Home » Oven Grilled Char Siew (Chinese BBQ Pork) 烤箱粤式叉烧

Oven Grilled Char Siew (Chinese BBQ Pork) 烤箱粤式叉烧

by Angie Liew
Oven Grilled Char Siew

Learn how to make Oven Grilled Char Siew at home! Chinese Barbecue Pork, or commonly known as Char Siew (叉烧) is a classic cantonese dish, where pork meat is marinated and then roasted in the oven to a charred and sticky sweet perfection. Truly for the MEAT lovers.

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Oven Grilled Char Siew

 

A Classic Chinese Delicacy: Char Siew, Chinese Barbecue Pork 叉烧

“Char Siew” literally means “fork burn / roast” after the traditional cooking method for the dish. The Oven Grilled Char Siew is of Cantonese origin, where pork meat is marinated and then roasted in the oven to a charred and sticky sweet perfection.

Long strips of marinated pork belly are skewered with long forks (sorry no fork here!) and placed in a covered oven or over a fire to grill. Chinese Barbecue Pork if cooked the right way, is probably one of the most tender and juicy pork dishes you may ever have, with the right balance of savoury and sweetness all in one. 

This Oven Grilled Char Siew is bursting with umami flavour from the various ingredients used to fully marinate the pork. This includes a distinct aroma from fermented red beancurd and tauco, rich hoisin and oyster sauce, vinegary taste like cooking wine and special sweetness from the brown sugar and malt syrup.

It is truly for the MEAT lovers as it is absolutely delicious! It’s my hubby and daughter’s favourite too! 

Oven Grilled Char Siew

 

What is Chinese Barbecue Pork / Char Siew?

Char Siew (叉烧) is its Cantonese name as it is of Cantonese origin. It is a type of Cantonese roast / grilled meat. To make Char Siew, the pork is marinated in a sweet barbecue sauce and then roasted or grilled till perfection. Different cuts of pork can be used to make Char Siew, from the lean pork loin to fatter cuts like pork shoulder / pork butts, pork neck and pork belly.

It is ideal to use more fatty cuts like pork neck or pork belly as this will results in more juicy and tender Char Siew. My butcher always recommend pork belly for best results.

Grilled or barbecue pork belly Char Siew is the epitome of Cantonese barbecue. The meat are always cut into thin or thick slices, according to preference, and served with steamed white rice and green vegetables on the side. Nevertheless, you can always use pork shoulder for leaner cuts and healthier eating.

Oven Grilled Char Siew

What are the cuts of meat to make Chinese Barbecue Pork?

Different cuts of pork can be used to make chinese barbecue pork depending on own preference. 

You can use for this Oven Grilled Char Siew recipe:

  • Pork Belly (without skin) – its the tender, juicy and fattiest version/ maximum flavour.
  • Pork Shoulder / Pork Butt and Pork Neck / Pork Collar – if you prefer a balance between meat and tenderness.
  • Pork Loin – if you prefer no fat, only meat.

Oven Grilled Char Siew

Kitchen Tools You Will Need

  • Baking pan / tray – can fill with some water when cooking the meat.
  • Wire baking rack – placing the wire rack on the baking tray allows the meat to cook evenly above the baking pan.
  • Tongs – a pair of tongs to flip the pork strips and baste the meat during the grilling process.
  • Aluminium Foil – Lining the bottom of the baking tray with aluminium foil helps in the cleaning up.
  • Basting brush – the brush is needed to evenly coat the meat with the char siew sauce.

Oven Grilled Char Siew

Ingredients You Need To Make Oven Grilled Char Siew

  • Pork Belly
  • Oyster Sauce
  • Light Soy Sauce
  • Sesame Oil
  • Garlic and Shallots
  • Tauco (Fermented Beanpaste)
  • Brown Sugar
  • Chinese Cooking Wine
  • Hoisin Sauce
  • Red Fermented Beancurd
  • Maltose 
  • Water

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Oven Grilled Char Siew

Overview On How to Make Oven Grilled Char Siew

Prepare Malt Syrup:

  1. Place maltose and water in a pan and cook till sugar dissolves.
  2. Set aside to cool.

Prepare Marinade:

  1. Place all marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix till well combined.
  2. Add in the malt syrup (cooled) and mix well. Set aside to use as marinade for the pork.

