Char Siu (叉烧) Chinese BBQ Pork

Char Siu

Char Siu is one of my favourite dishes. Pork covered in a sticky, sweet honey and hoisin marinade. It is a Cantonese dish and not strictly Malaysian, however, it is very popular in Malaysia. It is traditionally served with boiled / fried rice or noodles.

This is the first recipe I learned after coming back to the UK from Malaysia, as I missed it far too much to wait until my next visit to have it again and it is not so easy to find here.

Char Siu takes a bit of preparation but is fairly simple to make and well worth it! Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Char Siu

Ingredients:

• 500g (a little more than 1lb) of Pork Shoulder - Pork belly or Pork loin will also work fine)
• 3 medium to large cloves of garlic chopped finely

Marinade / Sauce:

• 2 Tablespoons of honey
• 2 Tablespoons of hoisin sauce
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Chinese Rice Wine - Japanese Rice Wine (Sake) or dry sherry will also work
• 2 Tablespoons of light soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
• 3 - 4 dashes of white pepper
• 3 - 4 drops of red food colouring (this will give the char siu the traditional reddish colour but is entirely optional - I do not use it personally)

Preparation: (preferably should be done the day before you wish to cook and eat it).

Place all the ingredients for the marinade / sauce into a saucepan and heat gently until all the ingredients are blended to create a sticky sauce. Pour into a suitable container and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Cut the pork into 4 even strips (ideally roughly 2-3cm in width, although obviously this will depend on the cut of meat) and lay in a cooking dish (or any similar dish). Sprinkle the chopped garlic over the pork and pour over roughly 2/3 of the marinade, making sure both sides of each pork strip is coated. Leave the pork marinading in the fridge over night. Put the remaining sauce in the fridge to keep it fresh.

Cooking:

Take the remaining sauce from the fridge, pour a little of it into a ramekin or small bowl and mix in a tablespoon of cooking oil.

There are 2 simple ways to cook the char siu. One is to use an oven & grill and the other is to use a barbeque.

Oven:

Preheat the oven to 190°C, place the marinaded pork on a wire rack over a grill pan with a little water in the bottom of the pan (this will stop the sauce welding itself onto the pan when it drips). Cook the pork in the oven for roughly 15 - 20 minutes, turning half way through. Grill the pork under a medium high heat, turning occasionally and brushing the meat with a little of the sauce / cooking oil mix. Do this until the meat is starts to char (blacken) slightly on the edges.

Barbeque:

Thread the strips of pork onto separate metal skewers. Heat up the barbeque and cook the meat until it is cooked through and a little charred on the outside.

Serve:

Heat the remaining sauce through in a saucepan and keep warm.

Ensure the meat is thoroughly cooked. Cut each strip into thin slices and place on a plate or serving dish. Pour over the remaining sauce and serve.