If you love sweet and sticky char siu like we do, give this recipe a go! We also played around and gave it a little spicy kick by adding Korean pepper flakes. Why? Because we think sweet and spicy go hand in hand, don’t you agree?
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Google Char siu and you will find that it is a very popular dish and there are whole lotta recipes already out there for it. So why did I decide to write about this, and add to the abundant (and wonderful) recipes that is already out there? ..besides the fact that all Asian blogs need to have one of these on their sites, it’s almost like a right of passage — haha I kid 🙂
Every time I google a recipe for char siu, I used a different one every time, with different results every time. So I decided to actually spend the time and create one to my liking (I like mine very sweet and sticky) and actually document it. Yes, it took more effort than googling a recipe but you know what? It was worth it!
There’s a lot to cover, shall we get started? Allons-y!
INGREDIENTS
Most of the ingredients can be found at your local grocery store, however red fermented tofu, Korean red pepper flakes may be harder to find and you may have to find them at an Asian grocery store but this ingredient is optional.
Traditionally, char siu is always red. I prefer not to use dye so I used red fermented tofu (aka red bean curd) for the colour and the salt. The red fermented tofu also adds another dimension of flavour similar to what the cooking wine provides as well.
Update: Red fermented tofu/red bean curd might be difficult to find if you do not have a local Asian grocery store nearby. You can substitute this with 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce OR 3-4 tablespoons of soy sauce. As always, substitution may not produce the exact flavour but it will be somewhat close. 🙂
In this recipe, the red fermented tofu (aka red bean curd) is used as a source of sodium and colour, so if you substitute it out, you will lose a the red colour that char siu is known for. You can add a few drops of red food colouring if you really want that red colour, but I personally wouldn’t because the colour doesn’t add to the flavour 🙂 It just makes it – red!
If you decide to use the optional ingredient, korean red pepper flakes then the red will still be there and you will have a bit of a spiciness to it as well. (mild spicy) It will also give the char siu a earthier flavour. So if you don’t want this – skip it! 🙂
For the molasses, we used fancy/cooking molasses which is different from blackstrap molasses. Fancy molasses has a higher sugar content and blackstrap molasses is black in colour and actually bitter.
CUTS OF MEAT
Let’s talk meat.
The cut of pork you will make the char siu with will be a personal preference. I prefer a more fatty and juicy char siu so I went with a pork shoulder. Some may prefer a more leaner char siu, for that I’d say use a pork tenderloin. The recipe here will be for a pork shoulder, so you may need to adjust how long you cook it for.
I highly suggest using a meat thermometer because it takes the guessing work out of cooking meat and that is a glorious thing. One less thing to worry about in the kitchen. I have eaten my fair share of raw chicken, and believe me, a meat thermometer is a very good investment in the kitchen if you cook meat. I prefer the digital ones, not because I’m fancy but because the digital ones use a long wire prong which I can leave in the meat in the BBQ/oven. This allows me to read the temperature without ever opening the oven or BBQ.
Tip #1: Don’t be afraid of buying a pork shoulder with the bone in. Around here in Canada they are inexpensive compared to the ones that are boneless one so that’s a win right there! Buying the whole hunk of meat also gives you more freedom to cut it up to the size you want. The bone that’s left? That stuff is great for stocks. Nothing ever gets wasted here! 🙂
Tip #2: Cut the pork up in long thin chunks. It cooks faster, and you get more surface area for sauce. Mmmm! The sauce is the best part of this, you know it! 😛
Experiment: I added Korean red pepper flakes. Why? 2 reasons, because I thought it might give it a nice red as well — which it did! and because I like things a bit spicy so I thought it’d also give it a little kick. It gave it a small spicy kick, not a big one so this is an optional ingredient on the actual recipe. Adding this in will also change the flavour a bit to a more earthier flavour.
SUGARS & GLAZING SAUCE
Next let’s talk sweeteners!
Char siu’s trademark is it’s sweet flavour.
