# Char Siu Sauce



## chilerelleno (Jun 10, 2022)

A long time back I started on a effort to make some Char Siu sauce that was as good as a decent Chinese restaurant.
Not like any of the lackluster dried sauce mixes or jarred sauces available to us in standard or Asian grocers.
There are some really good recipes from the members here, and this one is my adaptation of them.

*CHAR SIU SAUCE*

   1/2C  Mirin
   1/2C  Hoisin sauce
   1/2C  Yoshida's
   1/2C  Brown sugar
   1/4C  Soy sauce
   5 T     Maltose, coat spoon with some sort of oil or grease to keep it from sticking.
   1 T     Honey
   1 T     Grated fresh ginger or 1t powdered ginger
   1 t      Minced garlic
   1t       Red food coloring (optional)
   1/2t   Five Spice powder
   1/2t   Sesame oil

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan till the maltose and honey are dissolved.
Let it cool before using.
I recommend a 48 hour marinade.
Makes about 2-1/2 cups.

Use on pork, chicken and other meats.

I like to grill first for some char, and then return to pan with some thickened marinade and get a glaze on the meat.
*Glazing*






*Finished*


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## daspyknows (Jun 10, 2022)

need to try this, thx


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## bauchjw (Jun 10, 2022)

Awesome, thank you!


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## negolien (Jun 10, 2022)

I actually had a recipe for that lol not sure where I put it. I was lookin it this sauce for makin meat for fried rice a couple months ago. here we go.. thanks for sharing yours I will check it out :<). making me hangry for some more fried rice lol



3 pounds boneless pork shoulder/pork butt(select a piece with some good fat on it)
▢¼ cup granulated white sugar
▢2 teaspoons salt
▢½ teaspoon five spice powder
▢¼ teaspoon white pepper
▢½ teaspoon sesame oil
▢1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
▢1 tablespoon soy sauce
▢1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
▢2 teaspoons molasses
▢1/8 teaspoon red food coloring (optional)
▢3 cloves finely minced garlic
▢2 tablespoons maltose or honey
▢1 tablespoon hot water


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## culpepersmoke (Jun 11, 2022)

Just copied the recipe. I gotta try this with some country ribs soon.  
Thanks for posting.


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## GonnaSmoke (Jun 11, 2022)

I needed that, thanks Chile...


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## xray (Jun 11, 2022)

Damn, that's nice!!!


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## kilo charlie (Jun 11, 2022)

chilerelleno
  fabulous but I am not familiar with Maltose or Yoshida's.

Would you be able to elaborate?


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## chilerelleno (Jun 11, 2022)

kilo charlie said:


> chilerelleno
> fabulous but I am not familiar with Maltose or Yoshida's.
> 
> Would you be able to elaborate?


Mr. Yoshida's Original Gourmet Sweet Teriyaki Sauce​Available at some grocers and many online retailers.... Good $h!t man!

*Sucre Maltose, *it's basically a malt sugar.
It's good for all sorts of things, as a sweetener, seasoning, baking, sauces and even pharmaceuticals.
Used in sauces to help it bind and glaze instead of running.


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## ej0rge (Jun 11, 2022)

There are a lot of kinds of char siu out there but i like it to have some funk. At least if i am going to the trouble of making it myself. 

I kinda like Daddy Lau's recipe, though i am not as big of a fan of oyster sauce as he is. I cut that in half. 

Shaoxing wine is essential. You can get shaoxing that is drinkable but most of it is strictly cooking wine. I was amused to see it on an asian market shelf in Utah at over 8% ABV and not salted down like western cooking wine - nothing over 5% is sold outside of liquor stores generally - but then i smelled it. 

I have not tasted it straight. It adds an important note to a dish, though. 

Red "yeast" fermented bean curd (tofu) is a huge umami bomb. Again not something you would eat straight, but try it with and without and you will see why people like it in things. The red from the red yeast (same as in so-called "red yeast rice") is what the red dye in lots of char siu is referencing. 

When it comes to the glaze i don't include the marinade mixture. Just some sweetness and some soy. 









						Char Siu (叉燒) - Chinese BBQ Pork
					

Learn how to make the perfect, juicy, tender char siu, a classic Cantonese favorite!




					www.madewithlau.com


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## Sven Svensson (Jun 11, 2022)

Thanks for the primer on maltose. I’ve also never heard of it.


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## kilo charlie (Jun 12, 2022)

chilerelleno said:


> Mr. Yoshida's Original Gourmet Sweet Teriyaki Sauce​Available at some grocers and many online retailers.... Good $h!t man!
> 
> *Sucre Maltose, *it's basically a malt sugar.
> It's good for all sorts of things, as a sweetener, seasoning, baking, sauces and even pharmaceuticals.
> Used in sauces to help it bind and glaze instead of running.




Gonna have to head to the Asian Market again soon! Thank you again for another round of enlightenment!


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## chilerelleno (Jun 12, 2022)

ej0rge said:


> There are a lot of kinds of char siu out there but i like it to have some funk. At least if i am going to the trouble of making it myself.
> 
> I kinda like Daddy Lau's recipe, though i am not as big of a fan of oyster sauce as he is. I cut that in half.
> 
> ...


Thanks, gonna have to try his recipe.


