Char Siu Chinese Sweet Barbecued Pork Food

CHAR SIU (CHINESE BBQ PORK)

Steps:

• Cut pork with the grain into strips 1 1/2- to 2-inches long; put into a large resealable plastic bag.
• Stir soy sauce, honey, ketchup, brown sugar, rice wine, hoisin sauce, red food coloring or red bean curd (see Cook's Note), and Chinese five-spice powder together in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook and stir until just combined and slightly warm, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the marinade into the bag with the pork, squeeze air from the bag, and seal. Turn bag a few times to coat all pork pieces in marinade.
• Marinate pork in refrigerator, 2 hours to overnight.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Remove pork from marinade and shake to remove excess liquid. Discard remaining marinade.
• Cook pork on preheated grill for 20 minutes. Put a small container of water onto the grill and continue cooking, turning the pork regularly, until cooked through, about 1 hour. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).

CHAR SIU (叉燒) - CHINESE BBQ PORK

Steps:

• We'll cut our pork shoulder into long slices, roughly about 1 inch thick.
• To a bowl, we'll add:
• Place the meat into a ziploc bag, pour the sauce in, and massage the pork for about 2 minutes so that the sauce is able to finesse its way into the meat. Afterwards, we'll push all the air out of the bag and seal it.
• Preheat the oven to 425° F or 218° C.
• Now, we'll be placing the pork into the oven and taking it out periodically to lather it again with either our leftover pork marinade, or honey diluted with water.
• Once the char siu has finished its last cycle in the oven, we'll lather each side with our diluted honey.

CHAR SIU (CHINESE BBQ PORK)

Steps:

• Cut the pork into long strips or chunks about 2 to 3 inches thick. Don't trim any excess fat, as it will render off and add flavor.
• Combine the sugar, salt, five spice powder, white pepper, sesame oil, wine, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, molasses, food coloring (if using), and garlic in a bowl to make the marinade (i.e. the BBQ sauce).
• Reserve about 2 tablespoons of marinade and set it aside. Rub the pork with the rest of the marinade in a large bowl or baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours. Cover and store the reserved marinade in the fridge as well.
• Preheat your oven to 'bake' at 475 F (246 C) with a rack positioned in the upper third of the oven. (If you only have a convection oven, keep in mind the oven not only heats more quickly, your char siu will roast faster than what we have described here). It's amazing how oven temperatures can vary-from model to model, in different spots in the oven, and in how ovens pre-heat and maintain heat. Using an oven thermometer to double-check the actual oven temperature is a great safeguard to monitor your food (I say double-check because even oven thermostat calibrations vary and can sometimes be incorrect). Regardless, be sure to check your char siu every 10 minutes, reducing or increasing the temperature as needed.
• Line a sheet pan with foil and place a metal rack on top. Using the metal rack keeps the pork off of the pan and allows it to roast more evenly, like it does in commercial ovens described above. Place the pork on the rack, leaving as much space as possible between pieces. Pour 1 ½ cups water into the pan below the rack. This prevents any drippings from burning or smoking.
• Transfer the pork to your preheated oven. Roast for 25 minutes, keeping the oven setting at 475 F for the first 10 minutes of roasting, and then reduce your oven temperature to 375 F (190 C). After 25 minutes, flip the pork. If the bottom of the pan is dry, add another cup of water. Turn the pan 180 degrees to ensure even roasting. Roast another 15 minutes. Throughout the roasting time, check your char siu often (every 10 minutes) and reduce the oven temperature if it looks like it is burning!
• Meanwhile, combine the reserved marinade with the maltose or honey (maltose is very viscous--you can heat it up in the microwave to make it easier to work with) and 1 tablespoon hot water. This will be the sauce you'll use for basting the pork.
• After 40 minutes of total roasting time, baste the pork, flip it, and baste the other side as well. Roast for a final 10 minutes.
• By now, the pork has cooked for 50 minutes total. It should be cooked through and caramelized on top. If it's not caramelized to your liking, you can turn the broiler on for a couple minutes to crisp the outside and add some color/flavor. Be sure not to walk away during this process, since the sweet char siu BBQ sauce can burn if left unattended. You can also use a meat thermometer to check if the internal temperature of the pork has reached 160 degrees F. (Update: USDA recommends that pork should be cooked to 145 degrees F with a 3 minute resting time)
• Remove from the oven and baste with the last bit of reserved BBQ sauce. Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing, and enjoy!

CHAR SIU (CHINESE BARBEQUE PORK)

Steps:

• Place all ingredients except pork in a small saucepan and bring to simmer for 30 seconds. Set aside to cool.
• Place pork and marinade in ziplock bag. Remove as much air as possible, then massage it so the marinade is all over the pork. Place in the fridge and marinate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight (up to 48 hours).
• Take pork out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Line a baking tray with foil or baking/parchment paper. Remove pork from the marinade. Save marinade for basting.
• Roast pork for 25 minutes or until the internal temperature is 145 - 160°F Every 10 minutes, baste generously with reserved marinade- this is key for a thick, glossy glaze.
• After 25 minutes, switch the oven to the broiler/grill and broil until charred & caramelized- 4 to 6 minutes. Note: For extra glaze, add a dollop of honey to remaining marinade. Chinese BBQ shops do this. Do this towards the end of the cooking time while broiling, otherwise it will burn.
• Allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
• Serve with garlic shiitake noodles or rice and enjoy!

