BBQ Pork Recipe (Char Siu/Char Siew/蜜汁叉烧)

BBQ pork or “char siu” (also spelled as “char siew”) is a famous Chinese dish that everyone loves.

Char siu (char siew) is of Cantonese origin where skewers of pork meat is marinated in a honey hoisin sauce, and then roast in oven to charred, savory, and sticky sweet perfection. If there is a pork recipe that defines Chinese cooking, I think char siu (char siew) would be it.

The secret ingredients to the best-ever char siu (char siew) are…(get Chinese BBQ pork/char siu/char siew recipe after the jump)

 

Choice of meat – if you love your char siu (char siew) tender, juicy, moist, and a little fatty, use pork belly. If you prefer a meaty char siu (char siew), then go for pork loin. If you like it somewhere in between, then pork butt will be a great choice.

Maltose – called ” 麦芽糖” in Chinese, maltose is the secret ingredient that gives char siu (char siew) that sticky sweet taste and texture. Honey is just the icing on the cake.

Chinese rose wine – this wine is very fragrant and lends a very nice flavor to this BBQ pork or char siu (char siew) recipe.

Five-spice powder (五香粉) – mixture of 5 spices used in Chinese recipes.

Without further ado, here is the Chinese BBQ pork (char siu/char siew) recipe, which I learned from my friend S. This recipe makes KILLER char siu (char siew) that is better than any Chinese restaurants–juicy, moist, tender, delicious, and sublime.

For more information championship barbecue recipes here.