Today we are going to make Cantonese style BBQ pork, better known as char siu. It’s one of the most popular Chinese dishes found throughout the world. You can literally go to any Chinatown in any large city and find establishments dedicated to selling char siu. And for good reason, the meat is both juicy on the interior and nicely charred on the outside. While the flavors are a complex mix of sweet, salty, and spicy thanks to the use of honey, soy sauce, and Chinese five-spice powder.
That being said I rarely make char siu at home, and I tend to use a different recipe each time I make it. But I wanted to change that so I set out to develop a recipe that I could keep coming back to.
Now I’m not going to lie, there’s really nothing significantly different about my recipe compared to most that you will find online. It has most of the typical ingredients, and is made out of the most classic cut of meat for char siu, pork shoulder. However, because it’s summertime I ended up making one significant change.
It’s grilled!
That’s right, for something that is billed as BBQ you will almost never see a recipe for char siu being grilled. Instead, it is typically baked in an oven over a rack. Which don’t get me wrong, it’s a great way to make char siu. But after trying this on the grill I have to say it’s the much better route. So if you’re ready then let’s get to making some grilled char siu.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- We will be grilling the meat using the indirect heat method. If you want to learn about it then check out this link.
- Charcoal vs. gas grill? Well, today I am going to be using a gas grill just because it is more convenient. That being said using a charcoal grill will produce a much more flavorful char siu.
- Do you still want to make your char siu in the oven? Then no worries. Simply preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Then place the char siu meat on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Let the meat bake in the oven and bast it with the liquid just like you would on the grill.
- Char siu is well known for its distinctive red hue. Traditionally this would come from the red bean paste, however, in the Americanized version, it will be red food coloring. That being said if you are against using food coloring then feel free to leave it out.
- One of the keys to getting that traditional char siu taste is to use a spice blend called Chinese five-spice powder. It should be available in most grocery stores, however, if you can’t find it then you can order it from Amazon from the link provided below.
Char Siu Recipe
Prep time: 5 minutes
Marinating time: 24 hours
Cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 6 to 8
Ingredients
1 to 2 Lbs of boneless pork shoulder, cut into long 2 inch thick strips
For the marinade:
3 Tablespoons of brown sugar
1 Teaspoon of salt
½ Teaspoon of Chinese five-spice powder
½ Teaspoon of white pepper
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
1 Tablespoon of dry wine, or dry sherry
1 Tablespoon of hoisin sauce
1 Tablespoon of oyster sauce
½ Teaspoon of sesame oil
3 Cloves of garlic, minced
A few drops of red food coloring (optional)
For the basting sauce:
The leftover marinade
1 Tablespoon of honey
Instructions
- Marinate the Pork: Add the ingredients for the char siu marinade to a bowl and use a fork to mix it all together.
Then place the pork shoulder pieces into a large plastic bag and pour the marinade over it. Close the bag and agitate it so that the marinade covers all of the pork.
Then just place this in your fridge and let it marinate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Also, make sure to take it out about 30 minutes to an hour before grilling so that the meat is room temperature.
- Preheat your grill for indirect heat by placing half of the burners on high and the other half not turned on at all.
- Get the char siu ready for the grill: Take the pork out of the plastic bag and make sure to shake it so that it doesn’t have any excess marinade. Then pour the marinade into a bowl, add the honey to it, and mix it. This will be our basting sauce.
- Grill the char siu: Place the pork pieces on the indirect side of your grill, and let them cook with the lid closed for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes flip the pieces of pork and brush them with the basting sauce.
Close the grill lid again and let them cook for another 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes flip the pork and baste them again. Keep doing this step every ten minutes until the pork has an internal temperature of 160 Fahrenheit. This could take anywhere between 40 minutes and an hour.
- (Optional) Char up the pork: Once the pork has reached the desired temperature you can either take them off the grill or place them over the direct heat for a couple of minutes to let them char on the outside.
Just make sure to turn them often if you do this because the sugars in the basting sauce and char quickly.
- Let the char siu rest for 10 minutes before slicing it up. Enjoy!
Char Siu Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 Lbs of boneless pork shoulder cut into long 2 inch thick strips
For the marinade:
- 3 Tablespoons of brown sugar
- 1 Teaspoon of salt
- ½ Teaspoon of Chinese five-spice powder
- ½ Teaspoon of white pepper
- 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of dry wine or dry sherry
- 1 Tablespoon of hoisin sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of oyster sauce
- ½ Teaspoon of sesame oil
- 3 Cloves of garlic minced
- A few drops of red food coloring optional
For the basting sauce:
- The leftover marinade
- 1 Tablespoon of honey
Instructions
- Marinate the Pork: Add the ingredients for the char siu marinade to a bowl and use a fork to mix it all together. Then place the pork shoulder pieces into a large plastic bag and pour the marinade over it. Close the bag and agitate it so that the marinade covers all of the pork. Then just place this in your fridge and let it marinate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Also, make sure to take it out about 30 minutes to an hour before grilling so that the meat is room temperature.
- Preheat your grill for indirect heat by placing half of the burners on high and the other half not turned on at all.
- Get the char siu ready for the grill: Take the pork out of the plastic bag and make sure to shake it so that it doesn’t have any excess marinade. Then pour the marinade into a bowl, add the honey to it, and mix it. This will be our basting sauce.
- Grill the char siu: Place the pork pieces on the indirect side of your grill, and let them cook with the lid closed for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes flip the pieces of pork and brush them with the basting sauce. Close the grill lid again and let them cook for another 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes flip the pork and baste them again. Keep doing this step every ten minutes until the pork has an internal temperature of 160 Fahrenheit. This could take anywhere between 40 minutes and an hour.
- (Optional) Char up the pork: Once the pork has reached the desired temperature you can either take them off the grill or place them over the direct heat for a couple of minutes to let them char on the outside. Just make sure to turn them often if you do this because the sugars in the basting sauce and char quickly.
- Let the char siu rest for 10 minutes before slicing it up. Enjoy!
