For the fourth video in my Chinese cooking video series, I decided to make a family recipe that’s also one of the most popular in my new book The Chinese Takeout Cookbook.
Along with wonton noodle soup, char siu (Chinese barbecued pork or Chinese roast pork) is the Cantonese people’s greatest contribution to mankind. Really, who can resist slices of half-fatty, half-lean roast pork, crisp and dripping with caramelized juices? (I first posted this recipe for Chinese Barbecued Pork back in February 2009 and it became an instant hit.)
You know those enticing pieces of pork dangling in Chinatown restaurant windows? When you get char siu at a Cantonese restaurant, it will most likely be red from a little food dye, used to attract customers. A small amount of dye isn’t harmful (think of all those M&Ms and Skittles you’ve eaten). But sometimes a restaurant will go overboard. My mother still has nightmares of glowing magenta char siu from Boston’s Chinatown.
The solution, if you want to avoid unnatural coloring altogether, is to make char siu at home. Char siu is often translated as Chinese barbecued pork, but these days hardly anyone skewers the pork and cooks it over an open fire. (Roast pork is a more apt description). Rather, the name has stuck because the outside of char siu is slightly blackened from roasting.
My method for making Chinese roast pork, which I learned from my mom, is very easy, and still produces very succulent and drool-worthy meat. Rather than food coloring, you can get good color (not ghastly color) from dark soy sauce, a little hoisin sauce, and honey. The key is marinating the meat for 2 to 3 hours to allow the flavors to seep in, and roasting the pork belly whole. Lean pork doesn’t work as well, because the fat keeps the insides moist.
You can serve this as-is, as part of a multi-course meal, or add them to noodle soup with shiitakes and Chinese greens. Or make char siu bau (roast pork buns.)
Have you ever made Chinese roast pork at home?
- 1 pound whole pork belly, skin removed
- 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce, or substitute regular soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tablespoon hoisin sauce
- ½ teaspoon five-spice powder
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Marinate the pork belly: In a large bowl, mix together the rice wine, dark soy sauce, sugar, garlic, hoisin sauce, and five-spice powder. Rub the pork belly with the marinade mixture and marinate for 2 to 3 hours in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Hold up the pork for a few seconds to allow excess marinade to drip off, then place the pork in a roasting pan. Brush the top with the honey. Roast the pork for about 45 minutes, flipping over the pork belly half-way through and brushing honey on the other side. The pork is done when the outsides begin to crisp and blacken and the center of the pork belly strip feels firm.
- Remove the pork from oven and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into thin slices. Arrange the slices on a plate and serve.
Will you marry me?
I’ve made wontons at home, but never Chinese roasts. Will definitely try this. Thanks!
I love char siu! Yours looks perfect – with fatty bits and charred bits =)
Granted I live in Dallas, but those pictures make me want to try making them myself. My wife doesn’t like char sui from the restaurant, I think because of a bad experience once, but I wonder if she’ll like these. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much for the recipe! My husband is Chinese from Hawaii, and he misses his char siu!
YUM! that is all.
I think a nice follow up to this post would be something about lop yok.
Oooh I have all those ingredients in my store cupboard – only thing I would need to buy is the pork!…..Guess what I’m making tonight then?!
Lovely recipe thanks for sharing.
It looks incredible! Can’t decide which looks better – the pork or your photo of it.
Can’t wait to try this! Thank you for sharing your recipe. ‘o}
I’ve put putting this off for so long and definitely have to try a home-made char siew.
I laughed when I read “glowing magenta char siu”. I have never had “glowing magenta char siu” but once had a luminous yellow curry at uni. Who knows what they put in it…..
My recipe is very similar to yours but I tend to use pork shoulder to make cha siu as it’s normally more tender and less fat. I prick the pork before soaking it in the marinade overnight so it takes in all the flavours.
