Chinese Barbecued Pork - Char Siu

Making Chinese Barbecued Pork at home is rather easy. The meat is marinated with lots of sugar, dark caramel sauce (or dark soy sauce), and rose cooking wine. It’s then roasted in the oven and finished with some maltose solution to give the meat a shiny coat. There are several ways to serve the meat. You can enjoy it with some steamed rice/noodles, or use it as filling for steamed or baked buns. Here, I served the barbecued pork with some steamed rice and a sweet sauce, which also has a slight hint of saltiness from the Hoisin sauce.


Chinese Barbecued Pork - Char Siu
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

1.4 Kg Pork Butt or Belly w/o Skin (preferably with a little fat attached)
200 g Granulated Sugar
1 ½ Tbsp Rose Cooking Wine (Mei Kuei Lu Chiew)
3 Tbsp Dark Caramel Sauce or Dark Soy Sauce
5 to 6 Tbsp Maltose mixed with ½ cup of warm water or Honey

Sweet Sauce
6 Tbsp Soy Sauce
5 Tbsp Dark Caramel Sauce or Dark Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
¼ Cup Water

Method

Cut the pork butt into 2 to 2 ½ -inch strips. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cooking wine, and dark caramel sauce. Marinate the pork for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Let the pork come to a room temperature. Place the pork on the rack of a roasting pan. Roast the pork for about 35-40 and baste with the remaining marinate every 8 to 10 minutes.

When the meat is just beginning to char, brush with some maltose solution or honey, and roast until the meat is lightly char, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the meat from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

For the sauce: Bring the sauce to a boil and let simmer until the sauce has a thicker consistency. Serve warm.

Serves 8