Go to the Recipe: Classic Char Siu
I came here to browse the recipe. I left with the wet hands method for portioning glucose and maltose. I consider today a success at 7:17 am. A new record.
Rad. Going to give this a try! What’s the flavor profile of red yeast rice? Could I use to make a mild derivative version of Nashville hot chicken? <~~ taking small steps to ease my three year old into spicy foods.
When serving cha siu, many of the Cantonese restaurants in London put a thin brown sauce on the rice. I can only describe it as tasting like soy meets molasses. What is that? And how do I make it? Thanks!
To my understanding, every shop has a different take on that brown sauce for char siu rice. For the purists, it's simply the drippings from the slow roasting process, sometimes defatted (other times not). These drippings are a combination of meat juices, rendered fat, and marinade/cure, so they're insanely flavorful. They also have a nice saucy texture, so you'll see the drippings ladled over the top of rice/char siu.
Taking this idea a step further, other shops will use these drippings and fortify them with soy sauce, sugar, and even toasted sesame oil, creating an intensely seasoned soy sauce, which is spooned over the rice. This is another common condiment you'll see at eateries.
Some shops may just prepare a seasoned/thickened soy sauce (light/dark soy, sugar, cornstarch, and/or toasted sesame oil) without any dripping. IMO, this is a less flavorful route, but you do get the benefit of a more shelf-stable, longer-lasting condiment.
Finally, other shops may take the marinade/glaze and thicken it with cornstarch as needed, to get a shiny sauce for rice.
Hope this helps!
Really helpful. Confirms why I couldn’t find a recipe for it online. Thanks Tim
I've done cha siu pork many times before, but this recipe is the best one I've ever made. The red yeast rice instead of food coloring works out great. It’s definitely my new go to
I tried your recipe and it turned out amazing. super tasty! Quick question: is it okay to use a torch for the glaze instead of the oven?"
Glad to hear it worked out for you!
You can definitely use a torch, but I'd consider some ideas:
1. The fats on the surface of the pork do render/roast slightly during the final broil step, contributing extra flavor/aroma
2. The torch will rapidly caramelize/burn the sugars in the glaze/marinade (think 1-2 minutes of torching, not 12 minutes of broiling), but potentially too fast to do any of this fat rendering
To split the difference, I would finish the pork at your oven's hottest temperature setting (generally ~500F) until some of this fat rendering/sizzling occurs (this may take 8-10 minutes). Then I'd take the pork out and hit it with the torch to strategically caramelize and char to your liking.
This might also be a good use case for the Searzall, since the heat it throws out is more similar to a broiler/salamander in terms of spread and intensity.
Hey team - have a sacrilegious questions. A ny suggestions on how to rebalance the marinade for beef chuck? Im doing a bit of fusion for the holiday season. My initial thought was boosting sweetness, dialing back rose wine / shaoxing wine, extra ginger, and maybe a splish of rice vinegar?
