Cha Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

5 from 16 votes

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Servings: 2 pounds cha siu

Author: Lisa Lin

This recipe makes 1 1/2 to 2 pounds cha siu.

Prep Time30

Cook Time45

Additional Time8

Total Time9 15

Ingredients

1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder/butt roast, (see note)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce (optional)
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce, can sub with oyster sauce
2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 inch piece of ginger, sliced
2 stalks of scallions, chopped into 2-inch sections (about 1/2 cup total)
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons honey

Equipment

large half sheet baking pan, 13” x 18”, can use a larger pan
aluminum foil
2 stainless steel steaming racks, ideally about 2” tall
stainless steel cooling rack, about 12” x 17”, make sure it fits into the sheet pan
brush

Instructions

Prepare the Pork

If there is a thick layer fat on the outside side of the piece of pork shoulder, trim that off. Next, if your piece of pork shoulder comes on the bone, slice the meat from the bone. You’ll likely end up with several pieces of pork that are not uniform in shape. If you have one large piece of meat that is wider than 4 inches, slice that in half. Also, the pork shouldn’t be much thicker than 1 1/2 inches.
Place all the pieces of pork into a bowl.

Marinate the Pork

In a bowl, mix the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, hoisin sauce, rice cooking wine, paprika, and salt. Pour the marinade over the pork.
Transfer the ginger, scallions, and garlic into the bowl with the meat. Use your hands to mix everything together.
Cover the bowl and let the pork marinate for 6 to 8 hours or overnight. If you are marinating the pork during the day, mix the pork every few hours to ensure the pork is evenly coated with the marinade. If you marinate the pork overnight, mix the meat in the morning and once more right before you roast the meat.

Roast the Pork

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Position an oven rack into the center position.
Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the 2 steaming racks onto the lined baking sheet. Then, place the cooling rack on top.
Carefully lay the marinated pieces of pork on the cooling rack. Make sure that there aren’t any pieces of scallions or garlic stuck onto the pork. Also, make sure there’s at least an inch of space between each piece of meat.
Carefully transfer the sheet pan into the oven and roast the meat for 20 minutes.
While the pork is roasting, pour the leftover marinade (including the scallions, ginger, and garlic) into a saucepan. Cover the saucepan and bring the marinade to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the marinade for another 2 minutes. Pour the leftover liquid marinade into a bowl. There should be about 3 tablespoons of the marinade.
Measure 1 tablespoon of the marinade and pour it into a separate bowl. Mix it with 2 tablespoons of honey.
Using oven mitts, remove the sheet pan from the oven. Brush the tops of the meat with the marinade (not the honey marinade mixture). Return the meat to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
Take the sheet pan out of the oven and flip all the pieces of pork over. This time, brush the honey marinade mixture over the meat. Return the meat to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
Take the cha siu out of the oven and check the temperature of the pork. You want the pork to be somewhere between 155ºF to 160ºF. If your pieces of pork are thicker, you’ll probably need to roast the meat for another 5 to 8 minutes.
Once the cha siu reaches the appropriate internal temperature, turn off the oven and remove the pan. Flip over the pieces of cha siu and let the meat rest for a few minutes outside the oven. Brush any remaining honey marinade mixture over the meat.
Slice up the cha siu and serve it with jasmine rice. The cha siu also goes well with my Chinese garlic cucumber salad and Chinese garlic green beans.

Notes

You can usually find boneless pork shoulder at the butcher counter of Chinese or Asian supermarkets. If you go to a regular grocery store, they likely sell boneless pork shoulder in large pieces that are between 3 to 4 pounds. Use half of it for this recipe and save the rest for something else, like slow cooker pork. If you can only find bone-in pork shoulder or pork butt, you'll need 2 to 2 1/2 pounds.

Nutrition

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