Char Siew 叉烧－－成功了！

Yippe finally succeeded! This is the 3rd time I am trying to cook Char Siew. The 1st and 2nd time it did not turn out that well not so flavourful and not that burnt. My husband loves his char siew to be more chao da (burnt) which will give the meat a nice BBQ flavour.  But we don't have a BBQ pit to make it a more burnt feel. I only use my oven and to get it more burnt, I use the broil function. But well not very successful. And my husband just say, "hmm, 就是不象，少了一些味道。" probe him further, he says,"不知道，就是少了一些味道". Very helpful indeed!  

The other day, while I was watching 冰冰好料理，they were teaching how to make Char Siew. I was so excited and quickly noted down the recipe.  One of the chef was from Hong Kong and she uses BBQ sauce brought from stalls and other ingredients to mix with it to get the seasoning part. I still have some spare ribs sauce from Lee Kum Kee which well taste slightly like BBQ sauce so I did not go and buy another bottle of BBQ sauce. 

For my 3rd attempt, I will still use the recipe I got from Rasa Malaysia website and combine with the recipe I learnt from 冰冰好料理. The seasoning part I will follow mainly from Rasa Malaysia's recipe and the method of cooking I will follow 冰冰好料理. I still have some spare ribs sauce from Lee Kum Kee which well taste slightly like BBQ sauce so I did not go and buy another bottle of BBQ sauce. The only thing I specially bought is 沙姜粉. I bought this as I saw another recipe for cooking chicken which uses this as well. It has a nice aroma so I guess it will enhance the flavour of the char siew.

It takes some patience in making this. First of all got to find the right choice of meat. Than you have to marinate the meat for at least a day. And you have to keep taking out and brush on the seasoning and honey on the char siew in the process of cooking. But I must say it is all worth the effort! 

Regarding the choice of meat, I have to quote from Rasa Malaysia : "if you love your char siu (char siew) tender, juicy, moist, and a little fatty, use pork belly. If you prefer a meaty char siu (char siew), then go for pork loin. If you like it somewhere in between, then pork butt will be a great choice." For my char siew, the first 2 attempts I chose the pork butt but with less fat. For my recent attempt I heeded the advice of the chef in the show to get pork butt with more fats. The fats will make the meat be more juicy. And I prefer my char siew to have some fats (though I am not suppose to eat fatty meat but once in a while can still indulge lah ;p) 


Ok too long winded, let's look at how to cook char siew:


Ingredients:

1 lb pork butt (cut into 4 pieces)
3 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil

CHAR SIU (CHAR SIEW) SAUCE:

1 1/2 tablespoons maltose (I don't have this so I omitted it)
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine (玫瑰露酒) (I don't have this and i replaced it with Shaoxing Wine)
3 dashes white pepper powder
1 1/2 tablespoon of BBQ sauce

1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon 沙姜粉 

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

METHOD:

1）Add all ingredients of the char siew sauce in a sauce pan, heat it up and stir-well until all blended and become slightly thickened and sticky.  Transfer out and let cool. You must be careful not to get it too thick, if not when it cools down it becomes hard. For this time round, I did not cook the sauce for marinating the meat. Instead I pour some of the un-cook sauce (for brushing the char siew later) into a bowl and use the microwave to heat it up for a while and the sauce will thicken. But you must be careful not to overheat. This cooked sauce is used for brushing the char siew later.

2) After cutting the pork butt into 4 pieces, use the other side of the knife blade to pound the meat. Be careful not to chop it apart. Than use a fork to poke the meat as well. Marinate the pork butt pieces with 2/3 of the char siew sauce and the chopped garlic overnight. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil into the remaining char siew sauce (if you are cooking the sauce for marinating).  Keep in the fridge.

 3) Place some water in a deep baking tray and put a BBQ mesh on top of the tray. Brush some oil on the mesh. Skew the char siews on satay sticks. Place the on the BBQ mesh. Heat the oven to 375 degree F (around 200 degree C) and roast the char siew for 20 minutes (shake off the excess char siu sauce before roasting). After 20 minutes, take them out and flip them over, brush some of the char siew on them.  Put them back into the oven and heat for another 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, take them out and coat it with honey and sauce and than broil it for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, take them out again, flip them over and brush honey and sauce. Broil it for another 3 minutes.   You must watch the char siew when broiling and be careful not to over burnt them.


4) You can cut them into small pieces and drizzle some more sauces if you still have any left on top of the char siew. 

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I use my char siew to cook my 云吞叉烧面！绝配！