Char siu (Chinese barbecued pork) (healthy recipes)

Never in million years I thought I could make my own char siu or known as Chinese barbecued pork at home. I thought it was complicated and with the oven we have at home, I didn’t know how it’s gonna turn out. Well, it turned out delicious. Char siu is highly versatile too. You can pair it with noodle, rice, sandwich, buns or even for salad if you want to.

Most Chinese restaurants will hang this barbecued pork vertically on the hook and it’s actually part of a “display” when you first walk in the restaurants. In Indonesia, especially where I grew up, the char siu is usually served with rice, slices of cucumbers on the side and serve with sweet sauce. I haven’t been able to duplicate the sauce, but this sauce that I made is delicious to drizzle over the meat too.





I like using pork shoulder/butt to make char siu. Tenderloin is too lean for me, but it really is up to you what you cut of meat you like to use. Try the recipe out and you’ll be surprised by how easy it is to make this at home.

CHAR SIU / CHINESE BARBECUED PORK

What you will need:

• 3 lbs of pork shoulder/butt (slice vertically into two or three large pieces)

Marinade:

• 2 Tbsp Shao Xing wine
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 4 Tbsp of brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 Tbsp red-yeast rice powder (optional- to give the red colors)
• ½ tsp five-spice powder

Sauce:

• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp water

Instructions:

1. Place all the ingredient for marinade in a large ziploc bag (or 2-3 bags if necessary), big enough to place the pork in. Seal and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat your oven to 375 F. Prepare a roasting pan and line with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place the pork on the rack set on the roasting pan and then put it in the oven (3rd from the top) Roast the pork for about 30 minutes
3. While the pork is roasting prepare the sauce in a small saucepan and cook until the sugar caramelized into dark brown and thickened. It will thickened further when it's cool down
4. After the first 30 minutes, flip the pork to the other side and brush with sauce generously all over. Increase the oven heat to 425 F and roast for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover with foil loosely to retain the moisture. Let it rest or 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with the sauce on the side. If you are not consuming this on the same day, you can cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze it for 1 month. Just let it thaw before using and reheat. Do not refreeze after that.