Sammi – If I can’t find pork belly I’ll use pork shoulder, but I guess I’m just addicted to the fatty bits. :)
Looks wonderful–thank you!
Thanks for the recipe, now I can try this at home!!
Now if only I could find directions and tips for fire roasted pork (fo yuk). Boyfriend loves that.
just got back from HK…char siu was definitely consumed as well as another personal fav – lap mei fan. Any recipes for siu yoke? I hope you can cover this in a future post…
That pork looks really tasty!
Are you sure of timings? 40 -45 minutes at 325 sounds really quick.
I used 2.67 pounds of pork shoulder. I put it in for around an hour and ten minutes and it turned out really well.
Your roasted pork looks gorgeous – I’m convinced and will try it. Thank you so much for sharing.
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Wow, it looks sooo cool!!Do you have any hi res pictures maybe? Can you put them on rapidshare maybe?
Wow! That looks awesome!
I have made hickory smoked pork belly but not after marinating it. It still came out fantastic, and can be sliced into bacon-looking strips or into brisket like pieces. Then grilled with BBQ sauce or pan-fried into pancetta like bits for pizza, it’s fantastic!
Hickory-smoked pork belly? Now I’m really in heaven, just thinking about it.
BTW on the West Coast and in Hawaii.. I think the preferred reference to char siu is better known as BBQ’d Pork and the Siu Yuk/ is what we call “Roast Pork”…But I don’t know what you call it back east.??? Hopefully a point of clarification.
Thank-you for sharing!
I made a slight variation on this at home this evening in preparation for my first attempt at char siu bau, which I have been obsessed with since a decent Chinese restaurant opened near me.
It smelt and looked so good I ended up having a piece for dinner.
Thanks again!
I just made this last night, my husband and I have been doing theme nights to spice things up around dinner time. It came out amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your recipes, I can’t wait to try the Sweet and Sour Pork!
Thank you the recipe is excellent , i tried it today and it turned out good and my family enjoyed it
love your recipe thanks!
This recipe looks interesting. Are people here using real pork belly or a different cut of meat?
wow, im drooling, i plan to make this this weekend, it looks so delicious and actually not that hard! but i do want to make some of it into char siu bao but i have a few questions. I have a mantou recipe, is that what i should use for the bun? or something different? also, i want to make the meat mixture for the buns a little bit saucier, should i use a fresh bit of the marinade mixture (obviously not what i used to marinade the raw meat) or something else? thanks guys!!
Holy wow.
This looks absolutely amazing – got here from riceandpickle.com.
I’d like to invite you to join the cult of pork – it seems to have quite a following: http://bit.ly/iwFWpB
this looks so good.. will definetely try this!
Diana,
I tried once when i lived in texas a few years back. It turned out great and my hubby liked it :) But your recipe seems much simpler and want to try it again. Will let u know the result :P
Mmmm. I just made this recipe and am enjoying it right now. Out of all of the ‘homemade’ char sui I’ve had, this is definitely the best. The chunk of pork belly I used was a bit thicker than your cut above in the picture, so I think I will either cut it in half next time, and/or marinate it longer. I ended cooking my cut of just over a pound for about a hour, but if you have any doubts, I would recommend just using a meat thermometer and cooking it until 145F as per the USDA for roast pork.
This looks great! Can you tell us exactly how to make the char siu bau (the sauce that is added to the pork mixture is something I have been trying to track down/recreate forever). Thanks!
crap. Someone beat me to it. I can’t ask you to marry me. So would you be my god-ma!
This looks amazing. I’ve printed it out and I’m definitely gonna give this a try! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve tried making char siu at home several times but it never comes out quite right.
I’ve tried recipes that recommend the low and slow method, ones that recommend high temp to low temp method, low temp to high temp method, the ‘blanch the belly in hot water before roasting’ method, ‘score the skin’ method, ‘keep the marinade off the skin’ method, even ‘cook in a water bath like cheesecake’ method and frankly, I’ve almost given up hope of ever being able to make the perfect roast pork belly.
