Pork Char Siu | Cantonese- style Pork Roast |

Pork Char Siu Recipe | How to make Pork Char Siu

Pork Char Siu is a Cantonese- style Pork  roast marinated with flavorful sauces from the Asian kitchen and usually roasted slowly on a barbeque. The slow roasting method makes the meat so soft that it falls off the bone and gives the pork its caramelized color. Usually served with the -left-over marinade as sauce or can also be chopped into small pieces and used in Fried-rice, Ramen or any other kind of Sauce-based dishes. 

Author: Racheal D'Souza

Whenever I entered any Asian restaurant in the US, I would always see a very appealing, red, sticky, Bbq'd pork and I would instantly order that. I wouldn't know what it was called back then so I always called it ' Bbq Pork'. Recently while I was looking for Pork recipes to try, I discovered that it was called 'Pork Char Siu' and it can be made relatively easily in a home-based oven. I quickly ran over to my nearest Asian grocery store and gathered all the required ingredients.

This recipe is made with a very simple technique and yet the flavor is something I'm sure you'll love. 

Ingredients

Pork chops- 4

For 5 spice powder

Fennel seeds- 1 tsp

Cloves- 7

Star anise- 1

Cinnamon- 1 inch

Sichuan pepper- 6 (Alternative use coriander seeds and black pepper corns)

For the Sauce mix

Oyster sauce- ½ tsp

Soy sauce- ½ tsp

Rice wine vinegar- ½ cup

Hoisin sauce- ½ tsp

Honey- 1 tsp

Salt- ½ tsp

Oil- 4 tsp

Brown sugar- 1 tsp

Fermented bean curd- handful

Green chili- 2 units

Garlic clove- 2-3 units

Green pepper- 1 unit

Corn starch- 1tsp

Water- 1 cup

Scallions/ Spring Onion- 1, chopped along with the bulb

 

How to make Pork Char Siu

1. Grind fennel seeds, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper into fine powder. Skip this step if you have 5 spice powder

2. In a bowl add oyster sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and rice wine water to make a marinade.

3. Add in honey, salt, 2 tsp oil ,5 spice powder, brown sugar and fermented bean curd and mix everything together.

4. Marinate the pork with half of the marinade and refrigerate it for an hour.

5. Roast or barbeque the pork for an hour until done. 

For the sauce

6. In a pan add 2 tsp oil, chili, garlic, green pepper and sauté for 30 seconds.

7. Now add in the remaining marinade. Add in some water if needed.

8. Mix corn starch and little water to make a slurry. And add it to the pan. This will thicken the sauce.

9. Now cut the bbq'd pork into small pieces and add it into the sauce.

10. Garnish with some scallions.

 

 Watch: Pork Char Siu : The video will show you a step-by-step guide on how to make this very simple Pork Char Siu.