Char Siu Pork
This recipe is from Made from Lau is amazingly good. The picture on the left is from Made from Lau's recipe. The picture on the right is what mine looked like after we had eaten and minus red food dye. I followed the recipe as-is. No changes at all! The link for the original recipe has information on where to find ingredients plus Daddy Lau's videos showing him making char siu pork - which are incredibly helpful.
NOTES
1. The pork needs to marinate 6-8 hours or overnight.
INGREDIENTS
2 lb pork shoulder, cut into 1½" slices (with the grain)
MARINADE
1 tbsp garlic salt
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp red wine
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 "cube" red fermented bean curd (bean curd fermented with red yeast powder - description on Made with Lau)
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tbsp garlic salt
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp red wine
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 "cube" red fermented bean curd (bean curd fermented with red yeast powder - description on Made with Lau)
1 tsp five spice powder
0.25 tsp red food coloring (optional, and I opted out)
BASTING
Reserved marinade
Reserved marinade
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp water
2 tsp water
DIRECTIONS
- Prepare the meat: We'll cut our pork shoulder (2 lb) into long slices, roughly about 1 1/2 inch thick. Cut each slice with uniform thickness so they cook at the same rate. Then repeatedly poke each side of each slice with a fork to help the pork absorb our marinade more effectively.
- Marinade: Add the remaining ingredients to a bowl. Mix the marinade until it's evenly distributed and smooth.
- Place the meat into a ziploc bag, pour the sauce in, and massage the pork for about 2 minutes so that the sauce is able to finesse its way into the meat. Afterwards, push all the air out of the bag and seal it.Place the bag in the refrigerator, and let the pork marinate overnight (or around 6 to 8 hours.) Remove the pork from the fridge about an hour before cooking it.
- Cooking the pork: Preheat the oven to 425° F or 218° C. Set up the baking pan by lining the bottom with aluminum foil (so it's easier to clean!), and place the baking rack on top of the foil. Add 1-2 tbsp of water to the bottom of the pan to help generate some steam as the char siu cooks, and to help prevent the drippings from burning and smoking. Take the pieces out of the ziploc and put on the rack, being sure to save the marinade! Carefully place it in the oven.
- Baste according to the following schedule:
- at 15 mins: Lather both sides with pork marinade
- at 30 mins: Lather both sides with pork marinade again
- at 40 mins: Lather both sides with the diluted honey and increase the oven temp to 450
- at 45 mins: Remove from the oven, lather both sides with honey, and let it cool for a few minutes before cutting into it.
6. To serve: slice the pork into thin slices. Serve with steamed bao buns.
