Char Siu Pork | Chinese BBQ Pork 叉燒
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Char Siu Pork | Chinese BBQ Pork Recipe 叉燒
Found hanging in the windows of Chinese restaurants around the world, Char Siu 叉燒 or Chinese BBQ Pork is probably one of the most popular Chinese dishes in the world and holds a symbolic status to Chinese cuisine.
Originated from the Canton region of China, Char Siu is also known as Char Siew, Cha Siu, Cha Shao, or 叉燒 and so on. This honey glazed Chinese barbecued pork has that slightly charred and signature mahogany color finish with an addicting sweet but savory flavor…
Char Siu Pork | Chinese BBQ Pork Recipe 叉燒
I started making my own Char Siu a few years ago after I was served with a plate of cold and flavorless Char Siu at a restaurant. There were a number of recipes online but few recipes could produce the same pork serviced in good Chinese BBQ restaurants because Char Siu was never meant to be cooked at home but in a professional kitchen. A good piece of Char Siu is quite an art and it takes time and patience to craft.
Char Siu Pork | Chinese BBQ Pork Recipe 叉燒
So I set out to create a good BBQ pork in my home kitchen. The recipe I am sharing is the result of me testing and fine-tuning the original recipe I learned during my short stint working in a Chinese restaurant. And in a few short scrolls you will be able to test and judge this recipe yourself.
Just as a general warning, this recipe is not for the faint of heart and it takes time to prepare. The pork is at its best when grilled on an outdoor grill. But if you are like me who can only cook in a tiny urban kitchen, just be aware that the oven might set your fire alarm so good ventilation is advised.
But let me assure you that it will be well worth every trouble…
Char Siu Pork | Chinese BBQ Pork Recipe 叉燒
Notes/Tips
So let’s cut to the chase. Here are some notes you should know before proceeding to the recipe:
The Pork – many cuts of pork can be used to make Char Siu. For the most tender, juicy and fattiest version, use pork belly without the skin. If you prefer a good balance between meat and tenderness, use pork butt or pork neck. For the lean version, use pork loin. I don’t really use pork loin because it has zero fat and as we all know fat is flavor:) For this particular recipe, I use a piece of well-marbled pork butt.
The BBQ Sauce – many restaurants claim to have developed their highly regarded secret BBQ recipes. However, almost every recipe involves the below three Chinese sauces. So it’s essential to use all three of them: Ground Bean Sauce, Hoisin Sauce, and Oyster Sauce.
The Glaze – contrary to the common believe, the famous finger-licking sticky glaze on Char Siu is often created by using maltose instead of honey. Since I don’t usual keep maltose in my pantry I just use honey which makes an even better glaze.
Step by Step Illustration
To save you some scrolling, starting today I have changed my post format by incorporating the step-by-step pictures in the main recipe box. I hope this change doesn’t cause any inconvenience to you.
Char Siu Pork | Chinese BBQ Pork 叉燒
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 1 day
Cook Time: 60
Make this restaurant quality Char Siu or Chinese BBQ Pork following this step-by-step recipe at www.yireservation.com.
Ingredients:
- 2lb pork butt
Marinade/BBQ sauce
- 2tbsp soy sauce
- 1tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1.5tbsp ground bean sauce (update: if you can't source this, you can replace with additional hoisin sauce)
- 1.5tbsp oyster sauce
- 2tbsp hoisin sauce
- 4tbsp Chinese cooking wine (rose flavored wine preferred)
- 1tbsp sugar
- ½tbsp kosher salt or 1/3 tbsp table salt
- 1tsp five spice powder
- 1tsp garlic powder
- 1 star anise (optional)
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
Honey Glaze
- 4tbsp honey
- 1tbsp sugar
- 3tbsp water
Directions:
- Slice the pork along the grain to ½ inch thick slices. Thinner slice makes it easier for the flavor to penetrate. To get the best flavor and texture, brine the pork in salt water over night before adding the marinade
- Make the BBQ sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients in a small pot. Cook over low heat while mixing until the sauce is smooth. About 3 minutes. Set aside to cool. This can be done in advance
- Pour the BBQ sauce over the sliced pork. Make sure that you turn the pork over so that all sides are coated with the marinade. You can also marinate the pork in a sealed Ziploc bag. Keep the pork in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours
- You can roast the pork on an outdoor grill or an oven. To roast the pork in an oven, first preheat the oven to 375 F or 190 C. Brush off the extra BBQ sauce on the pork and place the pork on a grilling rack with a tray beneath to capture the dripping. Do not place the meat directly on a tray. Roast the pork for 20 minutes on each side. Save the leftover pork marinade
- While the pork is roasting/grilling, combine the glaze ingredients in a small pot and heat over low heat while mixing. Keep stirring until the honey, water, and sugar are well
incorporated. About 2 minutes. Turn off the heat. The glaze should be a running sticky paste
- Take the pork out after 40 minutes of roasting or grilling. Generously pour the glaze over top of the pork and let it run down. Make sure all sides of the pork are coated with the glaze. Brush off the excess glaze if necessary
- Set the oven to 425 F or 219 C and place the pork back to the oven. Roast for another 5 minutes on each side or until the pork is slightly charred. Take out the pork and let it cool a little bit
- Lastly, in a pot, combine a few tbsp of water, pork marinade leftover, and any dripping collected. Bring to boil. Add soy sauce and sugar to taste. This will be the au jus used for serving the pork.
