Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
Char siu is a savory Chinese BBQ pork that you can make it home. The meat can be eaten on its own or is also often used in fried rice, or wrapped inside a steamed bun for char siu bao.
There’s a lot of foods that I always had around the house growing up that I took for granted. Char Siu is definitely one of them. Char Siu is a bbq pork. The pork is marinated with a sauce made up of five spice powder, hoisin sauce, and honey. There is usually some red food coloring added as well, giving the outside edge of the meat a reddish/pink tinge. The pork is typically skewered or roasted on high heat creating a crispy charred exterior. The sauce is sweet and salty and creates a sticky glaze.
The meat can be eaten on its own or is also often used in fried rice, or wrapped inside a steamed bun for char siu bao.
Growing up, it seemed like char siu was always readily available in my house, to the point where I didn’t really even care for it anymore. But now that I’m on my own, it’s definitely something I miss having.
For a while now I’ve thought about making it myself. The ones I buy are always really salty and it’s been a long time since my mom has made it. I looked at some recipes and it didn’t look too hard. It’s actually quite easy. You mix a few ingredients together to create a marinade and then you marinate the pork for a few hours and then roast it in the oven. Easy peasy.
You can use any cut of pork. I like pork loin since it is leaner, but I used pork butt this time because it was on sale. It is a fattier piece of meat but very moist and tender. If you aren’t a fan of pork, you can even substitute for chicken.
I used a recipe I found on My Asian Kitchen with some modifications. Traditionally you are supposed to add maltose to create the sticky shiny glaze but I don’t know what maltose is supposed to look like so I wasn’t able to get any. So I used honey instead, which was recommended.
Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey, plus extra for glazing
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp cooking Chinese wine
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp 5 spice powder
- 3 drops red food color
- 2 lbs pork loin, (see note)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the hoisin sauce, honey, sugar, soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, five spice powder, and food coloring.
- Place the pork in a container large enough to hold it. Pour the marinade over the pork and transfer the container to the refrigerator. Marinate the pork for at least a few hours, but for the best results marinate it overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the pork on the baking sheet. Bake the pork for 30 minutes, turn it over and bake it for 30 minutes more. Adjust the oven temperature to 400°F and roast the pork for 10 to 15 minutes or until the top of the pork is charred and crispy.
- Brush the pork with honey to give it a glossy shine. Slice and serve as an appetizer or main dish.
Notes
- You will need to marinate the pork and, depending on the size of the container you use, you may want to cut the pork into smaller chunks.
- Recipe adapted from My Asian Kitchen
Actually, the red coloring, traditionally is not from food coloring, its from red rice yeast. A traditional recipe includes ferment red tofu which contains the red yeast and will make your char siu red. If you are lucky enough, you could find, make or have available in your area red rice lees which is another way to impart the color naturally.
food coloring is not traditional but it is what is often used to achieve the red color.
I grew up with char siu meat too! Though, I’ve never tried to make it. Kudos to you 🙂
Usually maltose is sold in little plastic bowls; the consistency is really thick and has a similar color to honey. It’s available in asian supermarkets- just be careful not to make a mess as it is quite hard to clean up since it is so thick and sticky!
Thanks for letting me know. I’ll look for it next time.
Hey Kirbie,
Char Siu is also a staple at my house, very impressive you make your own marinade since you can buy the Lee Kum Kee brand one. Obviously, you dont have control of the bad ingredients that are in the store bought marinade. Will have to try this home made recipe out! I know its bad for you, but the “fattier” pork cuts come out the best in my opinion.
Steve
I’ve seen the store marinade but I didn’t know if it was good. I’ll try it next time.
wow! this looks so easy to make! I thought it’d be much more complicated. This looks like it’d go nicely with some rice, or in a bun.