EASY Char Siu Pork (叉烧肉, Chinese BBQ Pork)
This char siu pork recipe is our easy version of a traditional Cantonese barbecue pork. This pork is savory but also slightly sweet. It can be served on its own as a main dish, with noodles, or incorporated into fried rice or chā shāo bāo (char siu buns)!
As a kid, our family often purchased prepared char siu from a local Cantonese BBQ shop, where it would hang alongside roasted ducks, soy sauce chickens, and crispy skin roasted pork. Since then, we’ve learned to make char siu ourselves. Not everything tastes better homemade, but this definitely does. Plus, it’s incredibly easy and takes less than 10 minutes to prepare!
Traditionally, char siu pork (叉烧肉 or chā shāo ròu in Mandarin) is slow roasted on a spit. Most recipes that you’ll find have 10 or more ingredients to season the pork. These include soy sauce, sugar, hoisin sauce, 5 spice powder, honey, fermented bean curd, and cooking wine. However, this one just uses two sauces that already combine all these flavours for you in perfect balance.
Char Siu Recipe Notes
First, let’s talk about the meat. This recipe calls for pork butt. This cut, also known as Boston butt, is from the upper front shoulder of the pig. It’s sometimes sold with the bone in, so be sure you purchase a boneless cut.
In Chinese supermarkets, it may be labelled as 叉烧肉 (chā shāo ròu, literally Char Siu Meat) or 梅头肉 (méi tóu ròu). We’ve found that this cut of meat yields a char siu that is moderately lean, but still has enough fat content and marbling to provide flavour and prevent dryness. For more juicy or fatter char siu, consider using a cut of pork belly. For drier or leaner char siu, try using pork loin.
The typical portion you’ll purchase from your butcher or grocery store will be about 1kg. That’s a lot of meat to cook and consume, even for a small family. When we make char siu at home, we’ll typically marinate the whole cut, cook half, and freeze half for later.
Sauce wise, we’ve found that just using char siu sauce results in a marinade that is too sweet or too dry. In this char siu pork recipe, hoisin sauce allows it to achieve the desired consistency while bringing down the sweetness and giving the char siu a more savory flavour profile.
EASY Char Siu Pork (叉烧肉, Chinese BBQ Pork)
Course: Main, SidesCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Very Easy10
servings10
minutes12+
hours45
minutesMake mouth-wateringly delicious sweet & savory char siu pork at home with (almost) zero effort and only three ingredients.
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Ingredients
2.75lb (1.25kg) boneless pork butt*
1/3 cup (80mL) char siu sauce 叉烧酱 (Chinese barbecue sauce)
1/3 cup (80mL) hoisin sauce 海鲜酱
Directions
- With a sharp knife, cut the pork butt into long strips about 1.5 – 2″ thick and wide. Thicker/wider strips will result in larger slices upon serving. Place in a large mixing bowl.
- Add char siu sauce and hoisin sauce. With a large spoon or spatula, turn the meat so that each strip is evenly covered in the sauces. Add more sauce if necessary.
- Briefly tenderize the meat using the large spoon/spatula (wood or metal with a blunt end works best). Do not be too aggressive that you tear/cut the meat.
- Cover with a pot lid or plastic wrap. Chill and marinate in the fridge 12 hours or overnight.
- To freeze for later: After marinating, place strips in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 4 months. Defrost & continue with next steps.
- To bake: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place meat strips 1 – 2″ apart. Bake for 45min.
- Slice into slices 6mm (1/4″) thick and serve as a main dish or with noodles. Alternatively, cut into cubes for char siu bao buns or fried rice. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week.
Notes
- *Pork butt refers to a cut of pork from the upper shoulder region. You can also use pork loin or pork belly for different fat content and mouthfeel.
