published Jan 31, 2022 Chinese barbecue pork seems to be everywhere lately – and for good reason! It’s a Cantonese dish called char siu, which translates literally to “fork roasted.” Traditionally, the dish is prepared by skewering seasoned meat with large forks and cooking it over an open flame. While this recipe doesn’t involve any large forks or an open fire, you can use your BBQ to cook your own char siu pork at home. I first had this in a dim sum house in Hong Kong and later at my favorite, Jasmine, in San Diego, California. A lady would come by with a rolling cart of this beautiful, charred red pork and it was a dim sum breakfast must have! My Chinese BBQ pork recipe goes great with noodles, rice, or vegetables like bok choy. You’ll want to use my Five Spice Powder in your marinade for the spicy punch I know you’re after. Before you get started, you may want to make sure that your pantry is stocked with these Chinese spices and staples!
INGREDIENT NOTES AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Boneless pork shoulder – Most char siu pork recipes call for a shoulder cut since it is fattier than other cuts. However, there are several more options that work just as well – you can find more about them further down in the post. Marinade – Your marinade is made up of sugar, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, hoisin sauce, molasses, salt, Five Spice Powder (more on that later), white pepper, and sesame oil. These spices and sauces come together to bring you a flavorful marinade filled with heat. You can add a bit of red food coloring here as well if you’d like, but it’s optional. Shaoxing rice wine – A type of Chinese cooking wine made from rice. It has a complex and slightly sweet flavor. Hoisin sauce – A Cantonese sauce made from fermented soybean paste. It combines umami, sweet, spicy, and tangy flavors for a result similar to barbecue sauce.Five Spice Powder – My Five Spice Powder is packed to the brim with flavor, and it’s a lot less expensive to make it yourself than heading to a specialty Chinese supermarket! My recipe boasts all of the five culinary tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami. Honey – Use honey as a baste to add some sweetness to all of that spice.
HOW TO MAKE THIS CHINESE BBQ PORK RECIPE
Chinese BBQ pork recipe video
Want to see how to make the best char siu pork? Just watch the video in the recipe card at the bottom of this post!
Why is Chinese Barbecue Pork Red?
Char siu pork gets its red color thanks to the marinade used to cook it. An authentic char siu recipe is made with fermented red bean curds (Nam yue). The red bean curds don’t have a lot of flavor, so it’s easy to prepare this recipe without it. You can find this specialty ingredient in Asian supermarkets, or you can simply add a bit of red food coloring to get the crimson hue you’re looking for.
What is Char Siu Sauce Made of?
If you’re in a crunch and don’t have time to prepare your own marinade, you can find the sauce premade in any Cantonese or Asian supermarket. It typically contains sugar, water, salt, fermented soybean paste, honey, soy sauce, malt syrup, modified corn starch, garlic, and various spices. It’s almost always worth it to prepare your own. Plus, you don’t have to worry about consuming those less-than-appealing ingredients such as modified corn starch and excess syrups.
Can I Use Pork Tenderloin?
You can use tenderloin for this Chinese BBQ pork recipe, but I do recommend that you opt for a fattier cut. This cut can sometimes be a bit too lean. The best cuts to use in this char siu recipe is pork butt, pork shoulder, or pork belly. In this case, the fattier, the better! This post, originally published on Silk Road Recipes Dec. 01, 2020, has been updated with new content on Jan. 31, 2022.
