Prep Time: 20 minutes of prep and 4-10 hours of marinating time
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
I can’t remember the first time I had Char Siu Pork, I guess that’s because I really didn’t know what it was. Since I was a kid I remember eating stir fried rice from any number of Chinese take out restaurants. I never stopped to wonder what those small, cubed, red, sweet, salty, pork bits were. I knew they were mixed up with the rice, I knew they were tasty, but I never gave it a passing thought. Until years later when I was shopping in a small grocery store in Lanai, Hawaii. There at the meat counter, I discovered this marinated, glowing red, pork looking thing, that had “grilling instructions” on the package. We picked up some beer, some spicy Kim Chee, rice, and a couple packages of this strange red Char Siu Pork.
I will spare you the dramatic creative food writer description and just say that I had fallen in love with this weird red meat. It became a weekly staple for dinner and cook outs. After getting back to the main land I could not find Char Siu Pork anywhere. I know it is not a normal food in most parts of the States and the color can really scare people away. So without further ado, here is a simple recipe for some killer Char Siu Pork. You can use any cut of pork. Really fatty cuts like the Pork Shoulder or Butt work best. Here I used some fresh cut pork chops that I had on hand. Use any cut you have; your marinade time will depend on the thickness of the meat. Good luck and leave a comment on how it turned out,
What you need:
- 2-4 lbs of pork (tenderloins, chops, shoulder, butt, any kind)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup rice wine
- 2 1/2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce (it is ok if you don’t have this…)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic
- A few grinds of fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon of red food coloring (ok… so this is totally optional, traditionally Char Siu Pork is super red, skip this if you want, but for some reason (I have made it both ways) it ALWAYS tastes better when it is red. Just saying.
Ready to go:
- Cut your pork into small thin pieces about 6-8 inches long and about 1/2 inch thick. There is no rule to this, cut it however you like, the thicker the pieces the longer the marinade will take to set in. I like thin, sticky, crispy Char Siu Pork…so smaller works best for me.
- Place your pork in a large zip-lock bag.
- In a small sauce pan, combine all the above ingredients and heat over low heat. Keep stirring until all the ingredients combine.
- Let the marinade cool and then pour into your bag.
- Try to get as much air out of the bag as you can and place in the fridge. Turn the bag over every few hours. I like to marinade my Char Siu Pork overnight, but 4 hours will do the trick if you are in a hurry.
- Next, grill that Pork over high heat. I like to use the excess marinade to baste the pork every few minutes. Be careful of flare ups here. Don’t worry about some burn/crispy parts here, a little “char” is awesome flavor.
- Get that pork to 145 degrees, take off the grill, let it rest for about 5 minutes, and there you go.
- Serve this with rice, salad, or noodles. Kim Chee is my favorite side dish as the sweet, sticky Char Siu really works well with the tart and sour cabbage (buy some killer Kim Chee here if you want to give it a shot).
Good luck! Thanks for reading,