Once the tender, juicy, and savory Char Siu is done, slice the pork against the grain and serve with the sauce over rice, make a Char Siu soup noodle, or even a Char Siu Steamed Bun.
What is your favorite way of serving Char Siu?
Char Siu Pork | Chinese BBQ Pork Recipe 叉燒
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This looks great, but 1/2″ strips on a grill for 40 min sounds like burnt to a crisp pork. Will it really be ok?
Hi Anne, this is roasted in an oven not on a grill with direct heat/fire. 40 minutes might seem long but you can start with 20 minutes on one side and once you flip it, check on it after another 10 minutes. If it slightly charred on the outside, it should be good to go.
Not totally authentic, but a decent compromise. Skipped the brining as it would be too salty
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Hi Yi
I wanted to try your recipe Sous vide. Slow and low, than broil to finish. Do you have any suggestions? Also I was wondering how much salt to add to the brine?
Thanks
Hello Darren, thanks for checking out my blog. I think sous vide the char siu sounds like a great idea. I’d reduce the salt and soy sauce by 1/3 just to be safe. And I’d probably finish off the pork with a blow torch or in the broiler to get a little char on the surface. Please let me know how it came out. Thanks.
I live in Mexico and finding ingredients is rather difficult. I have all the ingredients EXCEPT Ground bean sauce. Can a substitute be used or is there a recipe you might provide? Thank you very much.
Hi Moira, thanks for checking out my recipe. If you can’t find ground bean sauce, you can replace with additional hoisin sauce. The pork should still come out very tasty. Hope this helps.
Making it for the third time today. Using pork shoulder and a few of the pieces still have the skin on. The first attempt was perfect, I cooked large pieces, about 2 to three inches thick in the oven then finished off on the charcoal grill. The second attempt I cut the pieces a half inch thick as you recommended. It was way too salty and dry, and overcooked on the grill before they got the nice char. I also added some red food coloring which added a bit of authenticity, even though I know it’s not what they use. Thanks for the recipe! Char Sui is now $5.00 a pound at the Chinese grocery and not as good.
Hi Steve, thanks for the feedback. Yeah it’s pretty tricky to get it not dry when you cut it thin but I’m glad to hear that the thicker version came out good! And please don’t get me started on the char siu price, it averages at $8 a lb here in NYC Chinatown and I can literally taste the MSG from the sauce 🙁
Yi, great stuff! Thanks so much for putting this online. I had it bookmarked for a long time and finally made it today and it turned out beautifully. Today as a practice I followed your oven instructions but I’ll cook it again next month in a barrel/drum smoker.
I substituted dry sherry for the Chinese cooking wine and it seemed to work well. I’m looking forward to Cha Siu noodle soup tomorrow!
Cheers from Australia,
Rob
Hi Rob, thanks for the feedback and sorry for getting back to you late. Love to hear your results from using a smoker!
Hi Yi,
I am going to attemt this Char Siu bbq pork. I am having trouble with the ground bean sauce. What I could find is a Black Bean Sauce that is more liguid in nature. It’s a Chinese sauce so can I use this or just double up on the hoisin?
Thanks,
Greg.
