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Char Siu Pork Recipe (Chinese BBQ Pork)

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Char Siu Pork is the ultimate Cantonese BBQ dish—sweet, savory, sticky, and full of bold flavor. If you’ve ever wanted to recreate that restaurant-quality Chinese BBQ pork at home, this is your go-to recipe. With a rich marinade, a glossy honey glaze, and perfectly roasted edges, it’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser and totally worth the overnight marinate.

Char Siu Pork Recipe

Serves: 6 to 8
Prep time: 10 minutes
Marinate time: Overnight
Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes

For the pork:
3 pounds pork butt
2 pieces fermented red bean curd (or replace with red yeast rice or red food coloring)
2 tablespoons fermented red bean curd sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons rose cooking wine (mei kuei lu chiew), or other cooking wine
4 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon five-spice powder
½ teaspoon white pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced

For the glaze:
3 tablespoons honey (or replace with maltose)
3 tablespoons hot water

Char Siu Pork Instructions

1. Marinate the pork

  • Use a fork to lightly stab both sides of the pork to help tenderize and absorb the marinade.
  • In a bowl, mix the fermented red bean curd, its sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rose cooking wine, sugar, five-spice powder, white pepper, and garlic. Whisk well.
  • Reserve 3 tablespoons of the marinade, cover, and refrigerate.
  • Transfer the pork into a large Ziploc bag and pour in the marinade. Remove most of the air, seal the bag, and rub to coat the meat evenly. Refrigerate overnight, flipping halfway through.

2. Roast the pork

  • Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Place a roasting rack over a foil-lined pan.
  • Remove pork from marinade and place on the rack. Roast on the center rack for 30 minutes.

3. Baste and roast again

  • Remove pork from oven. Brush both sides with the reserved marinade.
  • Return to oven and roast for another 30 minutes.

4. Glaze and finish roasting

  • Mix honey with hot water until combined.
  • Brush pork with the honey glaze on both sides. Roast for a final 15 minutes.

5. Rest and serve

  • Let the pork rest for at least 10 minutes. Slice into bite-sized pieces and serve warm.
  • Ensure internal temperature is at least 165°F (74°C).

Tips & notes

  • Pork cut: Pork butt is ideal for its marbling and tenderness when roasted.
  • Marinade tip: Stabbing the meat helps absorb flavors more deeply. Don’t skip this step.
  • Color options: Red bean curd gives authentic color and flavor, but red yeast rice or red food coloring can be used for visual effect.
  • Reserve some marinade: Always set aside a portion of marinade before marinating the raw meat to use for basting safely.
  • Glaze tip: Maltose will give a glossier finish, but honey is more accessible and just as tasty.
  • Oven variation: Oven strengths vary—adjust roasting time or temperature slightly depending on meat thickness and your oven.
  • Serving ideas: Serve with steamed rice, noodles, or tuck slices into steamed buns for a BBQ pork bun twist.

20 thoughts on “Char Siu Pork Recipe (Chinese BBQ Pork)”

  3. Gomathi

    Thank you for sharing the recipe. Which part of the chicken meat will be suitable for this recipe? Any other changes to the recipe if I am using chicken? Thank you.

    Reply
  7. Barb

    Good morning. I’m unable to find many oriental ingredients. What can I use to substitute red bean curd or red yeast. Also do you have egg foo young recipe and egg foo young sauce? I’m hoping to make this soon. I love oriental foods. Thank you.

    Reply
      1. Chris

        Hi CiCi,

        I noticed you have 2 Char Siu recipes. One that uses Chou Hou paste and one with Hoisen sauce. What is the difference? Is one updated recipe?

        Reply
        1. CiCi Li

          Hi Chris, thanks for the question! Both Chu Hou Paste and Hoisin Sauce works well with Char Siu.

          Chu Hou paste is a fermented soybean paste commonly used in Cantonese cuisine, and it has a deep, savory, and slightly sweet flavor profile. It’s more traditional for Char Siu, giving it that rich, earthy taste.

          Hoisin sauce, on the other hand, is sweeter and often used in more modern Char Siu recipes, giving it that sticky, glossy finish that many people are familiar with.

          Again, neither recipe is necessarily an update — it’s just a different take on the same dish depending on the flavor you’re aiming for. If you prefer a more authentic, savory profile, go with the Chu Hou paste version. For a sweeter, more familiar taste, the Hoisin version is great.

          Happy cooking and enjoy! 😀

          Reply
    1. CiCi Li

      Hi Maria,

      Five spice powder is usually a blend of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, and fennel seeds. They are sold in most Asian supermarkets. Happy cooking!

      CiCi

      Reply
  9. EK

    My family enjoyed this recipe! Nice flavor. Compared to other recipes I’ve tried, this recipe is easy and yields good results.

    Reply

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