The siu mei table behind that red gloss
Pork just out of the oven glows red-brown, its surface having taken the heat first. Cut into it and the glaze clings to the blade in a thin film; the fat at the edges is soft, while the center still has the grain of the meat. Char siu is not like the Japanese chāshū that goes on ramen, which absorbs flavor while simmering in liquid. It's long strips of pork marinated in a sauce, then roasted while layer after layer of glaze is built up.
In Cantonese it's called char siu (叉燒); in Mandarin it sounds closer to chāshāo. The name describes the cooking method, "roasted on a fork," and it's one of the signature dishes of Cantonese siu mei, or roast meats. At siu mei shops in Hong Kong and Guangdong, char siu is sliced thin and laid over white rice with greens or a braised egg. It isn't only eaten fresh from the oven on its own; it also goes into char siu bao, fried rice and chow mein, so roasting a batch opens up a lot of possibilities for later meals.
If "chāshū" makes you think of pork belly or shoulder simmered in a soy-based braise, set that association aside and the logic of char siu becomes clear. It isn't about soaking up sauce; it's about drying the surface of the meat, caramelizing the sugar and turning fat and spices into a thin, fragrant layer. The keys to making it at home are not cutting the meat too thick, and not rushing to slice it once it's done.
In Chinese it's written 叉烧 in simplified characters and 叉燒 in traditional. The Cantonese pronunciation is sometimes written caa1 siu1 in Jyutping. In this article we simply call it char siu.
The Cantonese siu mei tradition and the char siu table
Char siu is indispensable to any explanation of Cantonese siu mei. Siu mei is the family of meats and poultry roasted until fragrant and hung on display at the shop front: char siu, siu yuk (crispy roast pork), siu ngo (roast goose) and more. The specialist method of roasting in a round oven with heat coming from every direction isn't the same as setting meat on a rack in a home oven. Still, the principle is the same: don't keep the meat submerged in sauce; build up color while drying the surface.
On Hong Kong tables, char siu isn't reserved for banquets. People slice meat bought from a siu mei shop over white rice with some greens for lunch, or use the leftover ends in fried rice or noodles. In the char siu bao at dim sum restaurants, a sweet, saucy meat filling is wrapped in steamed dough. Rather than finishing a dish in one meal, roast meat gets passed along into other dishes, and that's exactly why it's worth making at home.
Some shops add hoisin sauce or fermented red bean curd (nam yu); some households stick mainly to soy sauce, sugar, wine and spices. Sources introducing Hong Kong siu mei describe regional styles using fatty pork and a finish of sweet glaze brushed over the surface. So rather than assuming char siu has one true sauce, it's closer to real cooking to look at how fat, sugar, aroma and color are combined.
How the cut and the glaze vary by region
The cut often used in Hong Kong, from the pork shoulder near the neck, is described as finely marbled with fat and lean and less likely to toughen when roasted. Older styles also used fattier cuts from the belly side, and there are examples of a shift toward the shoulder driven by health concerns and what shops can source. In Chinese restaurants in Singapore and Malaysia, fatty pork belly, leaner cuts and pork shoulder are each used depending on the restaurant. Change the amount of fat and the same sauce gives a different sweetness and tenderness.
At home, a piece of pork shoulder (Boston butt or pork collar) is the easiest place to start. Pork belly gives gloss and rich, satisfying fat, but fat drips through the rack, so you'll need water in the drip pan and a close eye to keep the sugar on the surface from burning. Pork leg is beautifully lean but dries out if overcooked. If you cut shoulder into strips about 5–6 cm (2–2½ in) wide and 3 cm (1¼ in) thick, you can minimize the difference between the surface and the center in a home oven, even though it's not the hanging roast of a specialist shop.
