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1
Combine all marinade ingredients — hoisin, soy, honey, oyster sauce, rose wine, five spice, and mashed red fermented tofu — into a smooth, uniform paste. Submerge the pork shoulder pieces fully. Marinate under refrigeration; the meat should be deeply coloured and fragrant throughout.
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2
Suspend the marinated pork on S-hooks in a traditional roasting oven, or set on a rack over a drip tray in a domestic oven at high heat. The hung or racked position ensures even heat exposure on all sides. Reserve the remaining marinade for basting.
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3
Baste the pork three to four times during roasting, applying reserved marinade in layers. This is where the dish lives or dies: each basting coat must be given sufficient time to set and caramelise before the next is applied — the lacquer is built by accumulation, not by a single heavy coat. The exterior should deepen to a red-lacquered, slightly caramelised finish with each pass.
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4
In the final ten minutes, apply the honey-sugar glaze with the oven door open to promote caramelisation. The surface should turn glossy and slightly charred at the edges and tips — the caramelised ends (jiu) are the most prized. The internal temperature must reach 72 °C; a rosy interior at this temperature is both acceptable and traditional.
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5
Rest the pork briefly before slicing across the grain. The cut face should show a juicy, fatty interior framed by the red-lacquered exterior. Fat should appear rendered and translucent, not white and waxy.