Honey Roasted Char Siu 蜜汁叉燒
You can use any cut of pork for this recipe. I usually use pork belly, pork butt and/or pork shoulder. Most of the time, I make a combination of pork belly and pork shoulder since they are both available at Costco. (My son prefers pork belly and I prefer pork shoulder.) The pork belly at Costco is perfect for making char siu since the skin is already removed. Sometimes their pork belly is quite fatty so I remove some of the fat and save it for making sweet rice balls (tang yuan).Besides roasting, you can also pan-fry at medium-high heat.A baking rack is highly recommended for this recipe.
Approximate cost (CAD) $9
Ingredients
- 900 g Pork shoulder , butt or belly
- 30 g Red fermented bean curd aka nan ru, nam yu (approx. 2 small cubes or 1 large)
- 3 tbsp Red fermented bean curd brine or red yeast rice sauce aka anka sauce
- 2 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 20 drops Red food colouring (optional)
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Rose essence wine aka mei kuei lu chiew this will give you authentic Cantonese char siu flavour but you can use any cooking wine
- 1 tbsp Hoisin sauce
- 4 tbsp Hoisin sauce for basting
- 4 tbsp Honey for basting
Instructions
- Slice pork into strips of approx. 25mm or 1” thick and 50mm or 2” wide
- Make marinade by combining together 30 g red fermented bean curd, 3 tbsp red yeast rice sauce, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 20 drop red food colouring (optional), 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp rose essence wine and 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
the red yeast rice is often not enough to give the meat too much of a red colour, so red food colouring will help enhance the red on the meat 
- Break apart red fermented bean curd and mix everything together.
I find using disposable food-prep gloves is the easiest way 
- Cover the pork completely with the marinade
- Place the pork into a zipper plastic bag and pour marinade into the bag
- Lie the bag flat on one side and place into refrigerator for 24-48 hours. After 10 hours, flip the bag to the other side for even marinating. Take the pork out of the fridge approx. 1-2 hours (depending on the ambient temperature of your home) before cooking to bring the pork to room temperature. I recommend marinating for 48 hours if you can wait.
- Place the pork onto the baking rack
- Prepare 4 tbsp hoisin sauce and basting brush
- Apply half of hoisin sauce to the top of the pork
- Place into oven, set temperature to low broil (230˚C or 450˚F) and bake on middle rack for 10 minutes
- Turn the pork over, baste with the rest of the hoisin sauce and bake for 10 minutes
- Prepare 4 tbsp honey
- Turn the pork over, baste with a coat of honey and bake for 5-8 minutes or until the edges are slightly charred
- Turn the pork over, baste with the rest of the honey and bake for the last 5-8 minutes
- Check for doneness
- Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes
- Slice and serve