Prepare Pork Belly For Char Siew:

  1. Use a sharp knife to remove the skin from cleaned pork belly strips.
  2. Using a fork, poke holes on both sides of the pork strips.
  3. Place in a container and pour the prepared marinade over the pork strips and ensure fully coated.
  4. Leave to marinade for at least 8 hours or preferably overnight, turning the pork strips consistently.

Prepare to Oven Grill Char Siew:

  1. Remove marinated pork strips from refrigerator (if overnight), transfer to a plate and leave to room temperature 1 hour before grilling.
  2. Cook the remaining marinating sauce with malt syrup over low heat till thickened. This is the Char Siew sauce.
  3. Preheat oven to 220 degree C. Foil a baking tray at bottom of rack to capture sauce dripping. Arrange marinated pork strips on rack.
  4. Bake for 15 mins. Then remove from oven and brush both sides with char siew sauce. Continue to bake for another 5 minutes. Repeat another 4 times. Grill till the pork strips are slightly charred. In total grilling time is 40 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before cutting to serve. 

Oven Grilled Char Siew

How to Serve Chinese Barbecue Pork / Oven Grilled Char Siew

Chinese Barbecue Pork are always cut (across the grain) into either thin or thick slices before serving. It can be served as a main dish with many side dishes but in Asian cuisine, this dish is usually served with steamed white rice, leafy greens, warm soup or even noodles.

Serving the char siew with rice is the most classic pairing as the rice soaks up all of the delicious flavours from the char siew sauce. With green vegetables and soup alongside, it makes for a balance meal. 

Oven Grilled Char Siew

Important Tips When Cooking This Dish

  • Cut the pork belly into long strips, roughly about 1 inch thick. Try to have each pork belly strip to be of uniform thickness to ensure they cook at the same rate. 

  • The amount of marinade can be adjusted base on the amount of pork you will be making. Be sure to mix the marinade till well mixed and smooth.

  • Place the marinated pork in the refrigerator to marinade overnight or for 6-8 hours. Do not marinate the pork for more than 24 hours, otherwise the meat will turn hard.
  • Before cooking the marinated pork, remove from refrigerator and let sit for 1 hour to bring to room temperature before baking/grilling.
  • Set up a baking tray by lining with aluminium foil to capture the dripping sauce (for ease of cleaning) and place a baking rack on top of the foil.
  • Pour in some water onto the bottom of the baking tray before grilling. This helps to generate some steam as the char siew cooks, and to help prevent the drippings from burning and smoking.
  • The baking/grilling process is really important in getting the right colour on the meat. The vibrant red colour on the char siew is partly due to the red fermented beancurd but really it’s more a factor of good browning of the meat, and getting good caramelisation of the barbecue sauce. 
  • If possible use maltose instead of honey as the malt syrup provides a deeper and richer color and flavor to the pork that sticks better than honey. Lightly oiled your measuring spoon before scooping out the maltose which is a very thick syrup. 
  • Do not replace maltose with sugar as sugar will turn hard when it’s cooled, which in turn, makes the meat hard. If you do not have maltose, you can use honey instead.

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Oven Grilled Char Siew (Chinese Barbecue Pork) 烤箱叉烧

Recipe by Huang Kitchen, Angie Liew
Chinese Barbecue Pork, or commonly known as Char Siew (叉烧) is of Cantonese origin where pork meat is marinated and then roasted in the oven to a charred and sticky sweet perfection. Truly for the MEAT lovers.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes

Tap or Hover to Adjust Servings

Servings: 4 people

Equipment

  • 1 baking tray foil with aluminium foil
  • 1 baking wire rack
  • 1 tongs

Ingredients
 

Ingredients:

  • 800 gm pork belly, Cut into large long strips 3cm thick, skinless

For the Marinade:

  • 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoon sugar, or brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon garlic + shallot, 2 cloves garlic, 1 shallot, grated
  • 1 tablespoon taucho, or yellow bean sauce / beanpaste
  • 1 tablespoon hoi sin sauce
  • 1 piece fermented red beancurd , + 1 tbsp liquid, or nam yue
  • 1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine,
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Malt Syrup

  • 25 ml water, (Cook maltose with water until sugar dissolve. Leave to cool)
  • 100 gm maltose, 4 tbsp

    Instructions
     

    Prepare Malt Syrup:

    • Prepare malt syrup.
      Have ready maltose and water.
    • Cook maltose and water till sugar dissolved.
      Dilute maltose with water by cooking in a pan till sugar dissolves. Pour into a bowl and leave aside to cool.