I used barley malt syrup in this marinade (only because it was what I had on hand). I know barley malt syrup and maltose are not easy to find so I would suggest substituting it with molasses. It has a similar flavour, a dark earthy kind of sweetness, that’s not too sweet. (and yes! honey works too!)
If you do choose to hunt for the odd ingredients, you can usually find maltose in an Asian grocery store and the barley malt syrup in a health food store. 🙂
After you are done marinating the meat, we will re-use the marinating sauce as the glazing sauce. This is when you will add additional honey to it. The honey will sweeten up the glaze and thicken it up to give us that nice sticky thick layer 🙂
Tip #3: Don’t over marinate the meat. I do this ALL the time, because the longer the better right? Yes, but not in this case. This marinade has two very salty components: cooking wine and red fermented tofu which can make the end result very salty. Don’t marinate it for less than 24 hours! but don’t over marinate it as well 🙂
HEAT
Lastly, let’s talk heat.
I used a charcoal BBQ for this, with indirect heat from hot charcoals off to the side. I haven’t tested this in the oven but I will on my next batch of char siu, but for now if you decide to experiment in the oven let me know how it turns out! 🙂
On the BBQ, we had the temperature steady at 325F (162C). We had the meat for 15 mins on one side, then flipped it and cooked it for another 10 mins. At this point, the meat was at a internal temperature of 145F (62C). We did 4-5 layers of glaze, flipping the meat every minute to prevent burning. When it looked red and sticky and a little burnt we pulled it out and gobbled it right up!
Tip #4: The burnt sugar is another trademark flavour of char siu! So don’t worry too much if it seems a little burnt. 🙂
Let us know if you made this and how it turned out with #pupswithchopsticks! We’d love to see how this turns out for everyone that’s tried it!
Happy Cha Siu’ing! 🙂
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If you love sweet & sticky char siu like we do, give this recipe a go! ..and we added Korean pepper flakes for a kick, because sweet & spicy go hand in hand!
Ingredients
Marinade
- 2 tablespoons fancy/cooking molasses (not blackstrap molasses) – can also be substituted with maltose, barley malt syrup or honey)
- 1-2 cubes red fermented tofu (and 4 teaspoons of the sauce, mashed together) – this is also known as red bean curd
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
- 4 slices of ginger (roughly chopped)
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
- 2 tablespoons Chinese rice cooking wine (or dry sherry)
- (optional) 1 tablespoon Korean pepper flakes (for additional colour and a mild spiciness. It will also give it a more earthier flavour)
Meat
- 2-3 lbs pork shoulder (cut into long 3 inch thin strips)
Glaze
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
Cutting and Marinating the Meat
- Cut the pork shoulder into thin 3 inch thick strips. (Cooks faster and absorbs marinade more evenly)
- Combine the ingredients in the marinade section into a ziplock or a big bowl and combine it with the pork.
- Marinate it in the fridge for 24 hours.
Preparing the Glaze
- Remove the meat from the marinade and let it sit for an hour in room temperature.
- Reserve the marinade into a small bowl and remove the garlic bits and ginger
- Add 2 tablespoons of honey into the marinade and mix. We will use this for glazing at the end of grilling
Grilling the Pork
- Heat up BBQ to 325F (162C)
- Cook the char siu for 15 mins on one side, then flip it for another 10 mins. Check the meat thermometer. Temperature should be around 145F (62C). If it’s not, keep the meat on longer until it reaches that internal temperature.
- Once it hits an internal temperature of 145F (62C), we glazed 4-5 times, flipping the meat every minute to prevent burning
- When the meat looks red, sticky and slightly burnt, remove it from the BBQ and let it rest for 20 mins on a plate before cutting into it.
- Once the meat has rested, cut it up and enjoy!! 🙂
Notes
- Cutting the pork up in long thin chunks allows it to cooks faster, and you get more surface area for sauce.
