How to Make Char Siu and Learn a Secret of Asian and Pacific Island Cuisine.Char siu, generically known as Chinese barbecue pork outside China, is a well known way to flavor and prepare pork in Cantonese cuisine. It is part of the Siu Mei style of roasting meat over a fire pit, which with additional marinating and basting gives a rich barbeque flavour. There are various spellings of the name, but the phrase literally means “fork roast”, after the cooking method. Traditionally, long strips of pork are skewered on long forks and roasted over a BBQ or fire pit at picnics. It's friendly and the style is not unlike fondue.
The same idea crops up in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and as far away as Hawaii the same style of marinating and preparing meat is popular - imported by Chinese plantation workers in previous centuries. The exact ingredients vary from place to place. In China and Japan, the meat is always pork shoulder – but the Japanese use a different cooking method, and a simpler version of the marinade. In Malaysia a vegetarian version can be found. In Hawaii, almost any meat is used – pork, chicken or wild boar or other game, but the marinade is almost identical. This recipe is along the lines of the traditional Chinese version and should serve 4 people at least. Ingredients2 ½ pounds of a fatty cut of pork, e.g. shoulder½ cup Rice wine ¾ cup Hoisin sauce ½ cup Light soy sauce 1/3 cup clear honey ½ tsp Five spice powder Several drops of Liquid red food coloring BTW - jars of char siu cooking sauce can be bought which are OK, but I prefer to make food from scratch. PreparationSlice the meat into strips about 1 inch wide by 6 inches long. A long thin strip like this will keep its shape better when hanging.Prick the meat all over with a fork to allow the marinade to penetrate the meat and get the char siu flavour right in there. Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl, the lay the pork slices in it, completely smothered, for at least 2 hours, but preferably 24. Cooking MethodThe best way to cook this, if you can, is with the meat hanging over a fire pit . But, I’ve found that barbecuing with either a charcoal grill or gas grill is a perfectly adequate way to cook it, taste-wise at least (which is the important part).Related PagesSee more Barbecue Pork RecipesReturn from char siu to Barbecue Grill Maestro |
or dry sherry
, but only just enough to colour the marinade red.
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