P
Hawaiian
Char Siu — Chinese-Hawaiian BBQ Pork
Pork butt or shoulder is marinated in a sweet-savoury sauce (hoisin, soy, five-spice, honey, sugar, red food colouring or fermented red bean curd for the signature red colour) for hours or overnight, then roasted at high heat until caramelised and slightly charred. The edges should be sticky-sweet and nearly burnt. The interior should be tender and moist.
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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.
1.2 kg
pork butt or shoulder
cut into long strips, 5–6 cm thick
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the marinade
60 ml
hoisin sauce
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 ml
soy sauce
60 ml
honey
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
2 tbsp
sugar
Your own market
1 tsp
five-spice powder
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tbsp
fermented red bean curd (or red food colouring)
mashed smooth; use colouring only if curd is unavailable
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, honey, sugar, five-spice powder, and fermented red bean curd in a bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is uniform in colour. The marinade should be a deep brick-red.
2
Add the pork strips to the marinade, turning to coat every surface. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of several hours, preferably overnight. The pork should be deeply stained red on all sides before it enters the oven.
3
Bring the pork to room temperature. Arrange the strips on a rack set over a roasting tray and place in an oven preheated to high heat. Reserve the remaining marinade. Roast, basting with the reserved marinade at intervals, until the exterior is glistening, lacquered, and the edges show the first signs of charring. This is where the dish lives or dies: the high heat and the sugar in the marinade must produce a caramelised, slightly charred exterior — without this, the char siu is merely roast pork. The surface should be sticky to the eye, deeply coloured, and the char at the edges should smell of caramelised sugar and smoke rather than acrid burn.
4
Rest the pork briefly before slicing. The interior should yield to the knife with little resistance and show a pink, moist cross-section. The exterior crust should hold its lacquer without running.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Properly marinated pork butt, roasted until the edges are lacquered and slightly charred, the interior pink and tender.
02
Estate — Well-marinated pork with good lacquer and caramelisation; interior moist, though char is less pronounced at the edges.
03
Market — Adequately marinated pork with some surface colour; caramelisation partial and the sticky-sweet crust inconsistent.
04
House — Dry, over-roasted, or under-marinated; the sweet-salty lacquer absent — char siu without caramelisation is just roast pork.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Glistening, red-lacquered exterior with charred edges; interior pink and moist when sliced.
◇Smell. Sweet, smoky, caramelised aroma with the warmth of five-spice.
◇Touch. Sticky-sweet exterior that holds its lacquer; tender interior that yields without resistance.
◇Where it lives or dies. The caramelisation: the high heat and sugar in the marinade must produce a lacquered, slightly charred exterior — without it, the dish is merely roast pork.
Pillar V
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Whisky
From British Columbia
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance