Keyword: char siew, chinese barbeque sweet roast pork, sticky chinese bbq pork
Prep Time: 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 30 minutesminutes
Total Time: 40 minutesminutes
Servings: 5
Calories: 282kcal
Author: Melissa | The Undercover Chef
This is Mum's Sticky Chinese BBQ Pork, or Char Siew recipe with no MSG and no food colouring. Look how juicy and succulent the Char Siew is! My absolute favourite are the little sticky glazed bits with a slightly charred, smoky flavour. Simply heavenly!
Cut the pork into 3 or 4 strips (depending on the size of the pork) in a zig zag manner to form one long continuous strip without cutting through to the ends.
In a plastic container, add in all the marinade ingredients except the maltose. Give it a stir and mix well until the sugar dissolves.
Put the pork into the marinade and coat it well. Leave it for at least 7 hours or overnight in the fridge, turning it occasionally.
Take out the pork from the fridge and leave until it is at room temperature before grilling.
COOKING METHOD
Turn on the Turbo Broiler to 240*C. Place the pork on a rack to grill for 10-15 mins. Turn the pork over and continue to grill for another 10 mins.
Meanwhile pour the left-over marinade in a bowl and microwave it for a few seconds or until it bubbles. Be careful not to over-heat until it spills over.
Pour the hot marinade into another bowl over a sieve to remove and discard the lumpy bits of scum.
Add the maltose into the heated marinade, and stir until it dissolves and becomes sticky. You can also pour the mixture into a small pan and heat over low heat until it thickens.
After 10 minutes of grilling the pork, bast it with the marinade and continue to grill for another few minutes until the edges of the meat is slightly charred. Turn the pork over and repeat the same process. Do not overcook the meat.
Besides using Pork Shoulder (Wu Hua Rou, Five Flower Meat), you can also use the Pig Armpit 'Bu Jian Tian 不见天' (Never sees the sky) or Pork Belly called 'San Ceng Rou 三层肉' (3 layers pork) minus the skin. These parts have fats in between the lean meat that prevent them from drying during the cooking process. It will give it a glossy look and tender texture as the fats melt.
Tell the butchers you want to make Char Siew when you buy the pork from the wet market or at the supermarket and they will know how to cut it for you. That will save you the trouble of cutting it yourself.
Use Elephant brand Dark Soy Sauce (also known as Cooking Caramel)for the dark soya sauce, which is not too salty and the colour is not as dark as other brands, so the food looks more appetising as well.
COOKING TIPS
Watch closely when warming up the marinade in the microwave. Do not let it over heat and spill out other wise you will have no gravy left to glaze the Char Siew.
Use any leftover marinade after basting the Char Siu as gravy.
If you do not have a turbo broiler, you can use the oven. Place the pork in the upper rack and turn on only the top heat. You will need to adjust the temperature according to your own oven.
If you are health conscious, you can use tenderloin but the cooking time should be shorter and it will be a bit drier. Therefore you need to get a thicker piece from the butcher.
If you want the Char Siew to be red in colour, add 1/4 tsp red food coloring to it. But I normally do not do it because I prefer to have it natural.