One of my favorite things to eat is Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork). I remember when I was a kid, heading down to chinatown with my parents a few times a year. We went to specifically pick up a huge tray of char siu pork and peking duck from our favorite spot, to enjoy with relatives. It was always a special occasion sort of thing for my family and my love for Chinese BBQ pork started then and never left.
Not only is char siu incredibly delicious, but it’s surprisingly easy to make at home! I love making a double batch and enjoying half over a few days incorporated into few different dishes like fried rice and noodles, then mincing up the rest to stuff into bao buns then freeze. It’s the best snack or quick lunch on the go ever!
What Does Char Siu Mean?
The Chinese words Char siu literally translate to “fork roasted”. This refers to the traditional method of roasting (or barbecuing) skewered strips of meat. Pork is the most common protein used, so when ‘char siu’ is mentioned it’s usually assumed to be pork, unless otherwise noted.
Our homemade version doesn’t involve skewering the strips of pork. We also don’t use an open flame In our recipe. Even still, we think the results are as close as you can get to restaurant style Chinese bbq pork with easy to find ingredients and basic cooking equipment!
How to Make Our Easy Char Siu Pork Recipe
Ingredients
Process
- Pour honey, soy sauce, hoisin, vinegar, brown sugar, oyster sauce, Chinese five spice, sesame oil, and 1/4 teaspoon white pepper into a saucepan and stir together.
- Simmer over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
- Set aside 6 tablespoons marinade.
- Season pork shoulder strips with salt and remaining white pepper.
- Place seasoned pork strips in are-sealable plastic bag, pour remaining cooled marinade over pork, and shake bag around to ensure pork pieces are fully covered.
- Remove as much air from bag as possible, seal and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 425˚F. Remove pork strips from marinade and place onto a baking sheet covered in foil, with a wire cooling rack on top (sprayed with cooking spray), spacing pieces about 1 inch apart. Baste pork with reserved marinade/char siu sauce.
- Roast pork for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 375˚F and continue to roast for an additional 25 to 30 minutes (or until the internal temperature reaches between 145˚F and 160˚F.). Generously baste with marinade every 15 minutes.
- Once pork has reached its internal temperature remove from oven and glaze once more. Transfer pork to broiler and broil on high for 1 to 2 minutes or until pork caramelizes. Remove pork from heat.
- Transfer to cutting board and rest for 3 to 5 minutes. Slice char siu pork and serve.
Tips and Tricks for Success
- Don’t skimp on the marinating time! The pork needs sufficient time to marinate, to really impart all the delicious flavor associated with char siu pork. We think a minimum of 12 hours is very important to really get the flavor and texture you’re looking for, but 24 hours is better if you have the time!
- Use a wire rack (inserted into a rimmed baking sheet) while roasting! This ensures even roasting.
- Spray your wire rack with cooking spray or generously brush with oil. This will help to prevent the pork strips from sticking to rack (from the sugar).
- Line the rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, before inserting the wire rack. This will make the cleanup much easier from the marinade/basting liquid that drips from the pork onto the baking sheet.
How to Get the Subtle Red Color
Traditionally the red color of char siu pork comes from fermented red bean curd. Not only does it impart the red color, but it also adds a really nice salty, umami flavor to the pork! We left it out of our recipe because it’s not the easiest ingredient to find, but if you have it on hand or are interested in using it in this recipe here’s how:
- First, reduce the amout of soy sauce used to 1 tablespoon.
- Mash 1 ounce of bean curd and 2 tablespoons of the sauce together into a rough paste.
- Stir paste together with the other sauce ingredients and make the recipe as written.
The more modern way to color the pork is to add a few drops of red food coloring into the marinade. We don’t love this method, since you’re just altering the color, but if you really want the red color without incorporating fermented red bean curd, then this will do it!
What to Serve with Chinese BBQ Pork
One of my favorite things about char siu is how well it tastes in a variety of dishes. Some of our favorite serving suggestions are:
- Garlic Noodles or Chow Mein – either sliced and served on top or chopped and tossed together.
- In fried rice – diced and tossed into the rice over high heat for an amazing flavor!
- In a banh mi sandwich! – thinly sliced and stuffed into a French baguette with pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro leaves, sliced cucumbers, and sliced jalapeño.
- Simply sliced and served over steamed rice with some stir-fried vegetables on the side.
- Stuffed into bao buns with cilantro leaves and sliced cucumbers. Love and Lemons has a great recipe for steamed bao buns on her site!
