Homemade Char Siew Recipes

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).

CHAR SIU CHICKEN

Steps:

• Whisk brown sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, garlic, sriracha sauce, sherry, food coloring, sesame oil, Chinese five-spice powder, and liquid smoke together in a bowl; pour into a resealable plastic bag. Add chicken thighs, coat with the marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil and place a roasting rack in the bottom of the pan.
• Remove chicken from marinade and place on the rack in the prepared roasting pan.
• Pour marinade into a saucepan; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Bake chicken in the preheated oven, turning once and basting occasionally with marinade, until the juices run clear, about 1 hour. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

CHAR SIU (叉燒) - CHINESE BBQ PORK

Steps:

• We'll cut our pork shoulder into long slices, roughly about 1 inch thick.
• To a bowl, we'll add:
• Place the meat into a ziploc bag, pour the sauce in, and massage the pork for about 2 minutes so that the sauce is able to finesse its way into the meat. Afterwards, we'll push all the air out of the bag and seal it.
• Preheat the oven to 425° F or 218° C.
• Now, we'll be placing the pork into the oven and taking it out periodically to lather it again with either our leftover pork marinade, or honey diluted with water.
• Once the char siu has finished its last cycle in the oven, we'll lather each side with our diluted honey.

HOMEMADE CHAR SIEW

Steps:

• Mix everything together except the pork.
• Marinate pork with the mix for about 1 hour (I normally marinate my meats for a longer time) Place on wire rack and roast at 200 degrees Centigrade or 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes.
• Or, you can fire up the BBQ and roast it in there.
• (I've personally seen Char Siew roasted over coals in a cut out oil tin with a wooden lid.) Cool and slice.