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A Classic Chinese Delicacy: Char Siew, Chinese Barbecue Pork 叉烧
“Char Siew ” literally means “fork burn / roast” after the traditional cooking method for the dish. It is of Cantonese origin where pork meat is marinated and then roasted in the oven to a charred and sticky sweet perfection. Long strips of marinated pork belly are skewered with long forks ( sorry no fork here! ) and placed in a covered oven or over a fire to grill.
Truly for the MEAT lovers. It’s my hubby and daughter’s favourite too!
How To Make Chinese Barbecue Pork (Char Siew):
Rinse the pork belly and pat dry.
Using a fork, prick some holes on the pork.
Prepare ingredients to marinate the pork.
Add all marinade into a mixing bowl. Mix until well combined.
Put malt sugar into a pan and add water.
Cook the malt sugar with the water until sugar dissolves. Leave to cool.
Then add the malt sugar solution into the marinade. Mix well.
Place the pork belly into a container.
Add the marinade into the pork. Blend well so the pork strips are well coated.
Cover to marinade in the fridge preferably overnight, turning occasionally.
Remove from fridge and leave at room temperature for 1 hour before baking.
Preheat oven to 220 degree C (425 degree F ). Foil a baking tray at bottom of rack to capture sauce drippings.
Cook the marinate sauce over low heat, this is the barbecue sauce.
Arrange the marinated pork strips on roasting rack. Bake for 15 mins. Then brush with the barbecue sauce and continue to roast another 5 to 6 minutes. Repeat another 4 times.
Roast until the pork is slightly charred.
To serve, allow the barbecue pork to cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
Cut across the grain into thin or thick pieces.
Serve alongside some freshly cut cucumber.
Or it can be eaten as one main dish for a sumptuous lunch or dinner at home or with guests.
AS ALWAYS … ENJOY!
Oven Grilled Char Siew ( Chinese Barbecue Pork ) 叉烧
“Char Siew ” is of Cantonese origin where pork meat is marinated and then roasted in the oven to a charred and sticky sweet perfection. Truly for the MEAT lovers.
Tap or Hover to Adjust Servings
Servings: 3 people
Ingredients
- 800 g pork belly, Cut into large long strips 3cm thick, skinless
For the Marinade:
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 Tablespoon taucho, or Yellow bean sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Hoi Sin sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Black sauce
- 1 ½ piece Reddish cheese, or nam yue
- 2 Tablespoon chinese cooking wine
- 1 Tablespoon garlic, Chopped
- ½ Tablespoon shallot, Chopped
- 1 Teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 egg
Malt Syrup
- 25 ml water, (Cook malt sugar with water until sugar dissolve. Leave to cool)
- 100 g Malt sugar
- Rinse the pork belly and pat dry. Using a fork, prick some holes on the pork. This helps the marinade to penetrate into the meat for more flavour.
- Add all marinade into a mixing bowl. Mix until well combined.
- Add in the pork. Blend well so the pork strips are coated well. Cover to marinate for at least 2 hours, turning occasionally. Preferably keep overnight in the fridge.
- Remove from fridge and leave at room temperature for about 1 hour before baking. Preheat oven to 220 degree C. Arrange the marinated pork strips on roasting rack. Foil a baking tray at the bottom to capture the dripping sauce during the roasting process. Bake for 15 minutes.
- While waiting, cook the remaining marinated sauce together with the malt syrup over low heat. Do stir constantly and cook until the sauce thickens. This takes about 5 minutes. This is the char siu sauce.
- Once the 15 minutes roasting time is over, bring out the meat and brush the char siew sauce on the meat surface. Turn the meat over and do the brushing all over the other side. Put it back in the oven and continue to roast another 6-7 minutes. Repeat another 4 times. Roast until the pork is slightly charred.
- To serve, allow the cha siu to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting it across the grain into thin or thick slices to your preference. Serve with the sauce.
Instructions
Enjoy!
Tried this recipe?Mention @HuangKitchen or tag #huangkitchen!
Notes
*Many cuts of pork can be used to make chinese barbecue pork.
You can use:
Pork Belly ( without skin ) - its the tender, juicy and fattiest version/ maximum flavour.
Pork Butt ( shoulder ) or Pork Neck - if you prefer a balance between meat and tenderness.
Pork Loin – if you prefer no fat, only meat .
9 comments
Hi Angie, nice recipe.
May I know what is the optimal oven temperature used during grilling?
Try to use a high temperature of 200 to 220 degree C. Thanks
Hello, I’m on the search for the best Char Siu recipe and I’m intrigued by yours. Firstly, by black sauce, do you mean black bean sauce? Secondly, I’ve never seen egg in a char siu marinade before. What is its purpose, and how does it integrate with the pork in terms of taste and texture?
Thanks in anticipation.
Hi, sorry to have confused you. The black sauce is actually dark soy sauce. It is used to give the meat a caramelized colour and flavour. The egg added acts as a binder to bind all the marinade ingredients and the egg white to tenderise the meat. Hope this helps. Thanks
hi! what can i use to substitute malt sugar? is honey ok?
Yes, honey can be used if you don’t have malt sugar.
When listing the ingredients please place malt sugar and water under marinate, else one may misinterpreted it as to cook the remainder marinate AFTER marinating the pork!
Realised my mistake only after I went through the photos!
Thanks for pointing out. Enjoy!
Hi Angie,
I tried out your oven grilled char Siew recipe yesterday. It turned out very good. Many thanks for sharing,
Best regards,
Julie
Kuching
PS : do you have any tips on how to get the Melt -in-your-mouth outcome for the fat in the pork ?