    Prepare Marinade:

    • Have ready ingredients to marinade char siew.
    • Mix marinade till well combined.
      Add all marinade in a bowl. Mix till well combined. Then add in cooled malt syrup into the marinade. Mix well and set aside.

    Prepare Pork Belly:

    • Remove skin and prick holes on the pork belly.
      First using a sharp knife, remove the skin from the cleaned pork belly. Then with a fork, prick some holes on both sides of the pork. This helps the marinade to penetrate into the meat for more flavour.

    Marinade Pork Belly:

    • Marinade pork belly.
      Place the pork strips into a container. Pour marinade over the pork. Blend well to make sure the pork strips are completely coated with the marinade. Cover and place in refrigerator to marinade for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight turning occasionally.

    Prepare to Grill Char Siew:

    • When ready to grill, firstly remove the marinated pork strips from refrigerator and transfer onto a plate. Leave for about 1 hour to bring it to room temperature before baking.
    • Prepare to oven grill char siew.
      Preheat oven to 220 degree C. Set up the baking tray by lining the bottom with aluminum foil to capture the dripping sauce during cooking and place the wire baking rack on top of the foil.  Add a little water to the bottom of the tray. Arrange the marinated pork strips on the wire rack.
    • Put the baking tray into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
    • Cook char siew sauce.
      While waiting, cook the remaining marinated sauce together with the malt syrup over low heat. Do stir constantly and cook until the sauce thickens. This takes about 5 minutes. This is the char siew sauce.
    • Once the 15 minutes roasting time is over, bring out the pork and brush the char siew sauce on the meat surface. Turn the meat over and do the brushing all over the other side. Put it back in the oven and continue to roast another 5 minutes. Repeat another 4 times. Roast until the pork is slightly charred.
    • Oven Grilled Char Siew
      To serve, allow the cha siew to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting it across the grain into thin or thick slices to your preference.
    • Serve with steamed rice and char siew sauce and Enjoy!

Enjoy!

Tried this recipe?Mention @HuangKitchen or tag #huangkitchen!

Recipe Video

Notes

  • Many cuts of pork can be used to make Char Siew. Pork Belly (without skin) – its the tender, juicy and fattiest version/ maximum flavour. Pork Butt (shoulder) or Pork Neck – if you prefer a balance between meat and tenderness. Pork Loin – if you prefer no fat, only meat .
  • Cut the pork belly into long strips, roughly about 1 inch thick. Try to have each pork belly strip to be of uniform thickness to ensure they cook at the same rate.
  • The amount of marinade can be adjusted base on the amount of pork you will be making. Be sure to mix the marinade till well mixed and smooth.
  • Place the marinated pork in the refrigerator to marinade overnight or for 6-8 hours. Do not marinate the pork for more than 24 hours, otherwise the meat will turn hard.
  • Before cooking the marinated pork, remove from refrigerator and let sit for 1 hour to bring to room temperature before baking/grilling.
  • Set up a baking tray by lining with aluminium foil to capture the dripping sauce (for ease of cleaning) and place a baking rack on top of the foil.
  • Pour in some water onto the bottom of the baking tray before grilling. This helps to generate some steam as the char siew cooks, and to help prevent the drippings from burning and smoking.
  • The baking/grilling process is really important in getting the right colour on the meat. The vibrant red colour on the char siew is partly due to the red fermented beancurd but really it’s more a factor of good browning of the meat, and getting good caramelisation of the barbecue sauce.
  • If possible use maltose instead of honey as the malt syrup provides a deeper and richer color and flavor to the pork that sticks better than honey. Lightly oiled your measuring spoon before scooping out the maltose which is a very thick syrup.
  • Do not replace maltose with sugar as sugar will turn hard when it’s cooled, which in turn, makes the meat hard. If you do not have maltose, you can use honey instead.

NUTRITION

Calories: 1260kcal · Carbohydrates: 35g · Protein: 29g · Fat: 112g · Saturated Fat: 39g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g · Monounsaturated Fat: 51g · Cholesterol: 144mg · Sodium: 745mg · Potassium: 398mg · Fiber: 1g · Sugar: 26g · Vitamin A: 20IU · Vitamin C: 1mg · Calcium: 160mg · Iron: 2mg
Course: Main
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: pork, roasted pork

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