Char Siu Pork

Char siu (literally 'fork roast') is pork — traditionally pork collar or belly — marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, fermented red tofu, honey, five-spice and Shaoxing wine, then hung on forks inside a high-heat oven and basted repeatedly until the outside chars and lacquers. The ideal piece has a caramelised bark, a moist interior and visible layers of fat threaded through the lean. In Cantonese roast-meat shops (siu-mei stalls) it hangs in the window alongside roast duck and soy chicken. Eaten plain over rice, stuffed in bao, or as a noodle topping, it is one of the most versatile preparations in Cantonese cuisine. Quality varies significantly — the best shops char the edges black, which delivers the most flavour.