We found the most effortless seasoning for a typical Dutch pork roulade, and it’s traditional Dutch sambal. The combination of water, salt, vinegar and chilli peppers make it a marinade that goes well with pork.
To make a rolled roast from pork neck, you must first butterfly it. Place the neck across in front of you and find a straight plane. Then cut the meat open from that straight plane to an inch or two below the surface. This way, you cut it open like a roll until the meat has almost the same thickness.
At least try not to cut holes in the thinner parts. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t look so pretty. It’s dark where it ends up. Ask your butcher to do this if you don’t dare to do it.
Then we cover the entire inside with a nice layer of sambal. We use sambal manis because it is reasonably mild. If you like it hotter, you can use sambal oelek. The most searing heat will decrease slightly during cooking.
After rubbing it in, roll it up and tie it together with butcher’s twine. Then you also brush the outside with sambal. Did we mention that doing all this with gloves on is a good idea? You’ll think of it if you accidentally rub your eyes.
We placed the Platesetter in our Kamado Joe with a double sheet of aluminium foil on top. This keeps the Platesetter clean and prevents the falling fat from burning immediately. To make preparation a little easier, we insert a thermometer into the meat and set the Smoke Thermometer to 70ºC (158F).
We set our kamado to a temperature of about 150C (302F). Too high a temperature would burn the sugars in the sambal. That’s why we put the Smoke’s other probe in a clip on the grates. This monitors the temperature in the kettle. Every kamado has a thermometer in the lid, which is rarely the best place because the meat isn’t there. You want to know the temperature at the level of the meat on the grates.
For smoking, we use a chunk of cherry wood. This gives a mild smoky flavour and a beautiful red-brown smoke colour.
When the roast has reached a core temperature of about 65ºC (149F), you cover it with a sauce of sweet soy sauce and ginger. This way, you build another layer of flavour and make it sticky.
When the roulade has reached a core temperature of 70ºC (158F), let it rest for at least 10 minutes and cut it into nice slices. Be careful not to cut the strings. They are not tasty.
Let us know if you make this sambal rolled pork roast in the comments below. Or better! Could you take a photo and post it on Instagram? Tag @bbqhelden so we can see what you made.
Ingredients
- 1 whole pork neck
- sambal oelek
For the sauce
- 60 ml sweet soy sauce
- 2 tsp chopped ginger
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Butterfly the pork neck, or have your butcher do that for you.
- Coat the entire inside with a generous layer of sambal and roll up the meat.
- Tie the roast with some butcher’s twine and brush the outside with sambal.
- Put it in the fridge for an hour while you prepare the barbecue.
- We go for an indirect temperature of 150ºC (302F) with a chunk of smoke wood.
- Place the roast on the grates and insert a core thermometer into the meat. Cook the roulade to a core temperature of 70ºC (158F).
- Mix the sweet soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil and brush it on the roast at the last 5 degrees.
- Let the sambal roast rest for 10 minutes, and then cut it into nice slices.
