P
Chinese
Char Siu So (叉烧酥) — BBQ Pork Flaky Pastry
Char siu so (叉烧酥, BBQ pork flaky pastry) is a dim sum preparation of a laminated, flaky Chinese pastry shell filled with diced char siu (Cantonese barbecue pork). The pastry is made using a Chinese laminated pastry technique (水油皮, shui you pi, water-oil pastry) — a water-based outer dough laminated with a shortening-based inner dough — that produces a distinctive honeycomb-like flaky structure when baked. The exterior of a well-made char siu so is snow-white, delicate, and shatteringly thin; each layer peeling away from the others as the pastry is eaten.
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I
The Market List
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Water dough (水皮)
150 g
plain flour
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 g
icing sugar
Your own market
60 g
lard
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 ml
water
Your own market
Oil dough (油皮)
100 g
plain flour
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 g
lard
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the filling
300 g
char siu (Cantonese barbecue pork)
finely diced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
oyster sauce
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
honey
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
1 tbsp
hoisin sauce
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
cornstarch
Origin · ChinaWismettac · Vancouver →
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Make the water dough (水皮): combine 150 g plain flour, 30 g icing sugar, 60 g lard, and 60 ml water. Work together until a smooth, pliable dough forms. The dough is ready when the surface is even and it yields without tearing under gentle pressure.
2
Make the oil dough (油皮): combine 100 g plain flour and 60 g lard. Work together until the mixture is crumbly yet cohesive — it holds its shape when pressed but does not feel wet or sticky.
3
Make the filling: combine the finely diced char siu with the oyster sauce, honey, hoisin sauce, and cornstarch. Mix until each piece of pork is thoroughly coated. The filling is ready when it is sticky, well-glazed, and holds together as a mass.
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) →
4
This is where the dish lives or dies. Enclose the oil dough completely inside the water dough, pressing the seam shut. On a lightly floured surface, roll the combined mass into a rectangle. Fold in thirds (a letter fold), rotate 90 degrees, and roll out again. Repeat this rolling and folding sequence 3 to 4 times in total. The lamination is sufficient when the dough, held at an edge and flexed, shows no tearing and the surface remains smooth — the dozens of alternating layers are intact beneath it.
5
Divide the laminated dough into 16 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time, roll it into a circle. Place a spoonful of filling at the centre. Draw the pastry up around the filling, pinching and crimping the seam firmly to seal. Set seam-side down. The seal is secure when no filling is visible and the parcel holds its shape without springing open.
6
Bake at 200 °C for 15 to 18 minutes. The pastry is done when it is pale gold. Do not overbake — the exterior should be snow-white to pale gold, delicate, and shatteringly thin, not deepened to brown.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Lard rendered in-house from leaf fat; char siu roasted to order from heritage-breed pork belly, with a deeply caramelised glaze; icing sugar sifted from a loaf sugar.
02
Estate — Good-quality commercial lard, fresh and odourless; char siu sourced from a reputable Cantonese roast-meat shop on the day of preparation.
03
Market — Supermarket lard; vacuum-packed char siu, diced and glazed with standard oyster sauce and hoisin. Produces a serviceable pastry when the lamination technique is sound.
04
House — Shortening substituted for lard in both doughs; pre-made char siu filling from a dim sum supplier. The honeycomb flake is diminished but the form holds.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. The water dough is smooth and pliable, yielding under pressure without tearing.
◇Touch. The oil dough is crumbly yet cohesive, holding its shape when pressed.
◇Touch. After each letter fold, the laminated dough surface remains smooth and shows no tearing at the edges.
◇Sight. The baked pastry is pale gold to snow-white; layers visibly peel from one another at the edges.
◇Where it lives or dies. The lamination — correctly enclosing, rolling, and folding the two doughs three to four times — is the single step that determines whether the pastry achieves its honeycomb-like, shatteringly flaky structure or collapses into a uniform, greasy crumb.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
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