Yummy and easy to prepare homemade Char Siu Pork with a homemade Char Siu Sauce.
Char Siu Pork is also known as Chinese style BBQ pork is famous roasted pork dish. It is featured not only by the yummy taste but also the light red color.In Chinese Char Siu is 叉烧 meaning roasted pork on certain of fork. In traditional Cantonese restaurants, the pork is hooked during the roasting process, which guarantee the uniform heating from different sides. Homemade version can be much simplified and easier. And my homemade version is as yummy as the restaurant style.
As it is so famous outside China, I guess most of you have tested it in Cantonese restaurants. And you may wonder about how this light red color is created. In Cantonese cooking, people make their own Char Siu sauce. The main ingredients for Char Siu sauce contains oyster sauce (for more information about commonly used sauces in Chinese cooking, check Chinese Sauces), soy sauce, sugar, red onions, garlic and red fermented tofu. Red fermented tofu is quite widely used in Cantonese cuisine, either to roast pork or braise pork belly. It is fermented along with red yeast rice. In the following picture, I listed three commonly used coloring ingredients. But essentially, they are the same. Red yeast powder is grounded from red yeast rice. If you really cannot find them, skip this coloring. We are just sacrificing some coloring, no taste difference.
- For light coloring, use red fermented tofu + some of the juice in the bottom(I know lots of you may do not like the taste of fermented tofu. If you never tasted it before, I would recommend trying one cube).
- For middle coloring, use red yeast rice. Pre-soak the rice until soft and use the water.
- For deep coloring, use red yeast powder directly (1/8 teaspoon is recommended) or you can resort to red food coloring.
I tried to search but failed to find where you can find red fermented tofu. If you come across with any possible sourcing, please leave a comment so we can share it with other readers. If the red one is not available, use white fermented tofu or you can skip it (just a slight difference in taste). The remaining ingredients can make your char siu enough yummy too.
You can see a light red color on the edges of the slices form the picture. I marinate the pork for around 30 hours with my homemade Char Siu sauce.
About the meat for this recipe;
In China, the most popular ingredients for char siu is pork butt, sometimes we refer it as pork shoulder. For a fatty taste, you can use pork belly.
About the BBQ sauce;
I use a very basic homemade Char Siu sauce in this recipe. In fact, we have a well made char siu sauce from Lee Kum Kee. Surely, you can use that one directly if you do not want to assemble the sauce at home.
Char Siu-Chinese BBQ Pork
Ingredients
- 300 g pork butt , pork shoulder
- 1 thumb ginger , sliced
- 2 garlic cloves , sliced
Char Siu Sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
- 1 tablespoon rice wine , rose rice wine is the best
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 red fermented tofu with 1/2 tablespoon of the sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
Brushing
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 tablespoon water
- 1/2 tablespoon char siu sauce
- sesame oil for brushing
Instructions
- Firstly poke some small holes on the pork butt so it can absorb the flavor better. Then cut into 2 cm wide and 4 cm thick long strips. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add red fermented tofu, cooking wine, honey, light soy sauce, oyster sauce and Chinese five spice. Give a big stir-fry to combine well.
- Transfer the pork into a plastic bag and then add ginger and garlic slices. Pour the Char Siu sauce in. Squeeze extra air out and seal. Message the pork for couple of minutes and keep in fridge for 24 to 48 hours.
- Pre-heat oven to 200 degree C (around 400 degree F)
- Before baking, add around 1/2 tablespoon of warm water and 1/2 tablespoon of char siu sauce with 1 tablespoon of honey. Combine well.
- Place the pork on grill and with a layered baking tray. Brush the honey water on both sides.
- Place on middle track and back for 10 minutes. And re-brush the honey mixture on both sides again.
- Roast again on middle track for another 10 minutes. Move the grill to up track and roast for another 2 minutes.
- Transfer out and brush some sesame oil on surface. Cool down for 3-4 minutes and cut into slices.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Looks really yummy, I can’t wait to try these at home !!!
Hi Elaine. What kind of honey do you recommend? Solid raw style? Or clear liquid style? Any particular variety suggestion?
The two types both can work for this recipe. But clear liquid is slightly better.
I finally made the char siu, and made bao with it. My friends loved it! Great recipe and website!
Nice Job!
I have tried many char siu recipes on the internet and your recipe is my favorite! Simple recipe but tasted delicious and authentic! Thank you for sharing and I’m looking forward to trying out other recipes of yours! 🙂
Thanks Pham. This is really an awesome comment, making me a lovely day. Happy cooking. I hope you can love the other recipes on my blog too.
Looks so delicious!Can i grill this Char Siu Pork?
100% yes!
Hi Elaine,
I definitely want to try your recipe. I have red fermented bean curd (pot of 500gr) but your recipe doesn’t say how much we should use for the 300 gr of meat?
Any suggestion?
Many thanks!
Hi David,
The red bean curd should be cube and we need 1 cube for this recipe.
I have been trying different cha siu recipes and today I made your chasiu and like everybody noted it’s really like the real thing. I guess i won’t have to try others. Thanks very much. Next target，the Char Siu Bao ?
Hi, Elaine
I found this in amazon, this is red fermented tofu?
https://www.amazon.com/Wangzhihe-Fermented-Traditional-Bean-DragonMall/dp/B00786YL72/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1508785583&sr=8-1&keywords=red+fermented+bean+curd
Yes, but it is not red fermented tofu. It is normal fermented tofu without the red color.
Thanks for replying Elaine
However, how do I know if a product is actually fermented red tofu?
In the product link I inserted in the ingredients mention the red rice, so I thought it was authentic
If you cannot find the red fermented red tofu, which seems quite difficult, you can use red rice or hoisin sauce as a coloring substitute.
Can I substitute pork tenderloin for the pork butt?
Sure, pork tenderloin is a great choice who prefer leaner meat.
I made this recipe as listed, except I used red food coloring. It was delicious. Thank you so much 🙂
Thank you, Sara.
You can find red fermented tufu in a Chinese supermarket and lee kam kee has it too