This is definitely a popular dish in the house. My youngest particularly can just have helpings after helpings of rice and char siu pork, that will keep him happy and full! For Char Siu, I usually use pork fillet but sometimes, I would use boneless pork chops as I find it is more flavoursome with that bit of fat! I don’t always use the red colouring, therefore my Char Siu Pork is sometimes brown not the traditional red.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 pork fillet or pork chops c. 500gm
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoon 5 spice powder
• 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon soft brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon Hoisin Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Methods

First, cut the pork fillet into strips of about 3cm diameter and 15cm long. Mix the ingredients above and marinate the pork in a refrigerator for at least 24 hours. Please ensure it is all evenly coated. The amount of honey can be tweaked according to your taste. I love mine sweet but not overly sweet.

Preheat your oven 180C. Now, prepare your grill. I scrub the grill grate to remove any residue, then oil them with sunflower oil.

Then, I arrange my strips of pork fillet on it carefully, avoiding any overlay. I gently brush on the additional marinade and insert the pork into the oven.

After 15 minutes, turn over the pork strips. I would add an additional drizzle of honey (1 tablespoon would usually suffice) to increase the caramelisation. The pork is then left to cook a further 5-10 minutes in the oven but this time change your oven setting to oven and grill. The grill will help to caramelise the pork giving it that sweet and crispy flavour.

To serve, slice the pork strip. I like them around 0.8mm to 1cm thickness, just enough to taste the succulent pork as a whole and fits gracefully with one bite. Although, my little boys and husband would usually pick at it whilst slicing them (even before serving)!

I usually garnish the Char Siu Pork with some shredded (lengthwise) spring onion and a mixture of dark and light soy sauce (1:2) with a teaspoon of honey.

Enjoy with a bowl of steamed jasmine rice. 大家吃饭!