Pork (shoulder or neck) marinated in a mixture of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, honey, Shaoxing wine, five-spice, and red fermented tofu — roasted or grilled to a caramelised, slightly sticky, deeply coloured exterior with a moist, tender interior. Char siu (叉烧 — fork-roasted) is the most widely eaten Chinese preparation internationally through the Cantonese diaspora — it appears as a filling in bao buns (char siu bao), as a topping for rice, and as a noodle soup component. Its specific character — the caramelised, honey-and-spice-lacquered exterior against the moist pork interior — comes from the marinade's high sugar content and the specific fermented red tofu (nam yu) that provides the characteristic slight fermented depth and the red colour.
**The red fermented tofu (nam yu / hong fu ru):** Tofu fermented with red yeast rice (ang kak) — producing a deep red, creamy, fermented-flavoured paste with a specific umami depth. This is the ingredient that gives char siu its characteristic colour (not red food dye, which is used in commercial versions) and its fermented depth. Where unavailable: substitute with additional hoisin sauce, accepting a slightly different colour and flavour profile. **The marinade (per 500g pork):** - Hoisin sauce: 2 tablespoons. - Light soy sauce: 1 tablespoon. - Honey: 2 tablespoons (for caramelisation and shine). - Shaoxing wine: 1 tablespoon. - Five-spice: ½ teaspoon. - Red fermented tofu: 1 tablespoon, mashed. - Rock sugar or white sugar: 1 tablespoon, dissolved. - Sesame oil: 1 teaspoon. Marinate 24–48 hours. **The roasting:** 1. Place the marinated pork on a rack over a roasting tray (water in the tray — to prevent fat from burning and to maintain a slightly humid oven environment). 2. Roast at 220°C for 20–25 minutes. 3. Reduce to 180°C. Baste with honey mixed with a small amount of the marinade. 4. Continue roasting 15–20 minutes more, basting every 10 minutes. 5. The final colour: deep reddish-brown to slightly blackened at the highest points — the caramelised honey and sugar developing the characteristic slightly sticky, lacquered surface. 6. Rest 5 minutes before slicing. Decisive moment: The final basting and high-heat browning stage. The honey baste in the final 10 minutes of roasting develops the characteristic sticky, caramelised exterior. Applied too early: the honey burns before the interior cooks through. Applied in the final 10 minutes at reduced heat: the honey caramelises to the correct amber-sticky surface without burning. Sensory tests: **Sight — the colour:** Deep reddish-brown from the red fermented tofu and the caramelised honey, with slightly darker patches at the most exposed points. The surface should appear glossy and slightly sticky — not matte (under-caramelised) and not black throughout (over-caramelised). **Smell:** The char siu at the final basting stage: the smell of the caramelising honey combined with the five-spice's anethole and the fermented tofu's depth — a deeply complex, sweet-spice-fermented aromatic that is one of the defining smells of Cantonese cooking.
Fuchsia Dunlop, *Land of Plenty* (2001); *Every Grain of Rice* (2012); *Land of Fish and Rice* (2016); *The Food of Sichuan* (2019)