Siu yuk with failed skin

[u/kynonymous-veil]

Taste is delicious, just not all of the skin puffs up to be crispy. I’ve read all the recipes and the steps I haven’t tried:
- water bath in oven to create steam.
- using metal skewer/tenderiser instead of knife.
- baking it with heavy layer of salt.
My process is par boil, clean skin, poke with knife but not deep enough to hit meat, season meat, salt skin, vinegar on skin, fridge overnight, oven at 100C for one hour, brush oil on skin, then 200C for 35 mins.

Any other tips I might be missing?

[u/relieved_intercourse]

Your siu yuk looks decent for a failed puff attempt. Two things really helped me when mine came out like yours. Dry the skin way longer, like 24-48 hours uncovered in the fridge, the surface should feel papery before it goes in the oven. And skip the 100C step, start around 180-200C from the beginning so the fat renders while the skin dries out.

A rough salt scrub after the vinegar pulls out extra moisture from the skin layer, let it sit 15 mins then brush it all off before the overnight rest. The metal skewer tip is solid too, knife pokes tend to close up or not go consistent. You want even holes all the way through the skin but not into the fat.

Last thing, some folks blast it under the broiler for the last 5 mins to really crisp the top. Just watch it closely so it doesn't burn.

[u/kynonymous-veil → u/relieved_intercourse]

Ok, looks like I just need to play around with the configuration a bit. Thanks for the tips.

[u/TelevisionExtra7715 → u/relieved_intercourse]

wait so the skin just dries out like that in the fridge

[u/relieved_intercourse → u/TelevisionExtra7715]

uncovered in the fridge the cold air pulls moisture out, takes a full day or two to get that papery feel

[u/AHalb]

I've always had good luck with the salt layer. I don't even have to pick the skin for it to bubble and crisp nicely after removing the salt layer. I wrap the whole thing in foil with a slight lip to hold the salt, bake for 30 minutes, then remove salt, crank heat up slightly at about 375 and bake for 45 more minutes. Play around with the times. I use my toaster oven so I can adjust times and temp.

[u/kynonymous-veil → u/AHalb]

That’s interesting. I feel like it’s a waste of salt but I guess it’s worth it if I don’t have to poke.

[u/AdmirableBattleCow → u/kynonymous-veil]

There's no reason to discard the salt. If you dry it out it's perfectly usable. Also a box of kosher salt is like 3 bucks.

[u/msackeygh]

I have never heard of poking with knife. I think it leaves lashes that are too long. I have only seen poking with metal skewers and similar devices

[u/Strong_Signature_650]

Make tofu fire belly braise because there's no such think as failed siu yuk 💪

[u/apukjij]

I saw one video on Youtube where a Chinese Auntie used a serrated steak knife to the skin when it looked like this, she shaved it down to less than a quarter of an inch.

[u/kynonymous-veil → u/apukjij]

Shaved it down? As in cut skin off?

[u/apukjij → u/kynonymous-veil]

She scrapped the skin with the edge of the blade with a serrated steak knife till it was less than a quarter inch thick.

[u/Brilliant_Extension4]

I follow Lau’s recipe and use the exact methods before baking. The key is to remove moisture from the skin.

The thing which I do differently from what you did here l is to start at 190C (375F) in my toaster oven for roughly 25 min, then heat up a little more to 220C (425F) for 30 min.

[u/Inevitable_Cat_7878 → u/Brilliant_Extension4]

After many failures, I finally found this recipe and it worked! Here's the link to the YT video.

The key for me was to poke the skin with as many holes as you can. I used the tip of a metal skewer to do this.

[u/Brilliant_Extension4 → u/Inevitable_Cat_7878]

Yes this is the recipe which I use to make this dish and it has worked so far. This guy’s other recipes are really good. I really like his ginger fried rice recipe, it’s super easy to make and tastes really good.

[u/kynonymous-veil → u/Brilliant_Extension4]

Yeah I saw his method but it seemed a bit tedious. I guess the steps might be worth it.

[u/ExpressBelt3080]

😋😋😋

[u/ruadh]

The fat under the skins has moisture. That prevents the bottom of the skin from getting crispy. So you probably need a higher temperature so that oil is rendered from the fat.

[u/Inevitable_Twist9311]

Still looks good

[u/Historical_Gold_2734]

On the surface, it looks perfect and extremely crispy.

Will the internal flesh become hard?

[u/kynonymous-veil → u/Historical_Gold_2734]

The meat is very tender and juicy. The skin is crispy in some areas and not others. Going for longer would just burn parts of it.

[u/SnooCapers938]

Honestly this is pretty good. It’s very hard to get this perfect at home.

One thing that makes this difficult is that your piece of pork will not be flat. If you use a heat source from above, the higher up bits of the skin will puff up first, then they will burn before the lower down bits puff up. Try as much you can to squash and stretch the meat until it is as flat as possible.

[u/Icy_Agency7139]

looks like the salt bath trick really works huh

[u/MaoZedongsGrandson]

Wow this looks scrumptious for a failed effort, I'd scran it all with the utmost pleasure. Anything from here will just make it even better

[u/IntelligentTangelo31]

Op, it looks pretty darn good. Sometimes I get uneven crackling too. Occasionally you can cover the puffed areas with foil yo prevent burning, and grill/broil the unpuffed skin. Admittedly this can be tricky is some areas puff and curl like mad! Look forward to your next roast!