Char siu
Strips of pork shoulder in a sweet soy marinade, roasted hot and glazed until the edges char.
What makes it char siu
- Pork shoulder or neck, with enough fat to stay juicy.
- A marinade of soy, sugar or honey, hoisin, five-spice and rice wine — often red with fermented bean curd.
- Roasted hot and glazed with maltose or honey until it chars at the edges.
Where it comes from
Char siu means 'fork roast' — the pork was once roasted on long forks over a fire. Now it hangs in the windows of roast shops beside goose, duck and crackling pork, to be chopped over rice, sliced into noodles or baked into buns.
How it varies
- Char siu bao
- In soft steamed buns, a dim sum staple.
- Char siu fan
- Sliced over rice with a little of the sauce.
Be the first here
Start your own char siuNo one here has made char siu yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
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