Char siu, also known as Chinese barbecued pork, is used in a variety of applications; you’ll find this delicious meat, with its often bright red exterior, on top of ramen, diced in fried rice, as a filling in char siu bao (steamed pork buns), and even served plain, arranged beautifully on a plate. The characteristic red crust is best achieved with the addition of food coloring, but I opted to go without it and still had a gorgeous deep red hue on the outside. I chose to make this using pork shoulder, but for something more decadent, you can use pork belly.



Char Siu (adapted from Use Real Butter)

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp maltose *

* 3 Tbsp honey

3 Tbsp hoisin sauce

3 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp shaoxing cooking wine

1 tsp Chinese five-spice

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 (2-lb) pork shoulder, cut into 8 pieces

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp peanut or canola oil

*Maltose is similar to honey but less sweet and can be found at many Asian markets. If you can’t find maltose, you can substitute honey.

Method:

