Plan your whole week in seconds
Try it free
Char Siu (BBQ Pork)
Cantonese lacquered BBQ pork with its signature red-burnished glaze — the sticky, sweet-savory pork found hanging in every Hong Kong BBQ window.
10 mins
40 mins
6 people
Cantonese
Pork shoulder or belly
Cut into 3-4 long strips
1kg
Soy sauce
3 tbsp
Hoisin sauce
3 tbsp
Oyster sauce
2 tbsp
Honey
3 tbsp
Maltose
For the lacquer glaze, or more honey
2 tbsp
Chinese rose wine or Shaoxing wine
2 tbsp
Five-spice powder
1 tsp
White pepper
1/2 tsp
Red food colouring
Traditional, optional
1 tsp
Garlic
Minced
3 cloves
🍽️ Maltose (Chinese sugar)
→ Additional honey
Maltose gives the stickier, glossier lacquer — honey is a good substitute
Marinate pork strips in all sauce ingredients except honey and maltose. Refrigerate overnight.
💡 Pro Tip: Overnight marination is essential for flavor to penetrate thick strips.
Roast at 200°C for 20 minutes. Brush reserved marinade on.
💡 Pro Tip: Reserve half the marinade for basting — never use the same marinade that touched raw meat.
Roast another 10 minutes. Brush with honey and maltose mixture generously.
💡 Pro Tip: The honey-maltose glaze goes on at the end — earlier and it burns before the pork cooks through.
Increase to 220°C for final 5-8 minutes until edges caramelize and char slightly.
💡 Pro Tip: Those slightly charred edges are the 'char' in 'char siu.' Not burnt — caramelized.
Rest 10 minutes. Slice against the grain.
💡 Pro Tip: Resting allows the glaze to set, creating the lacquered surface. Slice immediately into a sticky surface.
- ✓Overnight marination is non-negotiable
- ✓The final high-heat caramelization creates the 'char' — don't shy away
- ✓Maltose gives superior gloss to honey alone
- →Over steamed rice with bok choy
- →In bao buns
- →As a topping for wonton noodle soup