Chinese Barbeque Pork (Char Siu)

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 120 min
Servings: 6
Yield: 6 servings

Description

Chef John's Chinese barbeque pork is easy to make at home with boneless marinated pork cooked on the BBQ coated with a rich and glossy glaze.

Ingredients

2/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup Chinese rice wine (or sake or dry sherry)
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon pink curing salt
1 (3 pound) boneless pork butt (shoulder)
1 teaspoon red food coloring, or as desired
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Directions

1 Place soy sauce, honey, rice wine, hoisin sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, five-spice powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and curing salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil on high heat; reduce heat to medium-high. Cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
2 Cut pork in half lengthwise. Cut each half again lengthwise forming 4 long, thick pieces of pork.
3 Transfer cooled sauce to a large mixing bowl. Stir in red food coloring. Place pork sections into sauce and coat each piece. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 to 12 hours.
4 Preheat grill for medium heat, 275 to 300 degrees F (135 to 150 degrees C) and lightly oil the grate. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5 Remove sections of pork from marinade and let excess drip off. Place on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt to taste.
6 Transfer pork sections to grate over indirect heat on the prepared grill. Cover and cook for about 45 minutes. Brush with marinade; turn. Continue cooking until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C), about 1 hour and 15 minutes more. Do not use any more marinade on cooked meat until after you boil it.
7 Place leftover marinade in a saucepan; bring to a boil; let simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Now you can use it to brush over the cooked pork.