- The glaze is essentially made with the leftover marinade and additional honey. The additional honey will sweeten up the glaze and thicken it up to give us that nice sticky thick layer
- Don’t over marinate the meat. This marinade has two very salty components: cooking wine and red fermented tofu which can make the end result very salty. Don’t marinate it for less than 24 hours! but don’t over marinate it as well
- Use fancy/cooking molasses and not blackstrap molasses as that is bitter.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 706 kcal
- Sugar: 17 g
- Sodium: 546 mg
- Fat: 44 g
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Protein: 59 g
Disclaimer: As with most of my posts, I provide affiliate links to make items easier to find if you cannot purchase this locally. I would never recommend anything I don’t own myself or highly recommend, but I would prefer you buy your items locally to support your stores (and chances are they are cheaper locally!) 🙂
This looks so darn good, and so much simpler than I thought! My hubby would be head over heels for this! Definitely a must-try!
Thanks Karly! 🙂 🙂 I thought they would be on the grill for a lot longer when I was making this but the smaller cuts made it very easy to manage and quick to cook! 😀 Let me know if you have any questions! 🙂
Have you tried cooking it in the oven yet? This looks SO good but I don’t know if I can bare grilling in the Wisconsin winter. Also, what do you recommend as a side?
Hi Ashley!
I haven’t had a chance to try this recipe in the oven yet, I’m hoping in the new year I will. (I’ll tack on the oven instructions as well :)) Oh I completely understand what you mean about grilling in the winter haha! It get’s to about -20 here in Canada! If you do decide to try it out, I’d suggest baking it on a rack so it has a bit of airflow between the meat and the tray that way when you glaze it, it will have a chance to dry out a bit and give it that nice stickiness and if you use a digital meat thermometer (it doesn’t need to be expensive, I bought myself a 20 dollar one 🙂 and use it on everything) you will always get it juicy and moist! 🙂
Hrmmm…as a side, I would have it with either rice, noodles or veggies but to be honest I would eat this with anything! Soupy noodles and sometimes I even put them in sandwiches 😀 Hope that helps! Oh! If you do do it in the oven let me know how it turns out! We can compare notes! 🙂
Yes please! I have had so many different variations of char siu and have been both underwhelmed and delighted. By looking at your pictures and ingredients, it looks and sounds so delicious. I need to try this one out. I’m saving it for the next time I attempt to make char siu!
Let me know if you have any questions about it! I haven’t tried this out in the oven yet, but I plan to maybe sometime after the new year. I’m actually quite sad I can’t do this on the bbq until the spring because my bbq is frozen shut by our wonderful Canadian winters. haha! 🙂
This pork looks gorgeous!! I love char siu, but have never thought to make it at home before/I have no idea how to make it at home. You make it look so easy, I’ll have to try this ASAP! Might be a good dish for me to make on Chinese New Year to impress all my awkward relatives. And by awkward, I obviously meant awesome. 😉 Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you like this! At first it seems intimidating but if you break it up into 3 steps, it’s not bad at all! Marinate, Smoke\Bake, and Baste! That’s it! 🙂 Hope your awesome relatives love this as much as we do! 🙂
What can you substitute for the fermented tofu? I live in Norway and it is difficult to find such ingredients here where I am.
Hi Julianne!
If you can find oyster sauce, I would suggest 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce as substitution. However if that is also difficult to find then I would suggest 3-4 tablespoons of soy sauce.
The fermented tofu also provides the red colour, so you might not get that colour after it is done cooking. You can use a few drops of red food colouring if you want the reddish tones however I would lean towards not using that as it adds nothing to the flavour except the red colour 🙂
Hope this helps!
What can you substitute for the fermented tofu?
Hi Joyce, Just came across your site and saw your chashu recipe. After reading the recipe I had
some questions. You said you grilled the meat indirect so you never sear the meat? That’s fine, I was just wondering.
Another question, how thick do you cut your pieces of meat? Sure looks like the real thing. ……Thanks
Hi twobacas!
