Chinese BBQ Pork
I had a terrible experience the last time I had a craving for some "Char Siu" (Cantonese style BBQ Pork). After fighting an hour's worth of traffic to reach Chinatown and waiting in line for half more at my favorite BBQ restaurant "Sam Woo", I was left staring at the last piece of Char Siu which was practically screaming, "I'm dry and burnt, but I'm the last piece standing and you've come this far ......" And that was enough inspiration for making my own Chinese BBQ Pork nowadays whenever I have a craving for that sweet, sticky, tender hunk of "red" meat.
The choice of meat is on the top of my list when it comes to my BBQ Pork. For a leaner Char Siu, use pork cushion or pork loin. If you prefer it to be really tender (like I do), pork belly is the way to go. If you can't decide, start out with pork shoulder or pork butt, which is leaner than pork belly, yet quite marbly and moist.
The choice of meat is on the top of my list when it comes to my BBQ Pork. For a leaner Char Siu, use pork cushion or pork loin. If you prefer it to be really tender (like I do), pork belly is the way to go. If you can't decide, start out with pork shoulder or pork butt, which is leaner than pork belly, yet quite marbly and moist.
Traditionally, Chinese BBQ Pork is skewered with long forks and roasted in ovens, which is how it's name is derived, "Char" and "Siu" in Cantonese respectively translate to "Fork" and "Roasted". However, I have discovered that pan-broiling the BBQ Pork like my Hainan Chicken on the stove-top is faster and the result is just as authentic.
Personally, I prefer my Chinese BBQ Pork with egg noodles tossed with the BBQ Pork caramel sauce. But its always great with plain white rice, fried rice, or as bun stuffings.
BBQ Pork Caramel Sauce Recipe
Ingredients :
4 tbsp maltose
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 tbsp Chinese rose wine ( OR regular shaoxing wine )
white pepper
sesame oil
salt to taste
Method :
1) To avoid sticking or burning onto the pan, cook all ingredients on a double boiler on medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens, let it cool down and then set aside.
BBQ Pork Recipe
Ingredients :
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced shallot
2 lbs+ pork belly ( OR use pork loin OR pork shoulder)
caramel sauce
Method :
1) Fork the pork belly and rub the minced ingredients all over the meat.
2) Marinade the pork bellies with half to two thirds of a portion of the prepared caramel sauce over the meat, and then set aside for at least 20 minutes. ( preferably overnight )
3) Pan fry the marinated meat over medium-high heat until both sides are nicely browned, cover and let it cook on medium-low heat for an additional 20-30 minutes.
4) Baste some glaze over the meat 5 minutes before finish time.
5) Pour the remaining caramel sauce over the meat, before of after cutting the meat into serving size.
2) Marinade the pork bellies with half to two thirds of a portion of the prepared caramel sauce over the meat, and then set aside for at least 20 minutes. ( preferably overnight )
3) Pan fry the marinated meat over medium-high heat until both sides are nicely browned, cover and let it cook on medium-low heat for an additional 20-30 minutes.
4) Baste some glaze over the meat 5 minutes before finish time.
5) Pour the remaining caramel sauce over the meat, before of after cutting the meat into serving size.
Labels: Broiling, Cantonese Cuisine, chinese bbq pork, chinese bbq sauce, chinese five spice, Pork, side pork belly
Posted by Melting Wok
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35 Comments:
i love char siu! (and also roast pork). very well done. I love my char siu soft and a bit oily too.
wah. all the way to the city to get some char siu, i really admire you. :-)
Wah, we must be psychic! As I write this, I have char siu marinating at home in the fridge, to be roasted tonite or tomorrow afternoon! Except that for a change, I made it with turkey instead of pork. Bought a whole turkey breast - you know, those monsters weigh more than a kilo and have very little fat! Unlike you, I cheated, using a powder spice mix instead of my own sauce, and I might do mine with noodles. :)
Can I "ta pao"? :D
Your char siew looks so juicy and tender. I also like my char siew with some fats...hee hee...who cares so much about that oil/fats when eating char siew? The fats' the flavor, and texture too! So, can you quick-freeze some and send it to me NOW! Pleasseee....
Caramel sauce, sounds really good !!! Could I test that when I come to LA ;-)
Cheers
Claude
Mother of God! That looks good - got to give it a whirl...
eeeeeeeeeeeek, my favorite pork in the world is on your blog! i bet that is delicious. i've always wondered how to make it too. i just have to find the maltos. i'm def making this.
Mmmm, looks and sounds so much better than Sam Woo's BBQ! Sam Woo's wok would melt in jealousy over this recipe!
Looks authentic and delicious; not the icky RED dye version.
This would be sooo good with rice and some cucumber...and some drizzling of pork fat BBQ sauce. :-)
now only v know da real meaning of char siew !tq tq !
Thank you for this recipe - my husband loves char siur bao, and I've been wanting to make them for him.
Doesn't it stink when you sit in all that traffic in anticipation of some great food delight only to find the place has run out or has only a sad burnt one left? ;) Of course, I doubt theirs would have looked as appetizing as yours. I wasn't familiar with char sui, but now I've seen it on two blogs this week!
next time I'd remind myself bringing over hot rice! Dangerously delicious char-siu!!! Just like straight right out from bbq stall!!! Definitely will try out your recipe, as in summer I really don't want to (oven) roast anything inside the house!
Btw, love your jelly-fish salad a ton!
MW, it's me again! I just linked to this post in my latest post, hope you don't mind! :)
Wow! Super yummy cha siu!!!! Where's my bowl of rice? I can just eat my plain rice and stare at your cha siu!!!
hahaha.... 望梅止渴！
Wow, I can't wait to try this recipe! Your pic looks so good!
