
- In the meantime, you can make the Asian Basting Sauce by combining the honey, soy, garlic, ginger, zest and chillies in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Then for the onions - Heat the butter in a sauce pan and caramelize the onions. Set aside.
- After 3 hours of roasting time, remove the foil and baste the meat all over with the Asian basting sauce.
- Return to the oven and baste every 10 minutes for another hour. You can add half a cup of water to the roasting tray to prevent the basting sauce from burning.
- Remove the meat from the oven, slice and return the sliced meat to the roasting tray – which should have loads of liquids. Season to taste.
- You can now combine any leftover basting sauce with the fried onions and pour this over the sliced meat. Leave in a slightly hot oven until it is time to dish up.
- For the Ginger and Coriander Pesto – simply combine all the ingredients in a pestle and mortar and grind to a rough paste.
- Serve slices of roasted leg of pork with mash, leftover gravy and sugar snap side dish.
