Char Siu (Cantonese BBQ Pork)

Slice the pork shoulder into strips approximately 4 cm wide, 4 cm thick, and 15–20 cm long, following the grain of the meat. Mix all marinade ingredients — honey, hoisin, soy sauce, mashed red bean curd, Shaoxing wine, brown sugar, five spice, and garlic — in a bowl and whisk until smooth. The fermented red bean curd (nan ru) should fully dissolve into the mixture, turning it a distinctive reddish-brown that will deepen to the characteristic char siu red during roasting. Add the pork strips to the marinade and turn to coat every surface thoroughly. Press the marinade into any crevices with your fingers. Transfer to a zip-lock bag or covered container and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours — overnight is strongly preferred and will produce a markedly more complex result. The longer marinade time allows the salt to penetrate deep into the meat and the sugars to begin their chemical interaction with the proteins, which accelerates Maillard browning during roasting.

Preheat your oven to 220°C (425°F). Place a wire rack over a foil-lined baking tray — the rack elevates the pork so heat circulates underneath, and the foil catches the inevitable sugary drips that would otherwise carbonize directly on your tray. Remove the pork from the marinade, reserving all of the marinade, and lay the strips on the rack with at least 2 cm of space between each. They should not touch. Roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil for 2 minutes — this makes it safe to use as a glaze on cooked meat. After the first 15 minutes, flip each strip using tongs and brush the top generously with the cooked marinade. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes. The alternation of high heat and glaze application is what builds the layered, crackling lacquer that defines char siu.

Brush the reserved honey (the second portion set aside for glazing, not the used marinade) generously over every surface of the still-hot pork strips. Return to the oven under the broiler — with the oven rack in the upper third — for 3–4 minutes, watching constantly. The honey will bubble and caramelize at the surface in real time, producing the final high-shine lacquer glaze that char siu is famous for. Pull the strips out when the glaze is bubbling vigorously and the surface looks wet and glossy but the edges nearest the heat are just beginning to turn very dark. The glaze will set and harden slightly as it cools. Do not skip this step — the pre-glaze roasting develops the crust; this final honey application provides the shine and the final layer of sweetness.

Transfer the rested strips to a cutting board. Slice each strip across the grain into pieces 8–10 mm thick — cutting with the grain produces tough, stringy pieces; cutting across it produces the clean, yielding bite that is the whole point. Each slice should reveal a cross-section of pale-pink, juicy interior ringed by a band of deep mahogany glaze. Fan the slices slightly overlapping on a plate. Drizzle any drippings from the pan over the top. Serve with steamed white rice, or use as a filling for steamed bao buns, over lo mein noodles, or alongside congee.