There’s a pound of the belly in the fridge which will be treated to your recipe tonight. I’ve not scored the skin, I’ve not blanched the belly, and I’ve spread the marinade all over the skin too! Fingers crossed!
Forgive me for asking the obvious, but do you leave the skin on in this recipe or remove it? I just finished this recipe and although the house smells divine, the finished product is less than perfect. I left the skin on, and my results are chewy and gummy, not really appetizing. Any suggestions?
At home in Detroit – You should trim the skin off before roasting. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for pointing it out so I could clarify it in the ingredients list. However, the texture of the rest of the meat should still be fine. You can still trim the skin off even after roasting. Let me know how it turns out.
spent 30 yrs. in hawaii and miss the manapua. love the steamed better than the baked. can’t get any here in arkansas in any store or chinese resturant. will try to make my own.
Tried this ! Since it is too hot in Georgia to light the oven I charred the pork on the grill and then wrapped it in foil and turned down the flame .Let cook for 40 minutes and it falls off the bone.
My Wife Diane is very supportive of my striking out into new area’s of cooking. (you know, get away from the western everyday, 2 week feeding loop we’ve been on.). But your char sui recipe plus the left over Wonton soup from the night before blew us both away! Hard to clean up later but oh, so worth it! Thanks!
sorry confused
do i remove the skin ? is that what you mean by trim?
thanks
will try tomorrow
Lee – Yes, exactly. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
That was delicious! Char siu is one of my favorite dishes of all time.
Next time I think I’ll have to baste with more honey and use a fattier piece of pork shoulder to get the taste and texture I miss so much.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I officially suspect I will ultimately be making quite of few of these dishes, potluck event or no. :)
This was soooo good. I tried the recipe and will post about it this weekend on my blog. Thanks for sharing this and inviting me to your Virtual Potluck for Chinese New Year! All the best, Diana!
Was successful the first try with skin-on pork belly slabs! Delicious! Next time will slather on more honey/agave nectar, but it’s so good. Thank you Diana for this awesome recipe and technique.
Just came from a disturbing lunch at a nearby vietnamese pho shop. Had wonton and char siu with rice noodles and broth. I have been a huge fan of char siu for decades, but this time was different. My broth started turning radiant pink, and the noodles even more so, and it only got worse as time went on. The owner said it was “normal”, even though I had had the same there before without such radiance of red.
I had always subconsciously wondered where the red color came from. The incident has now inspired me to discover the real, “before red dye was invented” experience. Loved to read the line about your mom’s “nightmares of glowing magenta char siu from Boston’s Chinatown”! I’m not alone then!
This was awesome. Came out super delicious and nice balance of flavor. I finished it for 10-15 minutes on a very high heat in the oven because it wasn’t as sticky/glossy as I’d like (may have been just my oven). Wound up transferring it to the rack, too, during that time.
I’m definitely making this again!
This looks amazing! I want to try it and I am pinning it now!
Diana, this looks fabulous and it’s something I’ve always wanted to try out. It goes on the ‘to do’ list for dishnthekitchen for sure!
That looks awesome! I can’t wait to try it!
This is all sorts of amazing
This was the best and easiest roast pork recipe. The marinade has such wonderful flavor.
Although often made commercially with an awful artificial red dye, I learned that traditionally the red color, an auspicious color, came from the red rice yeast used to flavor and color fermented bean curd; an ingredient missing from your version. I find that the addition adds umami and a fuller rounder flavor as well as a pretty groovy color. All natural of course.
Diana: you never cease to amaze me!!!
I’m so glad I found your site! My boyfriend and I are HUGE fans of Chinese food and miss having good restaurants near by after we moved from New York to Arizona. The pork tastes every bit as good as it looks in your photos. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to cooking more recipes from your site!
Can you prepare this recipe using pork tenderloin?