Char siu (Chinese bbq pork)

I wondered about the authenticity of this recipe and how tomato sauce fits into the equation, but tomato sauce is indeed used as an alternative to red food colour in many Cantonese cookery books from the 1960s. At a pop-up Sunday yum cha I did, this item was the most popular. At yum cha, dumplings dominate the menu, or rather trollies, but don’t overlook the plates of Chinese meats (duck, pork and chicken). Such delicious foods scream for a palate-cleansing, cold Asian pale or light lager.

Credit: Murdoch Books

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  2:40 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) pork scotch fillet
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
• 1 tsp sugar
• small coriander sprigs, to garnish
• steamed rice and Asian greens, to serve

Barbecue sauce

• 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) tomato sauce
• 60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) plum sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 220 g (8 oz/1 cup) sugar
• 1 tsp Chinese five spice
• ¼ tsp ground white pepper

Resting time 30 minutes

Marinating time 3 hrs

Instructions

Cut the pork lengthways into long, sausage-like fillets about 5 cm thick, then place in a bowl. Stir together all the barbecue sauce ingredients to dissolve the sugar, then pour over the pork. Rub the sauce into the pork, coating the meat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 3-6 hours, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 220˚C (425˚F). Line a baking tray with baking paper. Lay the pork on the baking tray, reserving the barbecue sauce for basting.

Roast the pork for 20 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to char. Turn and cook for another 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 160˚C (315˚F) and roast for a further 2 hours, brushing with the reserved sauce and turning every 20 minutes, until the pork is very tender and deep red. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

Combine the soy sauce, rice wine and sugar in a bowl. Pour in 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) water, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Slice the pork on a serving platter. Drizzle with some of the soy sauce mixture and garnish with coriander. Serve with steamed rice and Asian greens. 

Recipe and image from Food + Beer by Ross Dobson (Murdoch Books, $45, hbk)

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.