Char Siu

Ingredients

• 900g boneless pork shoulder or pork collar
• 2 cubes red fermented bean curd (nam yu)
• 1 tbsp brine from the bean curd jar
• 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp five-spice powder
• 3 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 3 tbsp maltose (or honey)
• 1 tbsp just-boiled water

Before you cook

• Cut the pork lengthways into long strips roughly 5cm wide and 4cm thick, so each piece has fat running through it.
• Mash the red fermented bean curd cubes to a smooth paste in a large bowl with the back of a spoon.
• Whisk the bean curd brine, hoisin, light soy, oyster sauce, sugar, Shaoxing wine, five-spice, garlic, sesame oil and white pepper into the paste until no lumps remain.
• Spoon out 4 tablespoons of the marinade into a small bowl, cover it and keep it in the fridge for the glaze.
• Turn the pork strips through the remaining marinade until every surface is coated, then cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and ideally overnight, turning the strips once.

Steps

1. Take the pork out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for 45 minutes to lose its chill.
2. Heat the oven to 200C fan with a shelf in the upper third.
3. Pour 500ml of water into a deep roasting tray and set a wire rack over the top.
4. Lift the pork strips out of the marinade, letting the excess drip back into the bowl, and lay them on the rack with a gap between each one.
5. Roast for 25 minutes.
6. Stir the maltose and the just-boiled water into the reserved marinade until it pours smoothly.
7. Pull the tray out, turn each strip over and brush the exposed side generously with the glaze.
8. Return the pork to the oven for 15 minutes.
9. Turn the strips once more, brush the second side with glaze, and roast for a final 10 minutes until the edges are darkened and bubbling.
10. Switch the oven to its highest grill setting and give the pork 3 minutes to catch and blacken at the tips, watching it the whole time.
11. Move the pork to a board and leave it to rest for 10 minutes.
12. Slice across the grain into 1cm pieces and spoon over any glaze left in the pan.