Chinese Barbecued Pork Char Siu Cooks Illustrated Recipes

CHINESE BARBEQUE PORK (CHAR SIU)

Steps:

• Place soy sauce, honey, rice wine, hoisin sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, five-spice powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and curing salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil on high heat; reduce heat to medium-high. Cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
• Cut pork roast in half lengthwise. Cut each half again lengthwise forming 4 long, thick pieces of pork.
• Transfer cooled sauce to a large mixing bowl. Stir in red food coloring. Place pork sections into sauce and coat each piece. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 to 12 hours.
• Preheat grill for medium heat, 275 to 300 degrees F (135 to 150 degrees C) and lightly oil the grate. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove sections of pork from marinade and let excess drip off. Place on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt to taste.
• Transfer pork sections to grate over indirect heat on prepared grill. Cover and cook about 45 minutes. Brush with marinade; turn. Continue cooking until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 185 and 190 degrees F, about 1 hour and 15 minutes more. Do not use any more marinade on cooked meat until after you boil it.
• Place leftover marinade in saucepan; bring to a boil; let simmer 1 minutes. Remove from heat. Now you can use it to brush over the cooked pork.

CHAR SIU (CHINESE BBQ PORK)

Steps:

• Cut pork with the grain into strips 1 1/2- to 2-inches long; put into a large resealable plastic bag.
• Stir soy sauce, honey, ketchup, brown sugar, rice wine, hoisin sauce, red food coloring or red bean curd (see Cook's Note), and Chinese five-spice powder together in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook and stir until just combined and slightly warm, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the marinade into the bag with the pork, squeeze air from the bag, and seal. Turn bag a few times to coat all pork pieces in marinade.
• Marinate pork in refrigerator, 2 hours to overnight.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Remove pork from marinade and shake to remove excess liquid. Discard remaining marinade.
• Cook pork on preheated grill for 20 minutes. Put a small container of water onto the grill and continue cooking, turning the pork regularly, until cooked through, about 1 hour. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).

CHINESE BARBECUED PORK (CHAR SIU) - COOK'S ILLUSTRATED

Steps:

• Cut pork butt in half lengthwise. Turn each half on cut side and slice each half into 4 equal pieces (you will end up with 8 strips). Trim excess hard, waxy fat, leaving some fat to render while cooking.
• Using fork, prick each piece of pork on all sides. Place pork in large plastic zipper-lock bag. Combine sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sherry, pepper, five-spice powder, sesame oil, ginger and garlic in medium bowl.
• Measure out 1/2 cup marinade and set aside.
• Pour remaining marinade into bag with pork. Press out as much air as possible; seal bag. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
• While meat marinates, combine ketchup and honey with reserved marinade in small saucepan. Cook glaze over medium heat until syrupy, 4-6 minutes.
• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300°F Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set wire rack on sheet. Spray the wire rack and rimmed pan with vegetable oil spray (this will help to facilitate cleanup).
• Remove park from marinade, letting any excess drip off, and place on wire rack. Pour 1/4 cup water into bottom of pan. Cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil, crimping edges tightly to seal. Cook pork 20 minutes.
• Remove foil and continue to cook until edges of pork begin to brown, 40-45 minutes.
• Turn on broiler (do not use a drawer broiler). Broil pork until evenly caramelized, 7-9 minutes. Remove pan from oven and brush pork with half of glaze; broil until deep mahogany color, 3-5 minutes. (Watch carefully; do not allow to blacken.).
• Using tongs, flip meat and broil until other side carmelizes, 7-9 minutes. Brush meat with remaining glaze and continue to broil until second side is deep mahogany, 3-5 minutes.
• Cool for at least 10 minutes, then cut into thin strips and serve.

CHAR SIU (CHINESE BARBEQUE PORK)

Steps:

• Place all ingredients except pork in a small saucepan and bring to simmer for 30 seconds. Set aside to cool.
• Place pork and marinade in ziplock bag. Remove as much air as possible, then massage it so the marinade is all over the pork. Place in the fridge and marinate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight (up to 48 hours).
• Take pork out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Line a baking tray with foil or baking/parchment paper. Remove pork from the marinade. Save marinade for basting.
• Roast pork for 25 minutes or until the internal temperature is 145 - 160°F Every 10 minutes, baste generously with reserved marinade- this is key for a thick, glossy glaze.
• After 25 minutes, switch the oven to the broiler/grill and broil until charred & caramelized- 4 to 6 minutes. Note: For extra glaze, add a dollop of honey to remaining marinade. Chinese BBQ shops do this. Do this towards the end of the cooking time while broiling, otherwise it will burn.
• Allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
• Serve with garlic shiitake noodles or rice and enjoy!