Welcome and I’m so glad you found our little site! 🙂
When I grilled it, I used a kamado smoker and since it is in an egg shape, I could only push the charcoal aside so far – so the charcoal was not directly below the meat it was off to the side by a few inches (which is still quite hot). I didn’t sear the meat because I wanted the meat to cook at a even steady pace and searing it would give it too much heat right off the bat which would produce a more dry pork and raw centre.
If you use a gas grill, you don’t need to worry about the indirect charcoal heat. 🙂 The awesome thing about using a pork shoulder and pork but is the meat is juicy and moist almost always. 🙂
For the sizing of the meat, I usually buy pork shoulder bone-in and slice the meat off of the meat in 2-3 inch thickness length wise so I get a nice and long strip of meat to work with. With boneless it works the same way, cut it length-wise so you get a nice long piece of meat 2-3 inches wide.
Oh! Also, when you first start grilling it, it won’t look charred, red, gloss like the pictures right off the bat, in fact it might look boring and dead. Once you put the honey/molasses into the marinade and start glazing it near the end, then the sugars will start to char and it will start looking like how it should be 🙂
Hope this helps! and please don’t hesitate to ask more questions! 🙂
If you have a kamado style cooker and want to cook indirect, get a plate setter or something like it. then you don’t have to worry about putting the charcoal on one side or the other. I just got back from Singapore and had some amazing char siew. Gonna try this sometime soon.
Singapore! I’m jealous! haha! That place is food heaven, I am dying to go and eat for a month straight haha! How did you like it there? 🙂 I do have a kamado style cooker (which is what I used for this recipe 😀 ) but my plate setter broke (sad day) 🙁 Been scoping out the cast iron plate setter but I feel like that might mess with the temperatures when I’m cooking.
Thanks Joyce,
I think the secret is adding honey when you are glazing, because all of the other recipes I have seen
do not do that. Also do you have much marinade left after marinating or do you double up?
I will be using a Weber kettle and cooking indirect. Will let you know when I make next time…..Thanks again
Yes, exactly! Reserving the honey until the very end is key for that nice burnt, sticky glaze! 🙂 This makes approximately 1/4 – 1/2 cup of marinade, so I had leftover marinade for the glazing especially when you add in the honey in the end. Oh yay you’re using charcoal! 🙂 As long as the grill gets up to heat 325F(162C), you’re good. I didn’t close the lid to the grill while I was doing this, so the excess oxygen flow also bumps up the heat of the indirect charcoal. Happy grilling! 🙂 and you are very welcome.
I took a look at the recipe again and it mentioned you can substitute honey for molasses in the marinade but
in the Recipe Note Tip 2 it states not to add honey. I’m kind of confused. Thanks again
Oh good catch! 🙂 I made that a bit confusing so I fixed up the Tip to hopefully be more clear.
What I meant to say was don’t add ‘all’ the honey into the marinade and to reserve some of it for the glaze combined with the marinade to brush on at the end, but I said it in a confusing way.
Sorry, one last question in the marinade, is the garlic cloves ( whole or minced ) also the ginger
( slices or grated ). I guess that’s two .
No worries 🙂 I bashed the garlic with the side of the knife and did a very rough chop (1-2 chops at most). For the ginger I cut them into slices.
My goal was to make them big enough so that you can easily remove them once you are done marinating. You don’t want the pieces to stick to the meat during the grilling else the pieces will burn and you want the marinade free of bits for glazing.
Hi Joyce
Yes, I had enough marinade left like you said after i made it today.
You nailed the recipe I won’t have experiment any longer.
