Chinese BBQ Pork (Best and Authentic Recipe!) - Rasa Malaysia (2024)

FAQs

What makes Chinese BBQ pork pink? ›

Red food colouring – to make the pork red, like you get at the Chinese barbecue shop. This is optional. Authentic Char Siu uses red bean curd for colouring and a touch of flavour – it can be found at Asian stores, use about 2 tbsp of the liquid and no red food colouring.

The red hue on the pork comes from the sticky, crave-able barbecue sauce in which it's marinaded before roasting. Often, this deep crimson hue comes from a combination of Hoisin sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, and fermented red bean curd (aka fermented tofu, bean cheese, or tofu cheese).

Char siu (Chinese: 叉燒; Cantonese Yale: chāsīu) is a Cantonese-style of barbecued pork.

Cha siu bao (simplified Chinese: 叉烧包; traditional Chinese: 叉燒包; pinyin: chāshāo bāo; Jyutping: caa1 siu1 baau1; Cantonese Yale: chā sīu bāau; lit. 'barbecued pork bun') is a Cantonese baozi (bun) filled with barbecue-flavored cha siu pork.

Soy sauce (usually a mix of light and dark soy sauce), fermented bean paste, red fermented tofu or rock sugar is commonly used to both flavor and impart a reddish brown hue to the items being cooked. Food coloring is sometimes added for a more intense red coloration.

In Chinese cooking, proteins like beef, pork or chicken are velveted first before stir-frying them. There are several ways to velvet, but at its most basic level, it involves marinating meat with at least one ingredient that will make it alkaline. This is what tenderizes the meat, especially cheaper, tougher cuts.

From Cantonese 叉燒／叉烧 (caa¹ siu¹, “fork roast”).

But actually that red juice in your meat is not blood. Blood is removed during the slaughter process and afterwards very little blood remains in the muscle tissue. That red liquid is water mixed a protein called myoglobin. See as meat ages, the muscle tissue breaks down – and it doesn't take long.

The Mandarin for pork it is zhu1 rou4 (猪肉） - literally pig meat.

Yuxiang shredded pork (simplified Chinese: 鱼香肉丝; traditional Chinese: 魚香肉絲; pinyin: yúxiāng ròusī; sometimes translated as fish-flavored pork slices, or more vaguely as shredded pork with garlic sauce) is a common dish in Sichuan cuisine. Yuxiang is one of the main traditional flavors in Sichuan.

What pork do they use in Chinese? ›

While different cuts of pork can be used to make char siu, from lean boneless pork loin to fattier cuts, those fatty cuts like pork shoulder/pork butt really are best suited to making a tasty Chinese BBQ pork char siu.

Siopao is derived from the baozi, introduced by Hokkien Chinese immigrants to the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. The name is derived from Philippine Hokkien sio-pau (simplified Chinese: 烧包; traditional Chinese: 燒包; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sio-pau; lit. 'hot bun').

Bao Buns (pronounced “bow”), but also known as a 'steamed buns' or 'baozi' 包子, are a delicious, warm, fluffy treat of stuffing wrapped inside a sweet, white dough.

Char siu bao is a Cantonese barbecue pork-filled bun. They are typically sold in Chinese bakeries. Likewise, they are similar to a type of dim sum. Char siu refers to the pork in the filling. Bao means bun.

After cutting, the oxygen in the air attaches to the myoglobin and the pork turns to the bright pink color that we associate with fresh pork. It would be great if the color would just stay the pretty pink color, but the enzymes in the muscle use the oxygen and take it away from the myoglobin.

That color doesn't indicate anything nefarious—at 145°F, your pork is at a “medium rare” temperature. You would expect to see some pink in a medium-rare steak, so don't be surprised to find it in your pork chops! If the pink color freaks you out, you can continue cooking it until it reaches 155°F.

Is it ok if my pork is slightly pink? The short answer to this common question is yes! Due to the ingredients and natural preservatives found in many pork products, it's entirely possible that your meat may still be slightly pink even when it's fully cooked. In fact, pork can even be enjoyed medium-rare.

Occurrence. The pinkish color in meat is typically due to the presence of a compound called myoglobin. Myoglobin typically darkens and turns brown when heated above a certain temperature.