Char siu, honey-glazed roast pork

As tradition built it

Serves 4 to 6. Marinate several hours or overnight; roast 1 hour.

Ingredients

• 1 kg pork shoulder or collar (梅頭肉), cut into 4 long strips
• about 130g each garlic, shallot and ginger paste
• 1 tbsp fine salt, about 130g sugar salt, sugar
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp ground bean sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame paste
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 egg, added later
• 1 tsp sesame oil

For the glaze

• enough to brush generously over the surface honey, warmed and thinned slightly with water

Method

1. Combine the garlic, shallot and ginger paste with salt, sugar, light soy, oyster sauce and Shaoxing wine, then fold in the ground bean sauce, sesame paste, hoisin and cornflour.
2. Marinate the pork strips in this mixture for at least 45 minutes, then work in the egg and a little sesame oil.
3. Leave to marinate several hours, ideally overnight, turning occasionally.
4. Roast at 160°C for 15 minutes, turn the strips, drop to 100°C for a further 15 minutes, then finish at a low 80°C for 30 minutes.
5. Brush generously with the warmed honey glaze, then let the surface air-dry briefly before slicing, so the lacquer sets rather than staying tacky.

What a modern chef changes

The high-low-high curve, held by a probe rather than a clock.

Rung 5

Method

1. Sear the marinated pork hard on a very hot grill or under a broiler first, replicating the initial scald-and-set stage of the siu mei tradition, then finish the interior gently at a low oven temperature or sous vide around 65°C until just cooked through.
2. Glaze and torch the surface in stages, checking colour by eye between passes, exactly as Rung 5 demands: watch the lacquer, not the clock.
3. Rest briefly before slicing, letting the glaze set fully so it doesn't tear when the knife goes through.