More Delicious Pork Recipes You Will Love
Easy Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
INGREDIENTS
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder (pork butt), trimmed and cut along the grain into long strips
- 1 teaspoon salt
INSTRUCTIONS
oven instructions
- Pour honey, soy sauce, hoisin, vinegar, brown sugar, oyster sauce, Chinese five spice, sesame oil, and 1/4 teaspoon white pepper into a saucepan and stir together.
- Simmer over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
- Set aside 6 tablespoons marinade into a small bowl.
- Season pork shoulder strips with salt and remaining white pepper.
- Place seasoned pork strips in are-sealable plastic bag, pour remaining cooled marinade over pork, and shake bag around to ensure pork pieces are fully covered.
- Remove as much air from bag as possible, seal and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 425˚F. Remove pork strips from refrigerator and marinade and place onto a baking sheet covered in foil, with a wire cooling rack on top (sprayed with cooking spray), spacing pieces about 1 inch apart.
- Baste pork with reserved marinade.
- Roast pork for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 375˚F and continue to roast for an additional 25 to 30minutes (or until the internal temperature reaches between 145˚F and 160˚F.), generously basting with marinade every 15 minutes.
- 1. Once pork has reached its internal temperature, glaze once more and broil on high for 1 to 2 minutes or until pork caramelizes. Remove pork from heat, transfer to cutting board and rest for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Slice and serve.
air fryer instructions
- Marinate pork as recipe above states.
- Lightly grease the air fryer basket with cooking spray.
- Place marinated pork strips into an air fryer, 1/2 inch apart.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400˚F and air fry for 16 minutes, stopping every 4-5 minutes to flip and baste with remaining marinade.
- Transfer pork strips to a cutting board and slice.
NOTES
- Don’t skimp on the marinating time! The pork needs sufficient time to marinate, to really impart all the delicious flavor associated with char siu pork. We think a minimum of 12 hours is very important to really get the flavor and texture you’re looking for, but 24 hours is better if you have the time!
- Use a wire rack (inserted into a rimmed baking sheet) while roasting! This ensures even roasting.
- Spray your wire rack with cooking spray or generously brush with oil. This will help to prevent the pork strips from sticking to rack (from the sugar).
- Line the rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, before inserting the wire rack. This will make the cleanup much easier from the marinade/basting liquid that drips from the pork onto the baking sheet.
- First, reduce the amout of soy sauce used to 1 tablespoon.
- Mash 1 ounce of bean curd and 2 tablespoons of the sauce together into a rough paste.
- Stir paste together with the other sauce ingredients and make the recipe as written.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
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Worked great. I used it sliced up in a singapore noodle recipe and my husband and I devoured it. Super easy to make; I marinated for 24 hours. Very flavorful. I made a large batch & froze half to use again 2 weeks later, tasted great. I’m somewhat sensitive to extra salt so I didn’t season the pork with it; there’s enough sodium in the hoison and oyster sauce.
I recently tried your Easy Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork) recipe, and it was a delightful experience! The marinade, combining honey, soy sauce, hoisin, and Chinese five-spice powder, infused the pork shoulder with a perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors.
Following your detailed instructions, I marinated the pork overnight, which really enhanced the depth of flavor. The roasting process was straightforward, and basting the meat every 15 minutes ensured a beautiful, glossy finish. The end result was tender, flavorful pork that my family couldn’t get enough of.
I appreciate how you’ve made this traditional dish accessible for home cooks. Next time, I plan to use the char siu in some homemade bao buns, as you suggested. Thank you for sharing such a fantastic recipe! 😄🍕
Can you omit the oyster sauce and still make it char siu ?
It won’t be quite the same, but as it’s not using red fermented beancurd it’s not true char sui anyway. It will, however, still be delicious.
I guess you’re allergic to shellfish, which is a shame, but there are oyster-flavoured sauces available that don’t contain shellfish, if you can find them.
Good luck!
Could you make this with a pork tenderloin?
Yes! You will just need to shorten the cooking time.
Thinking it might be great to put this on a grill. Any tips?
This is delicious.
I have a couple of suggestions – I added some water to bottom of pan to stop the smoking from dripping. I also saved the marinade, boiled it for 5 minutes so there’s a little drizzle of the delicious sauce.
Thanks for posting this recipe!
Just wanted to say that fermented red bean curd is readily available on Amazon, so not that hard to find.