Recipe: Appetizing Char Sui

Char Sui. Char siu literally means fork burn/roast-'Char' being fork (both noun and verb) and siu being burn/roast-after the traditional cooking method for the dish: long strips of seasoned boneless pork are skewered with long forks and placed in a covered oven or over a fire. Char siu literally means "fork roasted" (siu being burn/roast and cha being fork, both noun and verb) after the traditional cooking method for the dish: long strips of seasoned boneless pork are skewered with long forks and placed in a covered oven or over a fire [citation needed]. In ancient times, wild boar and other available meats were used to make char siu.

A good Char Siu should have a glossy surface with the trademark dark mahogany color. Growing up in the Catskills, the first time I saw this Chinese BBQ pork, or char siu, was at the Holiday Inn of all places. My father, the hotel restaurant's head chef at the time, used a closely guarded recipe of Chinese sauces, lots of garlic, and spices to make his classic char siu. You can cook Char Sui using 10 ingredients and 9 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Char Sui

1. You need 1 of slab of pork picnic/shoulder (ask butcher to cut in half).
2. It's 2 cloves of garlic.
3. It's 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce.
4. It's 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce.
5. It's 1.5 tablespoons of soya sauce.
6. It's 1 tablespoon of mushroom soya sauce.
7. Prepare 1 tablespoon of maple syrup.
8. Prepare 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar.
9. You need 1 cube of fermented tofu.
10. You need 1/4 cup of honey.

If you love a juicy, sweet & sticky char siu (Chinese BBQ Pork), give this easy recipe a try! Delicious char siu is achievable at home! Updated to include instructions on how to make char siu in the oven so this can be made in the oven or the grill depending on the season. Char Siu, or Chinese BBQ pork, is one of the most popular pork recipes in Cantonese cooking.

Char Sui step by step

1. Finely dice garlic, add hoisin sauce, soya sauce, mushroom soya sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar, fermented tofu and mix in bowl. Place meat in large zip lock bag and add sauce mixture. Leave meat to marinate in the fridge overnight..
2. Preheat oven to 425 deg F.
3. Add water to bottom of pan to keep meat moist when baking. Do not let water exceed surface of rack..
4. Place meat on rack in pan and bake for 1 hr, turning halfway..
5. When meat is almost done, put honey in pot and let it boil for a few min to carmelize.
6. Remove meat from oven and base with carmelized honey. Bake for a few min on broil. Flip and repeat on other side..
7. Let meat cool for at least half hour before cutting. Slice meat to desired size..
8. Serve with rice and vegetables, in noodle soups or in rice wraps. Also tastes great in fried rice..
9. .

If you have been to Chinatown, I am sure you have seen glistening and perfectly roasted meats such as Chinese roast pork (siu yuk), chicken and duck hanging in front of the Chinese BBQ restaurants. BBQ pork belly char siu is the epitome of Cantonese BBQ. There's char siu, whole roasted ducks, soy sauce chicken, five-spiced roast pork with the crunchiest skin imaginable. The food served at these take-out meat counters are known as siu mei 燒味, and they're served over rice, noodles, or wonton soup as the go-to lunch of choice for the Cantonese. I'm Asian and cook a lot.