I’ll just make this one………Thanks again
That is absolutely amazing to hear and I am SO happy to hear that this worked for you as well!! 🙂
..and you’re very welcome twobacas, anytime I can help just let me know. 🙂
Ok so I just made this today……it’s amazing! I did change some things to the recipe though. I didn’t have any of the fermented tofu, so I used Mother In Law’s gochujang fermented chili paste concentrate. It still gave it the nice red color with no dye. And for the wine part I used Horin sake. I also didn’t use any molasses (mostly bc I never really liked the flavor) and stuck with all honey. I only let it marinate for 14 hours and it did not come out salty at all (maybe bc I didn’t use the tofu?). I also baked it in the oven!!!! I put it in at 325 degrees for 10 mins, used some of the marinade to coat the pork, put it back in for 15 mins, then coated it with just honey and stuck it in again for another 12 mins at 350 degrees. It came out perfect, sweet, spicy, and juicy. I did however use the pork tenderloin and not the shoulder so just keep that in mind as well. Hope this is helpful to anyone who wanted to try it in the oven:) this recipe is a keeper.
Oh my gosh!! I am so happy to hear read this! I love how you experimented and shared your findings!! I seem to be on a gochujang kick right now but I never thought to use that in this recipe but DAMN! that sounds amazing!! It’s an even spicier kick than the korean chilli flakes! I haven’t done it in the oven yet so these tips are super awesome and I am so excited to try it out in the oven now! 😀 You rock Christy!! 🙂
I cook Chinese/Asian dishes in a restaurant here in Upper Michigan/U.S. and THIS dish is going to be one of our signature dishes soon. I am using racks of baby back pork ribs—the marinated ribs go into a low heat oven covered with water with tin foil on top for 2-3 hours until tender. Then when cool they can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated then when an order for the ribs arrives they get put onto a flame grill and sauced—-the only difference I do is I don’t use the marinating liquid for glazing—I simply add honey to more marinating liquid and glaze the ribs on the grill until hot/sexy/delicious! 🙂 thanks for the inspiration—-they are STUNNING….
Wow your method sounds fantastic Jack! Pre-making it, would save so much time if throwing a party too! and yes yes yes to ribs! I LOVE ribs and this would be super tasty in rib form!! 😀 I am SO happy that you shared this! 🙂 and I am happy to help, food is for sharing right? 😀
Your welcome Joyce and yes food is sharing and when my customers are super-happy then it makes my day. I just have one question about your recipe which I think I may know the answer to and that is how did yours because so gorgeously REDdish in color? was it the red fermented 豆腐？Korean pepper flakes? both? I only had regular colored fermented bean curd in the fridge but did use Korean pepper flakes as I always have those for making homemade chili oil—–I’d like to get that gorgeous red color if possible—-cheers, and thanks again… 🙂
It was definitely the red fermented tofu that gave it that nice red colouring. The few teaspoons of sauce I added in from the jar was what did it. Definitely worth getting a jar, as they keep in the fridge forever! 😀 Christy commented below that she tried it with gochujang and it also gave it that nice red colouring as well, so I will have to try that as well – it will just bit a bit spicy as gochujang is spicy.
nice……I used a buckwheat dark honey because I didn’t have any molasses…..so one probably cancelled out the other.. 🙂 thanks….can’t wait to serve these….
Joyce one more add here—-and I just realized it—-is to SAVE the beautiful pork/water after slowly simmering it in the oven—for a perfect hot au jus to dip your cold ribs in from the fridge to heat them before putting them on the grill for saucing—– 🙂 cheers— and your right—-perfect dish for a big party—–I found that 2 hours at about 200F is perfect—-
Oh my gosh, I wouldn’t have even thought of saving it for the extra flavour! Thanks so much for this awesome tip!! I am so excited to try this out now since it’s BBQ season again here! Yay! Thanks Jack you are awesome!! 😀
Could you please tell me the brand name of the red tofu? I have to buy it on the internet and have only been able to find red fermented bean paste. I think this may work, but I would like to stick with your recipe initially. Much appreciated.
Mitch
Hi Mitch!
