P
Chinese · Guangdong Province
Cantonese Char Siu — Roast Pork Perfection
Char siu (叉烧) — fork-roasted pork — is one of the pillars of Cantonese siu mei (roast meat) culture. Pork shoulder (the preferred cut) is marinated in a complex hoisin-soy-honey-rose wine mixture, then roasted over live heat or in a hung position, basted repeatedly until the exterior develops a characteristic red-lacquered, slightly caramelised glaze while the interior stays juicy.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
800 g
pork shoulder (mei tau / bui tau)
fat-marbled; do not over-trim fat
Your own market
For the marinade
3 tbsp
hoisin sauce
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tbsp
soy sauce
2 tbsp
honey
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
1 tbsp
oyster sauce
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tbsp
rose wine (mei gui lu)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
½ tsp
five spice powder
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 cubes
red fermented tofu (nan ru)
mashed to a paste; provides colour and flavour
Origin · JapanT Amano Trading · Vancouver →
For the final glaze
2 tbsp
honey
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
1 tsp
sugar
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
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.
From the canon — Oyster sauce was invented by accident in the 1880s in Guangdong province when a cook named Lee Kum Sheung left oyster soup simmering too long and discovered … Oyster Sauce (Cantonese — Original Method vs Commercial) →
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.
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.
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.
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.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Heritage-breed pork shoulder with exceptional fat marbling; mei gui lu rose wine of named distillery provenance; hand-roasted in a live-fire siu mei oven with multiple basting passes and caramelised jiu (burnt ends) fully developed.
02
Estate — Free-range pork shoulder, well-marbled; quality fermented red tofu and authentic mei gui lu; roasted on a rack in a domestic oven at high heat with four full basting passes and a honey-sugar finish glaze.
03
Market — Supermarket pork shoulder, fat retained; reliable hoisin and oyster sauces; three basting passes; red fermented tofu included for colour and flavour integrity.
04
House — Pork shoulder without over-trimming the fat; hoisin-soy-honey marinade with five spice; minimum two basting passes; no food colouring substituted for red fermented tofu.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Exterior is deep red-lacquered and glossy, with visibly caramelised and slightly charred tips and edges after the final glaze.
◇Sight. Cut face shows a juicy interior with rendered, translucent fat — not white or waxy.
◇Touch. Internal temperature reads 72 °C at the thickest point; meat yields with slight resistance under a probe or skewer.
◇Smell. Caramelised five-spice and honey aroma dominates; no raw pork or sour fermented note remains.
◇Where it lives or dies. The lacquer is built by accumulation — each basting coat must set and caramelise before the next is applied; under-basting produces a flat, unglazed surface that no final honey wash can rescue.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Whisky
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Without alcohol
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance