Char Siu (Cantonese BBQ Pork)

Char siu (叉烧) is Cantonese BBQ: pork neck marinated in honey, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and five-spice powder, then roasted until caramelized. 'Char' means fork, 'Siu' means roast. Traditionally the meat is hung on hooks in a furnace. It is the backbone of Cantonese cuisine — served with rice, noodles, and stuffed into buns.

Five-spice (五香粉, wuxiangfen) is a blend of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel seeds. At home: toast the whole spices in a dry pan and grind in a coffee grinder. It is the essential spice of Cantonese and Shanghai cuisine used in marinades, braises, and sauces.

Restaurants use red food coloring or fermented red tofu (南乳) for the characteristic color. In a homemade version without coloring the meat will be dark brown from the caramelized honey and sauces — just as delicious in flavor.

Minimum 8 hours, overnight is best — the marinade needs time to penetrate deep. If short on time — cut the meat thinner (2 cm) and marinate 4 hours. You can speed things up by piercing the meat with a fork in several places before marinating.

Char siu is a versatile ingredient in Cantonese cooking. Classically with steamed rice or egg noodles. Used as filling in steamed or baked buns (char siu bao). Added to fried rice, wontons, and noodle soup. In Hong Kong it is an essential element of the iconic 'three treasures on rice' plate.