Chinese Barbecue Pork (Char Sui)

Chinese Barbecue Pork known as Char Sui is one of my favorite Chinese food. If you’ve been to any China Town these are the red grilled pork that are hanging in hooks close to the shop's window usually next to the Peking Ducks.

These sticky Chinese Barbecue pork are marinated in different Asian spices not the typical barbecue sauce we grew to love. The flavors of five-spice powder, rice wine, sesame oil, hoisin sauce and other ingredients give this Char Sui its distinct delicious flavor.

This Chinese Barbecue Pork is good with steam rice, noodles or even one of the ingredients in fried rice. In my area, China Town similar to San Francisco or Chicago doesn’t exist. I usually order this Chinese Barbecue Pork in a restaurant. Years ago, a quicker option was Panda Express. They used to serve Barbecue Pork similar to Char Sui.

I have a recipe that I got from a cookbook and with the many Char Sui recipes on the internet I was able to adapt the recipe to my liking.

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Chinese Barbecue Pork (Char Siu)

Sticky Chinese Barbecue

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 6

Calories 4056kcal

Ingredients

Char Siu Marinade

• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cooking rice wine
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ½ tablespoon garlic powder
• ½ tablespoon salt
• red food gel
• 1 ½ pounds pork belly or pork shoulder

Thicken Sauce

• 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 ½ tablespoons water

Instructions

• In a big bowl, combine honey, brown sugar, rice wine, hoisin sauce, Chinese five-spice powder, soy sauce, sesame oil, vegetable oil, garlic powder, salt and red food gel. Mix well.
• Cut pork belly or pork shoulder into long strips (1 ½ inches thick).
• Add pork into the marinate mixture.
• Cover bowl with saran wrap or transfer to a ziplock and refrigerate overnight.
• In a pan, heat oil.
• Remove pork from marinade and fry until brown. Don’t discard marinade.
• Add marinade and boil until pork is tender.
• Once tender, remove pork and reduce sauce.
• Dissolve cornstarch in water.
• Thicken sauce with cornstarch mixture.
• Transfer sauce to a container and serve on the side.
• Cut pork into pieces and serve with the sauce. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 4056kcal | Carbohydrates: 136g | Protein: 65g | Fat: 361g | Saturated Fat: 131g | Cholesterol: 490mg | Sodium: 4070mg | Potassium: 1423mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 127g | Vitamin A: 70IU | Vitamin C: 2.1mg | Calcium: 93mg | Iron: 5.3mg