Air Fried Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

Step 1

Trim off excessive fat from pork shoulder. Cut into 2 inch thick strips. Place in a large bowl.

Step 2

Place fermented red soybean in a bowl or measuring cup. Mash with a spoon.

Step 3

Add Shao Hsing cooking wine, dark soy sauce, maltose, hoisin sauce,

Step 4

sesame oil, five-spice powder, and minced garlic. Stir vigorously for maltose to melt and combine.

Step 5

Pour marinade over pork in the bowl. Stir to get pork strips coated with marinade. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Place bowl in the refrigerator overnight. It is better if you can marinate for 48 hours.

Step 6

When ready to cook, remove bowl from refrigerator. Transfer marinated pork strips to a tray. Reserve the remaining marinade.

Step 7

Place all glaze ingredients in a bowl and

Step 8

stir vigorously to combine.

Step 9

Line air fryer basket with aluminum foil. This is to make an imprint of the shape of the air fryer basket. Remove and set aside.

Step 10

Place air fryer basket (without aluminum foil) in the unit. Close the hood and set air fryer to 390⁰F (200⁰C) for 24 minutes. Press start to begin preheating.

Step 11

When unit beeps, open the hood and place aluminum foil in the air fryer basket. Then, arrange pork strips on the aluminum foil in the air fryer basket. Close hood to let pork strips cook for 8 minutes.

Step 12

After 8 minutes, open the hood and flip the pork strips over. Close the hood and continue cooking for another 8 minutes.

Step 13

Open the hood and brush prepared glaze on top and sides of the pork strips. Close the hood and continue cooking for another 4 minutes.

Step 14

After 4 minutes, open the hood and flip the pork strips. Brush remaining glaze on top of the pork strips. Close hood and continue cooking for remaining 4 minutes.

Step 15

When cooking is complete, check to make sure the thickest part of pork strips registers 145⁰F/63⁰C. Remove char siu from air fryer and let it rest on a tray covered with aluminum foil.

Step 16

Strain reserved marinade into a small saucepan. Add any leftover glaze and ¼ cup (60ml) water. Bring sauce to a boil over medium heat. Continue to boil until sauce is thick and syrupy, about 10 minutes. Turn off stove.

Step 17

Slice char siu into thin pieces and arrange them on a plate. To serve, pour some of the sauce over the sliced char siu.