Hi Gregory, thanks for visiting my site! Unfortunately black bean sauce is not a good substitute for growing bean sauce. I’d use more hoisin sauce as you also suggested. Please let me know how this comes out!
Hi,
Thanks for sharing the recipe I can’t wait to give it a go. However, I do have a question. Is Dry Sherry the equivalent of: Chinese cooking wine (rose flavored wine preferred) ?
I do have some rose water but I doubt if that’s the same.
If both sherry and rose water are wrong can you tell me if there is a substitute ? Merci encore, JB
Hi there, thanks for checking out the Chinese BBQ pork recipe. You can certainly use dry sherry in palce of cooking wine. Rose water is not the same as rose flavored cooking wine but a small amount does not hurt (I’ve not tried it but I’d think it’s fine). Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks.
Thanks, tastes great with dry sherry and half tbsp of rose water. only thing Im concerned about is 5 spice chinese i bought it was sealed when I opeopened it the smell was very intense, is this normal ?
Hey, yes five spice powder has an intense smell so You should be fine.
Hello YI
is this recipe just like the ones i go and bye at the places that make my mouth water ever time i think of it usually i get it with plain rice and that’s it i am going to try it but was wondering if it is just like that ones from every place some are different but most are the same taste i live in Canada and it is charbroiled the best parts are the crispy burnt parts 🙂
hello YI you say pork butt but would it be better with pork tenderloin cut just wondering ? all so i wont find these ingredients in any grocery store or would i find them all at a walmart or no frills or would it be better to go to a supermarket like this
http://www.grantsfoodmart.com
Hi Aaron, first of all thanks for stopping by my site. For this particular recipe, I find that pork butt works out the best. The tenderloin is on the lean side, hence lacks the flavor and richness that pork butt has (which has more fat content). Walmart or most of the super markets (at least in NYC) carry pork butt. If you have the means to shop in a Chinese supermarket, pork butt is almost always available and they label it “bbq pork cut”. I hope this answers your question. Thanks.
“Ground bean sauce” isn’t available in the UK. Is it the same as soya bean paste, also called Yellow Bean Paste?
Hey there, the ground bean paste is not exactly the yellow bean paste but like yellow bean paste, it’s also made of soya bean. The difference is the flavor. If you can’t find ground bean paste you can use extra hoisin sauce instead. FYI, here is a picture of the ground bean paste I use: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yzCd6AwrL.jpg
I am a 15 year old aspiring-chef, I really enjoy cooking Asian cuisine and I found this recipe absolutely brilliant!
The strong flavours work amazingly together and are perfectly balanced.
I look forward to making more of your recipes
Hi Ollie, thanks for your kind words. I am glad that you enjoy cooking Asian dishes. Please keep it up! If you liked the bbq pork, you can also turn it into a bbq pork bun 🙂
Outstanding recipe. Thank you.
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How much does the pork belly shrinks after cook?
I’d say roughly by 1/5 to 1/4.
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I thought it was wierd that the marinade didn’t have any oil in it, so I added sesame oil. Turns out the bean sauce has sesame oil in it (I didn’t have the bean sauce) so it’s the same. The salt sounded like alot after all the other salty/ mono sodium glutamatey ingredients so I skipped it. It’s marinating right now. I;m sure it’ll be good; smells great. Goin; to make egg rolls with the leftovers.
Thanks for this awesome recipe…it’s simple, delicious and the measures are absolutely perfect…my first time cooking pork and it was scrumptious… Only thing I don’t know how to cook pork..I tend to overcook it..any suggestions?
Buy a meet thermometer it will be easier for you to get it right.
Yummy!! Thanks for the recipe..Loving it!!
Thanks Irwin.
Awesome Color, 叉烧is cool, I use to work in Chinese restaurant, They make red 叉烧, your look much more delicious
Hi There, thanks for visiting! Glad that you also enjoy char siu!
I was making char siu using ur recipe and wondering if the salt is actually 1tsp instead of 1tbsp, that was probably why some people complained it was way too salty?
Hi there, thanks for visiting The 1 tbsp of salt is the intended amount. I know it sounds salty but it’s balanced by the sweetness of some other ingredients. if you would like cut down the salt, you can start with 1/2 tbsp see if it suits your taste.
