Chinese pork char siu is a popular flame-grilled pork dish ‘char siu’ meaning ‘fork roasted or burnt’.
In this recipe for Chinese Pork Mince Char Siu, a twist on the type of meat classically used turns a skilled restaurant dish into an achievable meal cooked at home with a similar taste. In the traditional recipe, pork is held on a large fork and caramelised over bbq fire with a marinade of hoisin sauce, soy, honey, rice wine and five-spice.
You may have seen various pieces of char sui meat hanging in the windows of Chinese restaurants, normally with a stronger red hue (although many chefs add red food colouring to achieve the deep sticky looking colour).
Minced pork is a great substitute
Pork mince is substituted for loin or belly, purely for speed. Once you have your ingredients prepped, it takes only minutes to fry the mince and another few minutes to blend with the sauce. Feel free to add whatever extra vegetables you like to the dish – broccoli, beans or courgette would all go nicely.
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Chinese Pork Mince Char Siu
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups long-grain rice
- 1 – 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cm knob of ginger minced
- 500 gm pork mince
- 1 medium carrot halved and sliced into thin strips lengthways
- 1 red pepper halved and sliced into thin strips lengthways
- 2 spring onions halved and sliced into thin strips lengthways
- 1 birds eye red chilli
- 40 ml hoisin sauce
- 30 ml honey
- 40 ml soy sauce
- 30 ml Chinese Shaoxing wine or sherry
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 3/4 tsp Chinese 5 Spice Powder
- 1/2 cup roasted peanuts or cashew nuts chopped
Instructions
- Cook rice according to packet instructions.
- Mix together hoisin sauce, honey, soy, shaoxing wine and five-spice powder. Mix cornstarch into a tablespoon of water and add it to the soy sauce mixture. This is your char siu sauce.
- Heat oil in a frying pan, at garlic and cook gently for 30 seconds. Next, add pork mince and cook on high heat until nice and browned. Remove from pan at set aside.
- Add a little more oil if needed, throw in carrots and peppers and cook on high heat for 1–2 minutes, adding a small splash of water halfway through to create steam. Be careful not to over-cook, vegetables in a stirfry should always have ‘bite’ rather than be soft and cooked all the way through.
- Add pork mince back to the pan, combine with vegetables and stir through char siu sauce.
- Cook for 30 seconds, combining well. Remove from heat.
- Serve char siu pork on top of rice. Garnish with spring onions and chopped peanuts or cashew nuts.