They don’t seem to have the one I use (I’m using the Koon Yick Wah Kee brand) on amazon but you can look up the Wangzhihe Fermented Traditional Bean Curd and use that one. The colour is a deep red. There are 2 types of fermented tofu, one is red and one is white so as long as you get a red looking one you’re good. 🙂 They are also sometimes labelled as Red Bean Curd as well. Just remember to refrigerate it once you open it and it will last for a year or so. Let me know if you have anymore questions! 🙂
Thanks!! I really appreciate the recipe. Only one chinese restaurant in my area makes decent bbq pork, the problem is, nothing else they made was much good. I’m going to make this recipe today and am really looking forward to it.
I also really like your website 🙂
Thanks,
Mitch
Hi Mitch,
Your message really made my day today and I’m so happy to have received it! Thank you for all your kind words 🙂 I actually have the same problem around here as well with finding decent bbq pork haha! 😀 Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions! …and hope you have some good eats today!
Hi Joyce
Fabulous idea! Thanks for sharing your creativity! LOVE this.
Thanks for the great ideas, we are going on a summer beach vacation and these ideas are great.
Thanks Prin, hope you guys have a fun and wonderful summer vacation! 🙂
This looks so incredibly delicious! I love Korean pepper flakes too, a great addition
Thank you! Korean pepper flakes are the bomb! 😀
Char siu is the best! This looks so wonderful…mouth watering shots!
It really is..
You have put a lot of hard work into this recipe, great results
Thank you Jugruti! 🙂
This made me drool looking at the pictures. I missed Char Siu (烧焦), I used to eat this while growing up in Taipei.
I miss it too. There isn’t many places here that sell it so being the control freak that I am, I decided to tackle this so anyone can make it at home! 😀
Oh my gosh, I love that this can be made gluten free!
★★★★★
Aye! 😀
This dish needs SALT!!!! I brined my pork before and plus salt in the marinade.
Seriously? haha! 🙂 The fermented bean curd and the cooking wine has quite a bit of salt in it already 😛 but yes everyone does have different tastes preferences so if salt made it yummier then definitely tweak this recipe to your liking 🙂 My fave part is definitely the sweet. 🙂 Your idea of brining the pork is awesome! It would definitely make the pork a lot more juicy, especially if you are using leaner cuts of pork. I’m very happy to hear you tweaked this recipe to your liking 🙂
This looks amazing! I’ve been searching for a char siu recipe for awhile and yours looks the most interesting. I’m definitely going to try this soon. Lovely photos by the way!
Thank you for your kind words! ..and I am so happy to hear this, I hope you enjoy it! Poke me if you have any questions! 🙂
Hi Joyce!
Just wanted to drop a comment to tell you that I found your blog via all your amazing-looking food on Pinterest. I found myself pinning a lot of your recipes in Tailwind and I’m like, WHO is making all this AMAZING food!?
We seem to have a lot of things in common: I’m also a techie (I’m a website developer by day), food blogger, nerd (board gamer!), knitter/crocheter, and introvert.
Anyway, I hope this isn’t too weird, but I love your blog and the inventive things you’re doing with flavors from everywhere!
Cheers,
Rachel
Hiiiiiiii Rachel!
You are too kind, thank you so much. I’m so happy that you like them! 🙂
Ahhh its so nice to find a fellow techie blogger here! I was asking my husband why I don’t have anyone I can connect with that’s a female artsy fartsy knitter, and nerd! …and then Ta-da! In comes you! 🙂 I am SO happy to meet you!
This is definitely not weird at all, I am so so happy about this little note! You’re my sister from another mother on the interwebs! heehee! Btw, I think it’s so cool that you’re a web developer. I tried my hand at it and I still would love to still keep at it but I admitted defeat last year and put it aside for another time (I’m just no good at it! haha) 🙂
This looks so amazingly yummy. I have never had before. But does it have to be pork shoulder? Can I use pork tenderloin instead?
★★★★★
Hi April!
You definitely can make it with pork tenderloin! 🙂 I usually like to use pork shoulder because the marbling of the fat in the pork shoulder keeps the meat moist and adds a bit of flavour as well. Hope you get a chance to make it!
The ingredients list doesn’t include honey for the glaze. It is offered as a substitute for the molasses but never actually listed