I also thought that it was a little too salty when I made this the first time. But I just made it again and it’s perfect! What I did differently :
1. Skipped the brining
2. Marinated it over 30 hours.
3. Used only regular soy sauce (Chinese )
4. Omitted the salt (accidentally)
5. After glazing, I roasted meat 8 minutes each side at 425.
My husband is Cantonese and he said it’s perfect. 🙂
It’s always great to hear the approval from a Cantonese. I like the idea of letting it marinate for a longer time. Can’t wait to make this again soon myself!
Just arrived back in Ireland after a couple of weeks in Hong Kong – looking forward to cooking some of the great food I experienced there. Thanks
Hi Joan, thanks for the shout out. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this recipe!
May I know if the soya sauce is the light or dark version ?
Thanks
Hi there, this recipe calls for both regular and dark soy sauce. Please see the ingredient list. Hope this answers your question.
Is ground bean sauce the same as tou cheong? Or salty ferment crushed bean?
Hi Emily, sorry for getting back to you late. The ground bean sauce is actually similar to the hoisin sauce but slightly less sweet. Here is a picture of one of the brands I use. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for checking out my blog!
Followed this BBQ recipe to a “T” and I am very very very disappointed with the recipe. It Is So Very SALTY. It is not edible and I had to discard the pork. What a waste!!!!
I will not recommend this recipe to anyone.
Hi There, thanks for visiting my blog. I am sorry to hear that the pork came out salty. I am not sure where it went wrong but this recipe should produce a sweet and savory sauce. I hope you’d give it another try sometime. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any specific questions.
Probably used table salt ijstead of kosher salt or sea salt. Had a danish friend’s mother visit him in the US and she made frigadellas with her recipe and used table salt. They had to throw it out.
Hi Mike, thank you that’s really a good point. I normally only use kosher salt so if table salt is used it needs to be scaled down. I am going to update the recipe so it’s clear. Thanks again!
Will try this today, thanks for sharing..
hi Yi. just wondering what i can use to substitute for the ground bean sauce or is it okay to omit it from the recipe?
Hi Mark, first of all thanks for checking out my blog. If you can’t get a hold of ground bean sauce, I’d skip it and use extra hoisin sauce instead. Hope this helps and please let me know if you have any additional questions.
hi Yi!thanks for the recipe.what substitute can i use for the ground bean sauce?
I made this twice and only adjusted on the amount of Rose cooking wine ( 2nd batch I used half) and instead of sugar I used Palm sugar grated with a micro plane zester. I have two Oyster sauces one has a more sweet molasis flavor and that one came out a little better. The chinese 5 spice was right ON! its easy to overtake the flavors so no more no less on the 5 spice. I grilled mine and basted the meat with the marinade twice, came out beautifully charred and tasted amazing. I didn’t try the finishing honey glaze/sauce but will next time. Thanks for a great great recipe! 3 thumbs up
Hi there, thanks for the detailed feedback. I am so happy to hear that the char siu came out great. I also tried grilling my chair siu recently and it tasted better than oven roasted in my opinion! Thanks again for checking out my recipe.
Hi Yi,
Thanks so much for your site. My grandfather was Chinese, and I have very fond memories of the many dishes he cooked. Char Siu being one of them. I tried this recipe and the result was great, really tasty, and not too hard to do either!!
One question, the Char Siu I remember eating in London where I grew up, in Gerrard Street in China Town, was more of a red colour than a brown, and the taste a little sweeter than this recipe. Is there some kind of variation I could make to the recipe to achieve this?
Either way, thanks again for your site and generosity in sharing these recipes!!
Hi there, thanks for checking out my blog. I am so happy to hear that you got to try out the char siu recipe. To answer your questions, the red color seen in the restaurant comes from the use of food dye. I don’t really use food coloring when I cook at home. To get the sweeter taste, just use more sugar in the honey glaze or use more sugar when marinating the pork. I hope this is helpful to you. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Tasted like shit
hi, sorry to hear that. Would love to hear more about why it didn’t come out good so I might be able to help.
That is VERY unkind and unneccesary. “I didn’t like it. This is Why…” would have been appropriate? Who raised you? Your mom? I think we should have a talk with her.
On a POSITIVE note, this is a WONDERFUL recipe and 99% of us think so! Came out beautifully. Great pictures, explanations too.
thank you.