The sweetness in the sauce comes from sugar, honey, maltose and the like. Maltose is stickier than honey and easily gives a thick sheen, but it's hard to get out of the jar. Honey is easy to find and builds gloss when brushed on at the end, but it's high in sugar, so keep its time at high heat short. Dark soy sauce (lou chau) is darker than regular soy sauce and is a seasoning that deepens the red-brown color in small amounts. It's not something to add more of to increase saltiness.
| Comparison | Range seen in Guangdong and Hong Kong | What to do in a home kitchen |
|---|---|---|
| Meat | Shoulder near the neck, belly, lean cuts: varies by shop | Start with pork shoulder. Switch to belly only if you want more fat |
| Sweetness | Sugar, honey, maltose, etc. | Make it with honey; substitute maltose only if you have it |
| Color | Ranges from red-brown to deep brown depending on sauce and roasting | Add color with 10 ml dark soy sauce; no red food coloring |
| How it's eaten | White rice, dim sum, fried rice, chow mein | Fresh with rice; the next day in fried rice or noodles |
| Roasting | Siu mei shop ovens, hanging roast, each shop's equipment | Use a rack and drip pan; save the glazing for the end |
Ingredients (serves 4)
Choose a piece of pork shoulder about 3 cm (1¼ in) thick. Roasted as one large piece, the center struggles to heat through before the sugar on the surface burns, so once you've bought it, cut it into strips 12–15 cm (5–6 in) long. Don't trim off all the fat; leave about 5 mm (¼ in) on the surface.
Before you marinate, set aside 60 ml (¼ cup) of the sauce in a separate container, before it touches the meat. You'll reduce it into the glaze you brush on while the meat roasts. Don't use liquid that raw meat has been marinating in as a finishing glaze. If you have marinade left over, bring anything that has touched the meat to a boil before using it in another dish.
This recipe uses pork, honey, soy, wheat and sesame. If you add soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, hoisin sauce or similar, check the ingredient labels. Never give dishes made with honey to infants under 1 year old. Wash knives, cutting boards and containers that touched raw meat separately from the utensils you use for serving.
Ingredients worth thinking about before you shop
Dark soy sauce isn't a substitute for simply adding more regular soy sauce. Just 10 ml deepens the surface color and makes the honey gloss look red-brown. If you're only trying char siu once, regular soy sauce alone is fine. If you plan to make it several times and want to add color to fried rice and braises too, look for a bottle labeled "dark soy sauce" or 老抽 and check the ingredients at an Asian grocery or online.
Star anise is a supporting player: you only use one pod, to back up the aroma of the meat. A bag of it will also go into Chinese-style braises, the sauce for Hainanese chicken rice, or dishes where you want a little of the aroma of five-spice powder. If you don't like its sweet scent, you can skip it and the pork will still roast fine. If you do buy it, choose whole pods rather than broken pieces, which makes it easier to adjust the amount.
An oven rack keeps the underside of the meat out of a pool of sauce and lets fat and sugar drip into the pan below. If you don't have a rack, put the meat on a foil-lined sheet pan and turn it once partway through. The underside won't color as well, but there's no need to buy a rack just for char siu.
Method: divide the sauce in two before roasting
If you're hunting for the sauce after you've started roasting, you'll miss the moment the sugar starts to burn. Lay out the meat, a brush, a thermometer, the sauce and tongs for turning before you start, and move the meat onto the rack only once the oven has finished preheating.
What to do when the color races ahead
With char siu, the meat cooking through and the surface caramelizing happen at the same time. When something goes wrong, decide whether the meat needs more cooking or only the surface needs protecting.
| Problem | What's happening | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Surface is turning black | Honey brushed on too thick, or top heat too strong | Tent with foil, drop to 180°C (350°F) and keep cooking until the internal temperature is high enough |
| Surface is pale with little gloss | Sauce too thin, too little time at high heat at the end | Check the internal temperature, add just 2–3 minutes at 200°C (400°F), then brush thinly |
| Meat is tough | Pork leg overcooked, or cut too thick | Next time switch to shoulder and cut to an even 3 cm. Slice cooked meat thin and use it with sauce or in fried rice |
| Center is cold | Meat cut too large | Cut into pieces 2–3 cm thick, tent with foil and keep roasting at 180°C (350°F), checking the internal temperature |
| Sauce is too salty | Too much dark soy or soy sauce | Simmer 10 g honey with 10 ml water to dilute it and spoon it sparingly beside the sliced meat. Don't pour too much directly over the meat |
| Fat drips and smokes | The pan dried out and sugar burned | Turn off the oven and ventilate. Add water to the pan, return the rack and meat, and lower the temperature |
Avoid adding more dark soy sauce for a deeper color: the saltiness goes up before the color does. If the surface is pale, check the internal temperature, brush on a thin layer of glaze and return it to 200°C (400°F) for just a short time.