CHINESE BARBEQUE PORK (CHAR SIU)

Steps:

• Place soy sauce, honey, rice wine, hoisin sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, five-spice powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and curing salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil on high heat; reduce heat to medium-high. Cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
• Cut pork roast in half lengthwise. Cut each half again lengthwise forming 4 long, thick pieces of pork.
• Transfer cooled sauce to a large mixing bowl. Stir in red food coloring. Place pork sections into sauce and coat each piece. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 to 12 hours.
• Preheat grill for medium heat, 275 to 300 degrees F (135 to 150 degrees C) and lightly oil the grate. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove sections of pork from marinade and let excess drip off. Place on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt to taste.
• Transfer pork sections to grate over indirect heat on prepared grill. Cover and cook about 45 minutes. Brush with marinade; turn. Continue cooking until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 185 and 190 degrees F, about 1 hour and 15 minutes more. Do not use any more marinade on cooked meat until after you boil it.
• Place leftover marinade in saucepan; bring to a boil; let simmer 1 minutes. Remove from heat. Now you can use it to brush over the cooked pork.

EASY CHAR SIU (CHINESE BBQ PORK)

Steps:

• Cut the pork lengthways into strips 2 inches wide and 1-inch thick and put into a nonreactive container. Combine the marinade ingredients in a saucepan over low heat and stir together. Leave to cool, then stir in the garlic and massage the marinade into the pork. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Bring the pork back to room temperature and drain off the excess marinade into a small bowl. Place the pork on a rack in the middle of the oven and put a roasting pan containing a cupful of hot water underneath on the bottom rack. Roast the meat for 20 minutes, basting with the marinade occasionally. Reduce the oven to 350°F and roast for a further 15 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165°F.
• Cool the pork briefly, then cut it into bite-size pieces. Garnish with spring onions and serve as an appetizer or with steamed rice as a light meal.

CHINESE BARBECUED PORK (CHAR SIU) - COOK'S ILLUSTRATED

Steps:

• Cut pork butt in half lengthwise. Turn each half on cut side and slice each half into 4 equal pieces (you will end up with 8 strips). Trim excess hard, waxy fat, leaving some fat to render while cooking.
• Using fork, prick each piece of pork on all sides. Place pork in large plastic zipper-lock bag. Combine sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sherry, pepper, five-spice powder, sesame oil, ginger and garlic in medium bowl.
• Measure out 1/2 cup marinade and set aside.
• Pour remaining marinade into bag with pork. Press out as much air as possible; seal bag. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
• While meat marinates, combine ketchup and honey with reserved marinade in small saucepan. Cook glaze over medium heat until syrupy, 4-6 minutes.
• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300°F Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set wire rack on sheet. Spray the wire rack and rimmed pan with vegetable oil spray (this will help to facilitate cleanup).
• Remove park from marinade, letting any excess drip off, and place on wire rack. Pour 1/4 cup water into bottom of pan. Cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil, crimping edges tightly to seal. Cook pork 20 minutes.
• Remove foil and continue to cook until edges of pork begin to brown, 40-45 minutes.
• Turn on broiler (do not use a drawer broiler). Broil pork until evenly caramelized, 7-9 minutes. Remove pan from oven and brush pork with half of glaze; broil until deep mahogany color, 3-5 minutes. (Watch carefully; do not allow to blacken.).
• Using tongs, flip meat and broil until other side carmelizes, 7-9 minutes. Brush meat with remaining glaze and continue to broil until second side is deep mahogany, 3-5 minutes.
• Cool for at least 10 minutes, then cut into thin strips and serve.

SLOW COOKER CHAR SIU (CHINESE BARBECUED PORK)

Steps:

• Combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Place in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add pork to bag and seal. Marinate in refrigerator at least 2 hours, turning occasionally.
• Place pork and marinade in a crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
• Remove pork from slow cooker using a slotted spoon. Place on a cutting board or work surface. Cover with aluminum foil and keep warm.
• Add broth to sauce in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes or until sauce thickens. Shred pork with 2 forks and serve with sauce.

CHA SIU BAO (SWEET BARBECUE PORK BUNS)

Steps:

• You can use my recipe for char siu (#34265) or make it with a mix- both powdered and liquid mixes are available at Asian food stores.
• I like the Noh brand, personally.
• Chop the char siu and mushrooms finely.
• Combine the water and cornstarch and stir into the char siu and mushrooms.
• Add salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, and sugar, and add enough food coloring to color the mixture a bright red.
• Heat the oil and lightly cook the garlic, then add the rest of the filling mixture and cook until thick.
• To make the bao dough, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Combine water with salt, milk and oil; stir in flour.
• Knead 5-10 minutes or until dough is smooth.
• Divide dough into 8 even balls.
• Press a cavity into each ball, and spread the ball into a 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick cup.
• Fill the cup with 1/8 of the filling mixture, and press the edges closed to seal the bao.
• Cut waxed paper in 4-5 inch squares and place each bao on a piece of paper, sealed side down.
• Place bao in a steamer basket, cover, and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.
• Bring the water under the steamer to a boil and steam bao for 10 minutes.

CHAR SIU (CHINESE SWEET BARBECUED PORK)

Steps:

• Trim the fat from the pork and cut into chunks; each chunk should be between 2-4 bites.
• Blend all remaining ingredients.
• The pork and marinade should be fairly bright red- add enough food coloring to give it a nice color.
• Marinate for at least 3 and preferable 24 hours.
• Broil or grill for 3-4 minutes on a side or until the pork is done through.