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Hello there,
I used your recipe to make some char siew to accompany some wanton noodles. It turned out so delicious!
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi there, thanks for checking out my blog and I am so happy to hear that the char siu turned out good. Thanks for visiting again!
Hello Yi, I made this for guests a couple of nights ago and it was completely delicious. Thank you for this great recipe. Cheers, Leslie
Made this dish last night with a couple of small differences… I cooked it with coconut rice and added a squeeze of lime and some pickles on top to help cut through the creaminess. Absolutely delicious!
Thanks for checking out the recipe!
This looks absolutely delicious! I’m planning on having the family over on Sunday, so will definitely be making this! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Sounds easy to follow.looking forward to trying it this weekend.
Hi Juliana, thanks for checking out my blog. Please let me know how the pork turned out 🙂
hi.. great recipe – could you share with me the brand for hoisin and ground benan cause that you that?
Thanks,
Hi Stephanie, thanks for visiting and sorry for the late reply. I normally use lee kum kee which is a popular brand from HK. Another brands I use sometimes is koon chun which is also available in a lot of Asian stores in the Sates. I hope this helps.
I am wondering if there’s a different type of meat I could use to try to recreated this for non-pork eaters. Do you have any suggestions? thanks!
Hello Cece, thanks for checking out the recipe. If pork is not an option I’d suggest using beef. Any cuts for roasting should work. Please let me know how it turned out!
I just ate my first serving of this, and it was incredible. I used pork shoulder as my cut and it worked so well: tender, flavorful and nicely fatty. I let it marinade for 24 hours and the flavor really sunk into every bite of meat. Thank you!
Hi Bryan, thanks for the feedback. I am so happy to hear that the char siu came out nice and flavorful. Thanks again for checking out my blog!
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We made the char siu for our Feb 8 Chinese New Year celebration in Swaziland. Various other guests made spring rolls, steamed meat bao, and roast duck. Unfortunately, we don’t have much fish in Swaziland and we had to pass on some other traditional dishes, but many of us just made our favorites. Also had an excellent Spicy Beef Noodle Soup. We made the char siu on the braii. I would say that it’s very important to let the coals burn down so that the fire is steady, but not too hot. Otherwise the sticky glaze will make you meat literally charred! Otherwise, it turned out terrific. Thanks so much for the recipe!
I am so jealous of you roasting char siu using char coal! That’s the most traditional way to do it and it does make a difference! Glad to hear that your roast came out great!
Love your site. Great recipes!
For the brining, how much water to salt? Also, I have some maltose I would like to use up. Any suggestions fire using thus for the glaze? Thanks!
Hello CJ, thanks for checking out my blog! I don’t use a precise measurement for the brine but the salt to water ratio is roughly 1tbsp : 2 Litter. Maltose is less sweet than honey so you will need 1.5x maltose in place of honey. Maltose is quite hard when it’s cold so I normally warm it up in a hot water bath for easy handling. I hope this helps and don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks.
Greetings from Swaziland (next to S. Africa and Mozambique). We’ve transplanted to Swaziland from Los Angeles. There is definitely no char siu for sale in this country. However, there is a small group of us willing to go to great lengths for our Chinese food fix. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Hello Frances, thanks for visiting and saying hi. I have to admit that I didn’t know anything about Swaziland until 15 minutes agao (thanks to Wikipedia). I’d love to know how your char siu turned out. Thanks again for stopping by.
What is the difference between tbsp and tbs in your recipe? I assume everything with a “b” to mean tablespoon, but why would you change it from tbsp to tbs? Just want to clarify because 1 Tablespoon of five spice powder and 1 Tablespoon of garlic powder seems like a whole lot.
Hi Rebecca, thank you for pointing out the difference! It was actually a typo and I was shocked I let it go unnoticed until now. As you suspected, the tbs was meant to be tsp or teaspoon. I have just updated the recipe to the correct unit. Thanks again for spotting the error!!
Aloha Yi! Growing up in Hawaii and being part Chinese char siu was a part of our visits to family members. I am UBER excited to attempt this! If all works out I’d like to make char siu bao for new years, Thank you SO much for the pictures you use to show the difference in ingredients. Glad I found you through Google!
