A while ago, I made chinese bbq pork buns and needed some char siew. Where I live, I have to drive 30 minutes to get reasonably good char siew from Chinatown. After weighing the pros and cons, making it at home seemed like a more attractive option, at least for that day.
When comparing recipes online, I came across one by a food blogger "The Food Canon" which recommended using the wok instead of oven to "roast" the char siew. This method passed down by the blogger's mom (Auntie Ruby) seemed relatively straight-forward and effective, and I thought very smart. Almost like creating an oven function within a wok. His pictures proved that the end result is as good as any professionally-made char siew.
However most recipes online prescribe using the oven. So I sat there thinking - should I use the wok or oven? Mmm.....which one will make a better "charred" char siew? In the end I decided to go with the "unconventional" wok way, and I was a happy camper when it was done. It turned out exactly as the blog said it would.
After the pleasing wok attempt, I made it again using the oven, so I could compare the process and end results. Verdict: personally I have a slight preference for the wok, though the oven works just as well. I love the charred (slightly burnt) parts and using the wok makes easier charring. Braising the meat in sauce (over heat) also improves the flavor without a long marination. However using the oven requires no wok skill and less judgment. If you are using a very lean cut of meat like tenderloin, roasting in oven tends to keep it more moist.
I also tried making this with different cuts of meats and cooking methods, and my personal favorite combination is using pork butt (it's leaner than pork belly and fatter than pork tenderloin) and cooking with the wok. Feel free to experiment with your preferred cut of meat, as well as the tool you are more comfortable with, or is available to you. I have provided both preparation methods so pick the one you like, or try both before deciding.
CHAR SIEW RECIPE
Adapted from The Food Canon and Easy Chinese Recipes by Bee Yinn Low.
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1½ lb pork tenderloin, butt or belly (depends on your preference for lean meat vs fats)
1 tbsp oil
1½ cups water (only required for wok method)
Marinating sauce ingredients
1½ tbsp maltose (or replace with honey)
1½ tbsp honey
1½ tbsp hoisin sauce (or replace with 1.5 tbsp oyster sauce + 1 tbsp sugar)
1½ tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp rose or chinese cooking wine
½ tsp sesame oil
½ tsp five spice powder
½ tsp white pepper powder
(A) For wok method:
Mix the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat. Remove from heat once sauce starts to bubble and allow it to cool. Marinate the pork with sauce for 2-3 hours.
* If you do not have time to marinate the pork, you can just cook it immediately with the marinating sauce.
Add oil to a heated wok over medium heat. Add the pork and pan-fry it for 5 minutes, turning it over midway. Add the marinating sauce and 1½ cups water into the wok, bring to a boil before reducing to low heat. Simmer for 40 minutes or till pork is tender. Turn up the heat (medium-high to high) towards the end to thicken the sauce, till gravy-like.
Remove most of the sauce, leaving just enough to coat the meat. The high heat combined with sugar will cause the meat to caramelize or char quite quickly. At this point it will finally start to look like char siew sold in the shops. Once the pork is nicely caramelized or charred, remove from wok and allow the pork to cool before slicing. Drizzle sauce over pork before serving.
(B) For oven method:
Mix the marinating sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat. Remove from heat once sauce starts to bubble and allow it to cool. Marinate the pork with 2/3 of the sauce overnight.
For the remaining 1/3 of the sauce, add 1 tbsp oil, stir well and refrigerate. This sauce will be used for basting the pork the next day as well as serving with it.
When ready to roast the pork next day, preheat the oven to 375 deg F (190 C). Set aside half of the reserved sauce for serving with pork later.
Place pork in a roasting pan with rack (to allow heat circulation around the pork), brush with barbecue sauce and roast pork for 20 minutes. Then turn over the pork, brush with sauce and roast for another 20 minutes.
Now it's time to use the broiling function to get the charred effect. (Broiler function within the oven is like grilling over very high heat.) The oven rack should be moved to the highest possible position in the oven. Brush the pork on one side with more sauce before broiling on high heat until pork is slightly charred, about 2-3 minutes. Turn over, brush sauce on the other side and broil again for 2-3 minutes till slightly charred.
Remove pork from oven, allow it to cool before slicing. Drizzle sauce set aside earlier over pork before serving.
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