Chinese Barbecued Pork (Char Siu)
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pork shoulder visible fat trimmed
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 3 tbsps oyster sauce
- 2 tbsps ketchup for color (optional)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 3 tbsps honey
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or rosewater
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 1- inch piece ginger sliced
- 4 cloves garlic sliced
- Maltose for basting
Instructions
- Cut pork lengthwise into 5-inch thick strips and place the meat in a shallow bowl or casserole pan.
- In a small saucepan, combine dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, sesame oil, honey, cooking wine, white pepper, and five-spice powder, and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Pour mixture over pork, add ginger and garlic slices, and marinate for at least 8 hours in the refrigerator, turning occasionally.
- Preheat oven to 375F. Line roasting pan with aluminum foil.
- Remove the pork from the marinade (discard garlic and ginger slices), and place it in the prepared pan.
- Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, basting with maltose. Turn and baste other side, and cook for 30 more minutes, or until the juices run clear. Place the pan under the broiler, turning and letting the meat char on all sides.
- Let the meat rest for 15 minutes before slicing across the grain.
- Serve hot with rice or noodles.
Notes
*Instead of red food coloring, I used ketchup (which is commonly done in Chinese restaurants on barbecued spare ribs), but it's fine to omit it.
*Maltose, a sugar syrup made from barley, is traditionally used to give char siu that sticky, shiny coating. Aside from the flavor, a benefit of using maltose is that it is extremely thick and tacky, so you just have to baste once and it sticks onto the meat. If you can't find maltose, you can substitute with honey. Just make sure you baste the meat more frequently since honey tends to be runny when warmed.