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## kilo charlie (Jun 17, 2022)

chilerelleno said:


> Mr. Yoshida's Original Gourmet Sweet Teriyaki Sauce​Available at some grocers and many online retailers.... Good $h!t man!
> 
> *Sucre Maltose, *it's basically a malt sugar.
> It's good for all sorts of things, as a sweetener, seasoning, baking, sauces and even pharmaceuticals.
> Used in sauces to help it bind and glaze instead of running.


So I found the maltose at the Asian Market - surprisingly common item there and pretty cheap.

The Mr. Yoshida's is the elusive part for me. Since I am not a fan of ordering things online, I looked into alternatives and found that you can substitute Sweet Baby Rays Sauce and Marinade and also found a recipe to make a copy of Mr. Yoshida's.

I'm curious if you'd be able to tell me how close Mr. Yoshida's is to the Sweet Baby Rays if you know?

The recipe to make Mr. Yoshida's seems to have been converted from something else as it's using 3/8 of a cup measurements LOL - In your opinion do you think it could be close?

Mr. Yoshida's Copy

1 cup of soy sauce
3/8 cup of sugar
3/8 cup of brown sugar
1/8 cup of sliced green onions
1 teaspoon of minced ginger
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup of honey

At the end of the day I can buy the Char Siu Sauce at the Asian Market and not have to worry about making the Mr. Yoshida's to make the Char Sui, but where's the fun in that?



 chilerelleno


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## chilerelleno (Jun 18, 2022)

kilo charlie said:


> So I found the maltose at the Asian Market - surprisingly common item there and pretty cheap.
> 
> The Mr. Yoshida's is the elusive part for me. Since I am not a fan of ordering things online, I looked into alternatives and found that you can substitute Sweet Baby Rays Sauce and Marinade and also found a recipe to make a copy of Mr. Yoshida's.
> 
> ...


Yoshida's vs SBR, wayyyyy different.
No idea without making and tasting it side by side with Yoshida's.
Agree that making sauces is much more fun and rewarding than using bottled.

I'm definitely trying this recipe next.








						Char Siu (叉燒) - Chinese BBQ Pork
					

Learn how to make the perfect, juicy, tender char siu, a classic Cantonese favorite!




					www.madewithlau.com


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## kilo charlie (Jun 18, 2022)

chilerelleno said:


> Yoshida's vs SBR, wayyyyy different.
> No idea without making and tasting it side by side with Yoshida's.
> Agree that making sauces is much more fun and rewarding that using bottled.
> 
> ...




Thank you for your input! The recipe you just listed looks interesting as well!


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## kilo charlie (Jun 20, 2022)

Garlic Miso and Char Siu Grilled Chicken Wings inspired by 

 chilerelleno
 ! 

Balanced the Chinese influence with some Japanese influence. 

Thank you for inspiring me!


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## chilerelleno (Jun 20, 2022)

Dang'it man, them wings look fine.


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## kilo charlie (Jun 21, 2022)

chilerelleno said:


> Dang'it man, them wings look fine.



Thank you!


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## itscooked (Jun 28, 2022)

Awesome, i've been looking for that for a long time! Delicious!


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## chilerelleno (Jul 1, 2022)

chilerelleno said:


> Char Siu (叉燒) - Chinese BBQ Pork
> 
> 
> Learn how to make the perfect, juicy, tender char siu, a classic Cantonese favorite!
> ...


Hey y'all, just to let you know, this right here is the real stuff!
Absolutely authentic and tasty as anything I've ever had.

My sincere thanks to 

 ej0rge
 for the link.
And _'Daddy Lau'_ is now a major mentor, and source of killer authentic Chinese recipes for me.


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## ej0rge (Jul 1, 2022)

chilerelleno said:


> Hey y'all, just to let you know, this right here is the real stuff!
> Absolutely outta authentic and tasty as anything I've ever had.
> 
> My sincere thanks to
> ...



Welcome. I have a friend who sometimes leaves youtube just playing whatever the next video is. We went from Chinese Cooking Demystified (excellent channel) talking about, I don't know what, to Made With Lau explaining how to make a correct lo mein, I think. Daddy Lau was really insistent about how you have to toss the noodles or something. It was so authentic and weird.

The beef & broccoli episode is awesome. Everyone admits they don't really love the broccoli part. Daddy Lau says he likes it better with chinese broccoli. 

I've done a sous vide adaptation of his char siu a few times and it has always been a big hit. Winco supermarket sells a "large carnita pack" of random good fatty pork chunks that is an outstanding deal though the pieces are hardly uniform in size which would complicate a smoker or pellet grill cook but was perfectly fine for super slow cooking the pork in the marinade, and then i glazed it in a hot oven.

Some day soon i need to try a smoked version in my pellet grill, probably with strips of pork shoulder. It occurred to me that if i got one of the rack setups that accommodates a set of hooks for sausages, that would be pretty similar to the traditional low-tech chinese cooking method.

But as i don't have one, I'll probably just smoke it directly on the grates and then kick up the temperature a LOT and glaze in disposable aluminum pans.


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## ej0rge (Jul 9, 2022)

gonna low and slow this 3lb of pork shoulder on my gmg pellet grill tomorrow fuled with kingsford pure maple pellets, with Daddy Lau's marinade.


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