Char Siu BBQ Roast Pork

Char Siu Roast Pork slices on a long white plate on red white table cloth.

5 from 1 vote

Char Siu Roast Pork or Chinese BBQ Roast Pork is is a Cantonese dish known for its sweet, savory, and smoky flavor! Marinated in a mix of honey, soy sauce, and five-spice powder, it's slow-roasted to a tender, juicy meat with a caramelized, glossy look.

Prep Time1

Cook Time50

Total Time1 50

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Asian, Chinese

Servings: gr

Calories: 5kcal

Author: Claudia

Ingredients

500 gr pork cut into long strips or pork shoulder or chicken thigh fillet

Marinade

1 tbsp red yeast rice
1 tsp five spice powder
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp pepper
3 tbsp white wine Chinese
1 tbsp red wine Chinese
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 garlic crushed

Instructions

Combine red rice yeast, sugar, honey, soy sauce, pepper, rice wine, red cooking wine, sesame oil in a bowl. Add crushed garlic into the sauce. Mix well. Add red food coloring if you like. Cut the pork neck into long strips about 5 cm wide, put the meat inside a zip lock bag.
Pour the marinade sauce into the bag. Zip it tightly. Press the meat inside the bag to make sure all the meat is covered with the sauce. Transfer the bag into the chiller afterwards. Refrigerate overnight to two nights or for at least 8 hours before roasting. The next day or on the day you want to roast, take out the bag. Prepare a baking pan, you may line it with aluminium foil, so the charred sauce will not stain the pan. Bake in a preheated oven 180°C for 20 minutes. Keep checking once in a while. Reduce the oven temperature if the meat looks burning.
After 20 minutes of roasting, brush it generously with honey or maltose for a glossy, caramelized finish. Return the pork to the oven and roast for an additional 5 minutes. Flip the pork, brush the other side, and roast for another 5 minutes. The total roasting time should be around 30 minutes, with the pork developing a caramelized and slightly charred surface. Let it cool for about 10 minutes on a cooling rack.
Once slightly cooled, slice the Char Siu into your desired thickness. Serve immediately, and enjoy your juicy, flavorful Char Siu Roast Pork!

Video

Notes

If you don't have oven, you can pan-fry this marinated pork. Cover the lid to keep the meat juicy. Cook for 20 minutes and torch the meat after for some charred effect.

Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven to ensure even heat distribution and prevent the top of the pork from burning.

Cover the pork with aluminum foil during the initial roasting stage to retain moisture, to result in juicy texture.

For a more charred look, use a kitchen torch on the surface of the pork after roasting. This adds a beautiful caramelized finish.

For the juiciest Char Siu, use pork shoulder or pork neck. Pork neck is fattier, providing richer flavor, while pork shoulder offers a balanced fat-to-meat ratio. If you prefer a leaner option, you can use pork loin, but check once in a while to prevent drying out. When choosing pork neck, ask your butcher to cut it lengthwise with minimal fat.

If using maltose instead of honey for brushing, slightly warm it first. This reduces its thickness, making it easier to apply evenly on the pork.

While the red yeast rice naturally gives the pork a reddish-brown color, you can enhance it with a few drops of red food coloring for a more vibrant look.

For the best flavor, marinate the pork for two days in the refrigerator. This allows the marinade to penetrate deeply, resulting in a richer taste.

Nutrition