NON-HALAL: This authentic, homemade Chinese barbecued pork is of Cantonese origin. It is marinated with a sticky Char Siew sauce, overnight is best, and roasted in the oven before finishing off on the grill.
The result tastes just like it does in some of the best Chinese restaurants.
Ingredients
- 450 g pork belly, pork shoulder, pork butt or pork tenderloin, cut into three to four long strips
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
For the sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons maltose
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soya sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine or Shaoxing wine
- 3 dashes ground white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Method
- Combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring to combine well.
- The sauce is ready when it thickens and becomes sticky. (It yields a half cup of sauce.) Put into a bowl and let it cool.
- Rub the pork with the garlic and pour two-thirds of the sauce over it. Marinade the pork for at least four hours, preferably overnight.
- Add the cooking oil to the remaining sauce and keep the sauce in the fridge.
- Heat the oven to 190°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or aluminium foil. Shake off the excess sauce and place the pork on the baking tray and roast for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, let it cool and then thread the pieces of pork onto skewers. Brush the remaining Char Siew sauce on the pork and grill on an outdoor grill. It can also be grilled over the flame of a gas cooker or select the grill function of the oven.
- Grill the pork for one minute on each side, or until slightly charred.
- Slice the Chinese barbecued pork into bite-sized pieces, drizzle the remaining sauce over it and serve immediately with steamed white rice or as a snack.
Tips
- If maltose is not available, use three tablespoons of honey.
- For tender, juicy, moist and fatty barbecued pork, use the belly. For a meatier texture, go for pork loin. Pork shoulder is somewhere in between.
- Chinese rose wine has an intense fragrance and aroma. It lends the iconic flavour to this recipe.
- The marinade can be used as a dipping sauce.
- Chinese barbecued pork is often coloured red with food colouring to enhance the appearance. It is not necessary.
- Freezing will make the meat dry and rubbery. Refrigerate for up to three days and heat for about half a minute before serving.
- This can also be chopped and used as a filling for char siew pau.
This recipe first appeared in Rasa Malaysia.
Low Bee Yinn is a food blogger and cookbook author.