Charsiu Pork (Chinese-flavored Barbecued Pork)
Origin
Alternative name(s)	chasu, cha siu, chashao, and char siew, barbecued meat, xa xiu
Place of origin	China
Region or state	Chinese-speaking areas, Japan, Southeast Asia
Details
Main ingredient(s)	Pork, mixture of honey, five-spice powder, fermented tofu (red), dark soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sherry or rice wine

Char siu (also spelled chasu, cha siu, chashao, and char siew), otherwise known as barbecued meat (usually pork) in China or Chinese-flavored barbecued meat^{[citation needed]} outside China, is a popular way to flavor and prepare pork in Cantonese cuisine.^[1] It is classified as a type of siu mei, Cantonese roasted meat. It is listed at number 28 on World's 50 most delicious foods readers' poll compiled by CNN Go in 2011.^[2]

Meat Cut for Char Siu[link]

Pork cut used for Char siu can vary, but it uses a few main cuts:

• Pork loin
• Pork belly - produces juicy and fatter Char siu
• Pork butt - produces leaner Char siu

Chinese cuisine[link]

"Char siu" literally means "fork burn/roast" (Char being fork (both noun and verb) and siu being burn/roast) after the traditional cooking method for the dish: long strips of seasoned boneless pork are skewered with long forks and placed in a covered oven or over a fire.

A plate of char siu rice.

The meat, typically a shoulder cut of domestic pork (although in ancient times wild boar and other available meats were also used), is seasoned with a mixture of honey, five-spice powder, hóngfǔrǔ (red fermented bean curd), lǎochōu (dark soy sauce), hoisin sauce, red food colouring (not a traditional ingredient but very common in today's preparations) and sherry or rice wine (optional). These seasonings turn the exterior layer of the meat dark red, similar to the "smoke ring" of American barbecues. Maltose may be used to give char siu its characteristic shiny glaze.

Char siu is typically consumed with starch, whether inside a bun (cha siu baau), with noodles (cha siu mein), or with rice (cha siu fan) in fast food establishments, or served alone as a centerpiece or main dish in traditional family dining establishments. If it is purchased outside of a restaurant, it is usually taken home and used as one ingredient in various complex entrees consumed at family meals.

Hong Kong[link]

In Hong Kong, char siu is usually purchased from a siu mei establishment, which specializes in meat dishes—char siu pork, soy sauce chicken, white cut chicken, roasted goose, roasted pork, etc. These shops usually display the merchandise by hanging them in the window. As a result, char siu is often consumed alongside one of these other meat dishes when eaten as an independent lunch item on a per-person basis in a "rice box" meal. More commonly it is purchased whole or sliced and wrapped and taken home to be used in family meals either by itself or cooked into one of many vegetable or meat dishes which use char siu pork as an ingredient.

Southeast Asian cuisine[link]

Char siu is often served in a noodle soup as here in Chiang Mai, Thailand

In Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, char siew rice is found in many Chinese shāolà (烧腊) stalls along with roasted duck and roasted pork. It is served with slices of char siu, cucumbers, white rice and drenched in sweet gravy or drizzled with dark soy sauce. Char siew rice can also be found in Hainanese chicken rice stalls, where customers have a choice of having their char siew rice served with plain white rice or chicken-flavoured rice, and the same choice of garlic chilli and soy sauces. Char siew is called mu daeng (Thai: หมูแดง; "red pork") in Thailand.

In the Philippines it is know by the name Chinese Asado and usually eaten with cold cuts or served stuffed in siopao.

Vegetarian char siu also exists. It can be found in vegetarian restaurants and stalls in South East Asian Chinese communities.

Japanese cuisine[link]

Chāshū Ramen

In Japan, Chāshū, despite its literal meaning of "roasted on a fork", is prepared by rolling the meat into a log and then braising it at a low temperature. This results in a softer, moister texture that better complements typical accompaniments such as ramen than roasting would. Chāshū is typically seasoned with honey and soy sauce like its Chinese counterpart, but without the red food colouring, sugar and five-spice powder.

Pacific Rim cuisine[link]

As a means of exceptional flavor and preparation, charsiu's applications extend far beyond pork. In Hawaii, a variety of meats are cooked charsiu style. The term "charsiu" refers to meats which have been marinated in charsiu seasoning prepared either from scratch or from store-bought charsiu seasoning packages, then roasted in an oven or over a fire. Ingredients in marinades for charsiu are similar to those found in China (honey, five-spice, wine, soy, hoisin, etc.), except that red food coloring is often used in place of the red bean curd for convenience. Charsiu is used to marinate and prepare a variety of meats which can either be cooked in a conventional or convection oven (often not requiring the use of a fork or "Cha(zi)" as traditional Chinese ovens do), on a standard Barbecue, or even in an underground Hawaiian imu. In Hawaii, Charsiu chicken is as common as charsiu pork, and a variety of wild birds, mountain goat, and wild boar are also often cooked charsiu style, as are many sausages and skewers.

As charsiu grows in popularity, innovative chefs from around the world, especially chefs from around the Pacific Rim, from Australia to California, are using various meats prepared "charsiu" style in their cuisines and culinary creations.

See also[link]

• Spare ribs
• Red cooking

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Char siu

• Wiki Cookbook recipe on how to make Cha Shao

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Look up char in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Char is the solid material that remains after light gases (e.g. coal gas) and tar have been driven out or released from a carbonaceous material during the initial stage of combustion, which is known as carbonization, charring, devolatilization or pyrolysis.

Further stages of efficient combustion (with or without char deposits) are known as gasification reactions, ending quickly when the reversible gas phase water gas shift reaction is reached.

See also[link]

• Biochar
• Coke (fuel)
• Petroleum coke
• Shale oil extraction

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