Storage, and what to do with leftover char siu
Once you've sliced what you'll eat, move the rest to a shallow container and cool it quickly, without trapping steam. Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety advises not leaving cooked meats like siu mei at room temperature for long, and keeping separate areas and utensils for raw and cooked meat. Keep it at room temperature for no more than 2 hours; anything that has been out for 2 to 4 hours should be eaten right away, and anything out for more than 4 hours shouldn't be kept.
Refrigerated char siu should be eaten within 3 to 4 days. Wrap slices in single-meal portions in plastic wrap, put them in a freezer bag and freeze, and they'll keep their flavor well for about 1 month. To reheat, sprinkle with a little water, cover loosely and microwave in short bursts. Heating hard for a long time renders out the fat and toughens the meat.
| What's left | Use it in | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A few slices | Siu mei rice with white rice and greens | Reheat and add a little of the leftover glaze |
| Small end pieces | Fried rice (in Japanese) | Dice into 5 mm (¼ in) cubes and add at the end, after the egg and rice are stir-fried |
| Lots of sauce | Chow mein | Add 1 tsp at a time and taste before tossing with the noodles |
| Frozen meat | Filling for steamed buns or spring rolls | Thaw in the refrigerator, pat dry and chop |
Frequently asked questions
Is it the same dish as the chāshū on Japanese ramen?
The names sound similar in Japan, but the method and texture are different. Char siu is made by marinating long strips of meat and roasting them so the sugar and fat on the surface turn fragrant. Ramen chāshū is often simmered, steamed or cooked at low temperature, making the meat tender in liquid. You can put char siu on ramen, but don't swap amounts or cooking methods as if they were the same dish.
What changes if I use maltose instead of honey?
Maltose is stickier than honey and easily gives the thick sheen you see at siu mei shops. It's very stiff, though, so warm the jar a little in lukewarm water before measuring. If you're only trying it once at home, honey is plenty. If using maltose, start with the same amount, and if the surface colors quickly, shorten the final time at 200°C (400°F).
Can I use pork belly?
Yes, but it's fatty, and fat dripping through the rack easily turns to smoke. Put water in the pan, shorten the first stage at 180°C (350°F) to 15 to 20 minutes, and check the internal temperature before finishing. Choose belly when you want a dish that's all about the fat, and shoulder when you want both meaty texture and glaze.
Can I make it if I don't like star anise?
You can leave it out. The single pod of star anise adds aroma; it doesn't determine how the meat cooks or how thick the glaze is. Start by reducing it to 1/2, and if the sweet scent still feels strong, skip it next time and roast with just white pepper and ginger.
What if I don't have an oven rack?
Put the meat on a foil-lined sheet pan and turn it once during the 180°C (350°F) stage. Because the underside stays in contact with the sauce, the surface steams more than it would on a rack and browns one side at a time. If sauce pools on the pan, move the meat onto a fresh sheet of foil before the 200°C (400°F) finish.
Sources
- MICHELIN Guide, "The Evolution of Char Siu: From Humble Beginnings to Modern-Day Delicacy" (accessed and checked August 23, 2026, JST)
- MICHELIN Guide, "Cantonese BBQ Pork (Char Siu)" (accessed and checked August 23, 2026, JST)
- Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin, "Chinese Cooking Booklet" (accessed and checked August 23, 2026, JST)
- The Woks of Life, "Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu)" (accessed and checked August 23, 2026, JST)
- The Woks of Life, "Maltose" (accessed and checked August 23, 2026, JST)
- Omnivore's Cookbook, "Char Siu" (accessed and checked August 23, 2026, JST)
- 香港食物安全中心 (Centre for Food Safety, Hong Kong), "Siu Mei and Lo Mei: Keep Food Safety in Mind" (accessed and checked August 23, 2026, JST)
- FoodSafety.gov, "Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures" (accessed and checked August 23, 2026, JST)
- 厚生労働省 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan), "牛・豚のレバーや豚肉は、中までしっかり加熱してください" (leaflet for restaurant display; accessed and checked October 22, 2026, JST)