Looks gorgeous. My Mum makes a good char siu and as a dutiful son, I'm duty bound to prefer hers. However, I'm going to give your recipe the ol' college try.
Been meaning to put you on my blogroll. Hope you don't mind. Nice to meet someone so passionate about her food. These last few weeks have been a revelation.
Nigel
This BBQ pork looks absolutely delicious! I wish I could have a piece.
Ciao.
Hi there - This is really good of you post the Char Siu recipe. My husband loves it and would like me to make it, but I never know how. Need to try it one day.
I'm not sure what maltose is. Would you please explain how I can get it / how to make it?
I don't use maltose, just regular sugar in mine. It's the honey, 5-spice powder, and wine that I think makes it so much better than the powdered mix. And then shove it in the oven to let all the sauce and meat mingle until done.
You know there's a Sam Woo in Alhambra and San Gabriel so you don't have to drive all the way to Chinatown? :)
i want to make this! hmms.. i dont' have maltose. :D i'll look for it.
fyi - on the corner of hill or across form the library on hill there is a chinese bbq shop that makes grreeaaat Char Siu among other bbq items.
yummy, its looks most delectable.... ah, now i understand, you malaysian living in the states. i was confused at first.
btw, i link you okay?
Here I am happily munching away on a biscuit. There you r spoiling my snack. So, wanna swap?
I have some pork that is just crying out for this recipe! Looks wonderful!
Yum. I'm not a bit pork eater (hmm, that sounds a bit weird!), but I love char siu. However I'm too lazy to make it myself and usually head for the nearest Chinese restaurant when I get a craving! But I'm sure there's nothing like home cooked char siu!
Your char siew looks absolutely fabulous!!! I hope to try out your recipe soon!
I just made char siew last week! But of course I cheated la... I used the Lee Kum Kee Char Siew sauce :)
The pork bellies char siu looks so moist and the gravy must be fingers licking good.
j01e267, thanks and I hope you try it soon too, let me know how it goes :)
sims, I never tried LKK b4, or many other brands, coz it tends to b too sweet, sticky and red hahaa, not scary meh ?
suanne, it was finger licking good, better than Colonel's Chicken haaha, thx for dropping by :)
wokandspoon, I really wanted the easy way out, but had some bad experience with that, I know how to control the cooking, taste and the marination if I make the sauce myself, moreover I didn't want to waste that piece of fatty juicy pork belly hehe, btw, you could hop over to Flogs & Rosbif for a quick BBQ turkey recipe :)
freya, it was crying out loud to me as well :)
budding, try look for a plastic short container, with the word maltose and some chinese words on it, with a red lid. Also, its better than sugar as maltose is made of rice and malt :)
WC, that was where I was refering too, its always jam on the 10 FWY :( Thx, and I got that bit of maltose sitting in the fridge, so might as well hehe, plus malt + rice = maltose sounds healthier than regular sugar hehe :)
tummythoz, don wannn...
windy, thx, and hope u try it sometime, oh, on the maltose, pls. refer to my reply to budding :)
alan & nigel, thx !! Hope to share my revelation with your baking skills too, cheers !:)
ll, thx, I thought the pix looked too red ? no ? thxxxx :)
ECL, aiyoo..I forgot to tell u & tiger, I don't read nor write chinese lahh hehe, paiseh, I thought u not meat eater ? :P got ter-excited, forgot to take my noodle bowl pix. by then, hands got too sticky to get the camera hahaha..
shilpa, the more porkylicious the better, power to the pork hehe :)
tiger, no need ta pow lah, you already had your wonton BBQ noodles kowkow in SG already isn't it ? Remember how I drooled that night ?
gattina, oo..dangerously good rating from you, thx !! :) You're right bout broiling instead of baking in the hot oven (unless we doing serious gattina's pastry baking hehe ).
Susan, we don't need to do that no more, don't we ? :) yess, dry, burnt in a smoky joint :(
madam chow, thx, and isn't it great that we can chopped the leftovers up and make great char xiu baos ? yumss..let me know when u're making, I want some too hehe :)
toni, the real thang is also available at lorong back street gluttons mahhh :PP no, tq tq :)
ming, that sweet, sticky caramelized glaze totally melts in my mouth, yes :)
PE, ger, I do Sam Woo bad now huh ? hehe
That char siu looks amazing. I just got a couple of pork bellies in. I guess I know what I'll be making with them.
Hi Shirley, that's a great looking charsiu pork! I saw that Gattina made charsiu too... it must be a charsiu making time!
I love the idea of the caramel sauce oh, yum. Like you, i like it however - with egg noodles, plain boiled rice or with hot thin noodles soup!
I'm definitely making some charsiu very soon. Thanks for revealing your recipe. :)
Mae
veron & mae, thx !! :) tapping fingers here, shall be waiting graciously hehe... :)
Good post. For your readers, here is another idea. You can use an instant mix called NOH char siu mix (powder). Don't add liquid, just pour the powder on the pork and marinate in a ziplock bag at least for one day. When you oven roast the char siu, baste with honey and sprinkle Hawaiian salt on it. Use boneless pork country style spare ribs, since that is very well marbled with fat.
This recipe is great and easy. Make the taste very good and not that generally dry and tasteless stuff you get in most restaurants.
anonymous, sorry I haven't get around to respond to u. I do get emails on this recipe, and I'll definitely let them know about this brand. I've seen this brand at the market, and I believe its made in Hawaii ? I'm skeptical about using powder, but with your suggestion, I might have to try it out, thanks !! :)
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