Char Siu - Chinese Glazed Roast Pork

My parents’ house in Jakarta is only three doors away from a superb family restaurant selling char siu - Chinese glazed roast pork and siu yuk - Chinese crispy skin roast pork. Whenever I have the chance to visit my parents, I always make sure to drop by and buy loads!

But I can only fly home so many times, and thus, must find a reliable recipe to reproduce my favorite food. This is, by far, my favorite recipe for char siu. I will be the first to admit that my neighbor’s version is still better, but for a homemade version, this is the best I can manage for now. :D

Char Siu Marinade

The first step in making char siu is preparing the marinade, and these are what I use:

• brown sugar
• honey, or maltose
• hoisin sauce
• soy sauce
• five-spice powder
• oil
• preserved bean curd, or dou ban jiang (chili bean sauce)
• Shaoxing wine (绍兴酒), or Chinese rose wine (玫瑰露酒 - Mei Kuei Lu Chiew)
• rose water, omit this if you use Chinese rose wine

If you cannot find all the listed ingredients, my suggestion is to omit rose water and preserved bean curd and try to keep everything else intact.

Choosing the right pork cuts for char siu

The pork cut used by most Chinese restaurants for making char siu is the neck part. The neck cut is not easy to find unless you buy it from an Asian/Chinese market, and I often use other pork cuts too.

I have tried this with pork shoulder, pork sirloin, and pork tenderloin. All cuts produce a very acceptable result, and nobody has yet to point out something is wrong when I use one pork cut over the other.

Regardless of the cut you use, be sure to marinate for at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours. Even if you don’t have much time, please marinate for a minimum of 8 hours.

How to roast char siu in an oven

1. Roast the pork

Preheat oven to 160 Celsius (320 Fahrenheit). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and place a wire rack on top. Arrange pork over a wire rack and roast (bake) for 30 minutes.

TIPS: I find that elevating the pork with a rack helps to get a better color overall because the meat doesn’t lay flat directly on the baking sheet. The final taste and texture are pretty similar whether you use a wire rack or not, so don’t worry too much if you can’t prepare this exact setup.

2. Prepare basting sauce

Meanwhile, prepare the basting sauce. Pour the remaining marinade into a small saucepot along with the two tablespoons of honey. Cook over medium heat until boiling, then cook further until syrup consistency, about 2-3 minutes more. Remove from heat.

3. Baste the pork

Remove the pork from the oven, baste with basting sauce, flip to the other side, and baste again. Roast again for another 30 minutes.

Remove the pork from the oven for the second time, baste with sauce, flip, and baste. This time roast for 20 minutes, and you may want to tent with a foil if it starts to char too quickly.

Finally, remove the pork from the oven, baste the surface, and return it to the oven for a final 10 minutes roast. It should be caramelized nicely and glazed with sticky sauce.

Serving suggestion and storing leftovers

Once you take the roast pork out from the oven, let it rest for 15 minutes to settle the juices. Then, cut into thin bite-size slices for serving.

Char siu goes perfectly with rice or as noodle toppings. If you have any leftovers, you can use it as bread filling and make some delicious char siu milk bread or char siu steamed buns.

If you make too much char siu, you can store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days. Alternatively, you can freeze char siu for up to 3 months!