Homemade Char Siew (BBQ Pork)
Skewers of fatty pork roasted to slightly charred perfection, dripping with reduced sticky marinade.
This is the image conjured when I think of char siew, or homemade barbecued pork, possibly one of the Cantonese’s greatest contributions to mankind.
I like making char siew at home. Choose a good cut of pork and retain the juiciness and moisture of the meat, while charring it slightly on the outside.
And avoid the dry, scarily magenta-coloured variety hanging in the windows of some Chinese shopfronts. (Omit the colouring forever, people!)
For succulent and tender char siew, try this recipe.
Homemade Char Siew (BBQ Pork)
Simplified Version
Ingredients
1.5-2kg fatty pork collar (otherwise known as ‘pork shoulder’ or ‘pork shoulder butt’)
1- 1.5 cups coarse sugar
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp hoi sin sauce
1 tbsp chee hou sauce
1 tsp five-spice powder
1.5 tsp of rosewater wine (mui kwei lo) or 2 tbsp shao xing wine
1 tablespoon maltose and/or honey
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
White pepper to taste
Method
1. Cut pork collar into strips 4-5cm thick. Use a sharp knife, score the pork collar on the surface, just lightly so the marinate gets in.
2. Mix all ingredients (except honey and dark soy sauce) together, and marinate pork. Cover with cling wrap, set aside for 1-3 days.
3. Pat dry the pork to prevent the burning of sugar while cooking, and leave to room temperature.
4. Reduce the marinade carefully over a saucepan till syrupy. It should coat back of spatula, and should not burn. Add more hoisin sauce if necessary.
5. Set oven to grill and preheat oven to 210 degrees celcius (410 degrees farenheit).
6. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil. Put a metal steaming rack on it, and place pork on rack. Cover with foil albeit not too tightly, to ensure air gets in. This helps meat cook more slowly and evenly, somewhat like pot roasting. Cook for 15 minutes.
7. Remove the foil and baste with reduced marinade every 5 minutes. Turn and baste the other side, to render the fat nicely. Do this for about 20-30 minutes, or till just cooked. Do not overcook, or meat will dry out.
8. Towards the end, varnish meat with a mixture of honey and dark soya sauce.
Serves 6.
Serve char siew with rice or egg noodles. The recipe yields a large amount of meat. If not serving for a large group, you can eat part of the fresh batch, freeze the rest and savour it another day!
For the best results, use Kurobuta pork.
I’ve a more refined version that uses measurement of meat temperature to yield the very best results, but that’s Level 2 which we’ll save for another day. Thanks Stephen for the useful virtual tutorials on roasting meats!
