Char Siu is one of my favorite dish to cook because of it is so easy to make and handle. Even if we cannot eat all of them once, it goes so good with common leftover dishes like char siu fried rice, chow fun and steamed buns.

Previously we have a very localized Chinese char siu using red fermented tofu as the coloring agent. After getting so many complains about the hard to find ingredient “red fermented tofu” or “red yeast powder”, I believe there should be an easy approach. So I use hoisin sauce as the main coloring agent. If you read the ingredient label on the bottom of your hoisin sauce, you can find red yeast powder. So it should work 100% fine for bringing us a char siu red color.

Cook’s note

Usually pork butt is recommended for char siu as it has the perfect lean and fat ratio and is quite tender. But if you do not like fat, pork tenderloin can work fine too. Leaner pork belly contains more fat but can be used for making char siu too.

Brushing some sesame oil on the surface after roasting can make your char siu shining shining without influencing the flavor too much. But it is ok to brush honey a sweeter taste is preferred.

Ingredients

• 600g pork butt (tenderloin and pork belly can also work)
• 2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp. Chinese cooking wine or rose wine
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1/4 tsp. Chinese five spice powder
• 2 garlic, sliced
• 1 thumb ginger, sliced
• sesame oil for brushing

Brushing

• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1/2 tbsp. previous made char siu sauce
• 1/2 tbsp. hot water

Steps

Firstly, poke some small holes on the pork butt so it can absorb the flavor better and cut into 2 cm wide and 4 cm thick long strips. Set aside and drain.

In a large bowl, mix hoisin sauce, cooking wine, honey, light soy sauce, oyster sauce and Chinese five spice. Give a big stir-fry to combine well.

Add garlic and ginger and pour the Char Siu sauce over the meat or you can use a bag. Turn over for 2-3 times during the marinating process. Keep in fridge for 24 to 48 hours. Or you can simple mix everything in a sealed bag.

Pre-heat oven to 200-degree C (around 400-degree F).

Before baking, add around ½ tablespoon of warm water and ½ tablespoon of char siu sauce with 1 tablespoon of honey. Combine well. Place the pork on grill and with a layered baking tray. Brush the honey water on both sides.

Roast again on middle track for another 10 minutes. If you want to hardening the surface, move the grill to up track and roast for another 2 minutes.Transfer out and brush some sesame oil on surface. Cool down for 3-4 minutes and cut into slices.