Hello Leslee, thank you so much for stopping by and leaving the comment. I’d love to know how the char siu turned out once you made it. Thanks again for visiting!
Very ono! Tasty does it no justice!! I would like to repeat this when I get my hands on some star anise. I was afraid it would be salty with all the soy ingredients, I was happily surprised to see how the cooking process brought out the complex flavors of the spices and soys. Mahalo nui loa! Thank you so much, this will be a recipe to turn to for my “Pake” (Chinese) food cravings!! I’m thinking baked char siu bao for Monday.
Hello Leslee, thank you for your feedback! I was so nice to hear that you like the char siu. Please let me know how your char siu bao came out! Would love to see the pictures of your food!
Aloha Yi! I will indeed take some pics when I can do this properly. I’m gonna using pork belly and slow cooking over kiawe (mesquite) on the grill some time in the next few weeks. Gatta love living in Hawaii. This has a a whole new horizon for me in Chinese cooking. Mahalo! I’ve got some pictures of the char siu filled biscuits they were a big hit
Looking forward to seeing your char siu soon:=)
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So glad I discovered your blog through Bam @ BAM’s kitchen.
Very interesting posts and delicious recipes!
The Chinese BBQ pork looks delightful.
Hello Daniela, thank you for checking out my blog.
Char Siu should never be cold and flavourless! Glad you resolved to make your own instead, and to share the process… Like you said, it’s rare to find homes that make their own char siu, so this is completely new to me and completely brilliant.
Hi Irina thanks for stopping by. I find a lot of times one can produce the restaurant quality food even from their home kitchen. Hope you get to try this recipe 🙂
Char siu pork is so famous and yet I have never had it. Chinese restaurants in my city are very disappointing (apart from one which serves good dumplings and other dim sum, but the rest isn’t worth the money), so I have never tasted it. I am so happy to learn one more Chinese recipe thanks to you. I am a big pork fan, so I will certainly prepare it one day.
Thank you Sissi. I’d love to hear your feedback when you get to cook this it!
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Your bbq pork looks amazing!!! Great recipe and of course mouthwatering pictures! Well done Yi, and thank you for sharing!
Thanks Sandra for your kind words!
Good tutorial and good recipe. Really not hard just a few steps. I have bought it from a chinese deli and use it in bbq buns. Manservant loves it just as a sandwich. And you can’t beat fried rice with the real thing!
Hello Abbe, great call on fried rice and bbq buns. I am planning on making both of them with my Char Siu leftovers!!
I love char siu and I would have two bowls of rice with these guys. This is also my favorite filling for the steamed bun like your previous post. This is delicious Yi! 🙂
Thanks Ray. Yup, I’ll use some of my leftovers for the char siu steamed buns.
I sent a comment yesterday. Guess it didn’t go through.
My recipe is similar to this but I use a cake of fermented bean curd mashed (red) instead of the bean sauce and 2TB whiskey instead of the wine.
Hi DB,
I’ve used the fermented bean curd instead of the ground bean sauce and I thought the flavor was similar to this version. The use of whiskey sounds like a good idea too!
Thanks for the comment!
I salute you for the worthy time-staking efforts to make Char Siu at home! I will not have the patience, seriously! :O
Thank you tigerfish. I know what you mean by the efforts it takes but I still think it’s all worth it =:)
This looks terrific! I’ve had this dish before in restaurants, and sometimes it’s great, more often it’s not, alas. I definitely want to try this myself! Thanks for such a nice, detailed recipe.
Thank John. I would love to hear how you like the result if you ever made this dish.
I used to hang from paper clips in the oven and catch drippings in a pan under that had small amount of boiling water. But my mom made it your way — much cleaner! Will try brining and your marinade next time. Thanks!
Hello Darlene, I’ve tried the hook method and I don’t see much difference in terms of the taste and texture but as you said this method is less messy!
They look fingerlickingly delicious!
Yes it is!
Looks delicious! I have make char siu before and it was awesome!
yup Jeannie and it is definitely healthier with all that MSG in the pork!
YESSSS! Love charsiu but always put off by that artificial bright red colour. This looks gorgeous, and is definitely less sinful compared to the commerical stuff out there. Love it especially over both noodles and rice, or chopped up and stuffed into bao, mmmm!
It’s great to hear from you Shuhan! Yes I am going to make some char siu bao with the leftovers!