cha siu

If you love a juicy, sweet &amp; sticky char siu (Chinese BBQ Pork), try this easy recipe! Delicious char siu is achievable at home in an oven or on a grill!

Sweet and Sticky Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

honey ((or maltose

red fermented tofu

hoisin sauce

soy sauce

garlic ((roughly chopped,

ginger

Chinese five spice powder

Chinese rice cooking wine ((or dry sherry))

salt

Korean pepper flakes

pork

honey

leftover marinade

Cut the pork shoulder into long strips, that are roughly 3 inch thick. Mine are usually sized around 3 inches wide, and 5-7 inches long.

Combine the ingredients in the marinade section into a ziplock or a big bowl and combine it with the pork.

Marinate it in the fridge for 24 hours.

Cutting and Marinating the Meat

Remove the meat from the marinade and let it sit for an hour in room temperature.

Add the marinade to a small pot and remove the chunks of garlic and ginger

Add 2 tablespoons of honey into the marinade and mix well.

Cook it on low heat on a stove for 5 minutes or when the sauce starts to boil.

Set it aside for later, we will use this for glazing at the end of grilling

Preparing the Glaze

Heat up BBQ to 325F (162C)

Cook the char siu for 15 mins on one side, then flip it for another 10 mins. Check the meat thermometer. The temperature should be around 145F (62C). If it's not, keep the meat on longer until it reaches that internal temperature.

Once it hits an internal temperature of 145F (62C), we glazed 4-5 times, flipping the meat every minute to prevent burning

When the meat looks red, sticky and slightly burnt, remove it from the BBQ and let it rest for 20 mins on a plate before cutting into it.

Once the meat has rested, cut it up and enjoy!! ?

(Option 1) Grilling the Pork on the BBQ

Set up the meat on the tray or roasting rack and use a rack so there is air flow below the meat. I like it to line it with foil before setting down a rack for an easier cleanup. If you don't have a rack, you can take foil and crunch them up into loose foil balls and rest the meat on that.

Pre-heat the oven to 400F (204C).

Once the oven has reached 400F (204C) bake the pork for 20 minutes.

Flip the pork and cook for another 20 minutes

For the next 20 minutes, flip and glaze the meat every 3-5 minutes until all the glaze is brushed on. Don't worry if there are charred sections, it's a trademark of char siu as well! :)

Once the meat is done (when it reaches an internal temperature of 145F (62C)), let it rest for 10-15 minutes, cut it up and enjoy! :)

(Option 2) Cooking the Char Siu in the Oven

This recipe makes 1 1/2 to 2 pounds cha siu.

Cha Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

boneless pork shoulder/butt roast ((see note))

soy sauce (optional)

sugar

hoisin sauce (can sub with oyster sauce)

rice cooking wine

paprika

ginger (sliced)

scallions

garlic (sliced)

large half sheet baking pan (13” x 18”, can use a larger pan)

aluminum foil

stainless steel steaming racks (ideally about 2” tall)

stainless steel cooling rack (about 12” x 17”, make

brush

If there is a thick layer fat on the outside side of the piece of pork shoulder, trim that off. Next, if your piece of pork shoulder comes on the bone, slice the meat from the bone. You’ll likely end up with several pieces of pork that are not uniform in shape. If you have one large piece of meat that is wider than 4 inches, slice that in half. Also, the pork shouldn’t be much thicker than 1 1/2 inches.

Place all the pieces of pork into a bowl.

Prepare the Pork

In a bowl, mix the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, hoisin sauce, rice cooking wine, paprika, and salt. Pour the marinade over the pork. 

Transfer the ginger, scallions, and garlic into the bowl with the meat. Use your hands to mix everything together. 

Cover the bowl and let the pork marinate for 6 to 8 hours or overnight. If you are marinating the pork during the day, mix the pork every few hours to ensure the pork is evenly coated with the marinade. If you marinate the pork overnight, mix the meat in the morning and once more right before you roast the meat. 

Marinate the Pork

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Position an oven rack into the center position. 

Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the 2 steaming racks onto the lined baking sheet. Then, place the cooling rack on top.

Carefully lay the marinated pieces of pork on the cooling rack. Make sure that there aren’t any pieces of scallions or garlic stuck onto the pork. Also, make sure there’s at least an inch of space between each piece of meat. 

Carefully transfer the sheet pan into the oven and roast the meat for 20 minutes. 

While the pork is roasting, pour the leftover marinade (including the scallions, ginger, and garlic) into a saucepan. Cover the saucepan and bring the marinade to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the marinade for another 2 minutes. Pour the leftover liquid marinade into a bowl. There should be about 3 tablespoons of the marinade.

Measure 1 tablespoon of the marinade and pour it into a separate bowl. Mix it with 2 tablespoons of honey. 

Using oven mitts, remove the sheet pan from the oven. Brush the tops of the meat with the marinade (not the honey marinade mixture). Return the meat to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.

Take the sheet pan out of the oven and flip all the pieces of pork over. This time, brush the honey marinade mixture over the meat. Return the meat to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. 

Take the cha siu out of the oven and check the temperature of the pork. You want the pork to be somewhere between 155ºF to 160ºF. If your pieces of pork are thicker, you’ll probably need to roast the meat for another 5 to 8 minutes. 

Once the cha siu reaches the appropriate internal temperature, turn off the oven and remove the pan. Flip over the pieces of cha siu and let the meat rest for a few minutes outside the oven. Brush any remaining honey marinade mixture over the meat. 

Slice up the cha siu and serve it with jasmine rice. The cha siu also goes well with my Chinese garlic cucumber salad and Chinese garlic green beans. 

Roast the Pork

You definitely can. I make a big batch of cha sui and freeze it in vacuum bags in amounts sized for fried rice. Love me some bbq pork fried rice!! My son is allergic to corn, so if I make it myself, I know there's no corn syrup on any of the ingredients.

I tried KBBQ before but never cooked anything in Chinese BBQ style, I am giving this a go this weekend for sure.

I'm a Cantonese and I would say this is authentic!

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Cha Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

Top 2 cha siu recipes from across the web

The most viewed cha siu recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Sweet and Sticky Char Siu (Chinese ...

Cha Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

The most viewed cha siu recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine