Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork shoulder
- 4 tablespoons rice wine
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoon 5-spice powder
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- few drops red food coloring (optional)
- 3 tablespoons honey
Preparation
Step 1
Cut the pork butt into strips, roughly 2 inches in diameter. Trim off some of the fat, but don't go all health-crazy--it needs a little fat to keep it moist! Mix together the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, hoisin sauce, 5-spice, and garlic for the marinade; add some food coloring here, if you want that extreme red glow. Vigorously rub this into the meat, and marinate it in the refrigerator overnight (or at least a few hours).
Preheat the oven at 400 degrees. Arrange the meat in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet (this will make your dishwasher infinitely happier!), discarding the marinade. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of about 130 degrees. Flip the meat over and switch the oven to broil. If the meat starts to burn too much, move to a lower rack in the oven. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the meat is slightly burnt, and the thermometer reads 145 degrees.
Immediately, while still hot, toss the cha siu with the honey, and allow the meat to rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the cha siu, and gobble it up with a steaming bowl of rice!