Growing up in the Catskills, the first time I saw this Chinese BBQ pork, or char siu, was at the Holiday Inn of all places.
My father, the hotel restaurant’s head chef at the time, used a closely guarded recipe of Chinese sauces, lots of garlic, and spices to make his classic char siu.
While we first posted this recipe on The Woks of Life years ago (February 2014 to be exact), we’ve re-tested and made a few tweaks to the recipe that I’m sure he’d approve of! Also scroll down for a new recipe video!
What Is Char Siu?
Char siu (叉烧) is a type of Cantonese roast meat. Char siu (or slightly different spelling, cha siu) is its Cantonese name, but in Mandarin, it is known as cha shao. To make char siu, pork is marinated in a sweet BBQ sauce and then roasted.
Over the years, the flavor of the char siu one could get in noodle shops and roast meat restaurants in Chinatowns around the world developed a signature sweetness. But today, many restaurants skimp on the spices!
A good char siu recipe has depth of flavor––a salty/sweet contrast with a hint of spice that compliments the pork and allows it to stand alone with just a simple mound of steamed rice and blanched choy sum.
While different cuts of pork can be used to make char siu, from lean boneless pork loin to fattier cuts, those fatty cuts like pork shoulder/pork butt really are best suited to making a tasty Chinese BBQ pork char siu.
Other Recipes Using Char Siu (Freeze It For Later!)
Once you master how to make char siu at home, you can enjoy it anytime fresh out of the oven without fighting traffic or crowds in Chinatown.
BUT you can ALSO make many more delicious recipes! You can make a big batch, freeze any unused roast pork, and then take it out to make Pork Buns, Pork Fried Rice, and more.
