Char Siu Pork made with Lau

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Retired Spook

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Jun 28, 2022
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Marinade recipe from made with Lau (adjusted for 3-lbs pork shoulder):

I skipped the garlic salt and opted for 3-cloves of pureed garlic
6 TBS dark brown sugar
3 TBS oyster sauce
3 TBS soy sauce (I use Kimlan)
1-1/2 TBS hoisin sauce
3-TBS red wine (I used a classic chianti - its what I had)
1-1/2 TBS Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine)
2-cubes fermented red bean curd
1-1/2 TSP 5-spice

Marinated 24-hours

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It is too hot here in the 9th Circle of Hell to light the oven so I cooked this in a counter-top convection oven that maxes out at 450-degrees, but I doubt it it actually reaches 400-degrees... Not hot enough for proper Char Siu but the taste is spot on the money - next time I will cook it over coals to caramelize the meat correctly.

Nevertheless they are very tasty even without the salt.

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One of my favorite Chinese delicacies!
 
Looks great Spook! After your chicken post I made a batch of Char Siu sauce and have had some bird thighs marinating in it for a couple of days now. I'll toss them on the Weber over some coals in a bit, see how it goes. RAY
 
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Looks great Spook! After your chicken post I made a batch of Char Siu sauce and have had some bird thighs marinating in it for a couple of days now. I'll toss them on the Weber over some coals in a bit, see how it goes. RAY
Can't wait to see the results!
 
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Looks good to me Spooky.
Luv us some Char Siu, and Lau and his son has it going on.

Any leftovers? Char Siu makes the best damned fried rice on the planet.:emoji_ok_hand:
Sometimes I watch Made with Lau videos just because they seem like a great family! :emoji_thumbsup:

I spent many Friday and Saturday nights in Wo Hop https://www.wohop17.com/menu on Mott Street in Chinatown NYC and man do I miss the food. I lived in Honolulu for a few years and ate fantastic Chinese food in Honolulu Chinatown. I lived in Seattle for a year and ate fantastic Chinese food in the International District, and when I lived in Scottsdale I used to drive to Monterey Park, CA for weekends, just to eat fantastic Chinese food - the best seafood hot pot and the best Dim Sum on Earth...

See an obsession here? :emoji_sunglasses:

It is nearly impossible to find very high quality Chinese food here in the 9th Circle of Hell (I do NOT DO "Chinese buffet") - but there is a place in Austin that is pretty good so I get my fix there when I need (though I detest Austin, as a philosophy). I was thinking of going tomorrow, in fact! :emoji_sunglasses:

As for fried rice - my stove does not get hot enough for correct wok-cooking though I can fake small single serving amounts of food in a carbon steel skillet once in a while. My woks are in my shed becoming collectible antiques. But I can use the leftover Char Siu in some noodle soup!
 
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Sorry, still learning the new forum keystrokes.
Lived in Seattle for over 16 years and the entire region (not only International District) had fantastic Asian food. Best Thai restaurant was a little hole in the wall in north Auburn.
 
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Well Spook you got me convinced, Char Siu is a flavor bomb, can't thank you enough for this one! I don't often grill yardbird, this one's a keeper, I'll do some pork chops next, love the flavor. About 5 minutes a side, juicy and delicious.
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I go Asian about once a week, wok beef, shrimp, Shu Mai, pork and chicken, pot stickers. I tell you right now this is definitely going on the rotation

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I'll be chatting with ya, don't sweat too much if you can help it. RAY
 
Well Spook you got me convinced, Char Siu is a flavor bomb, can't thank you enough for this one! I don't often grill yardbird, this one's a keeper, I'll do some pork chops next, love the flavor. About 5 minutes a side, juicy and delicious.
View attachment 644358

I go Asian about once a week, wok beef, shrimp, Shu Mai, pork and chicken, pot stickers. I tell you right now this is definitely going on the rotation

View attachment 644357

I'll be chatting with ya, don't sweat too much if you can help it. RAY
Looks great! Your food makes me wish I still lived in AZ and could stop over for some :emoji_sunglasses:

I agree that Char Siu taste is just amazing - especially on chicken thighs (a little known secret)!
 
Spook those look good. I tried another Char Sui marinade on some pork belly. It was good but I think I will try yours next time. Nothing like Char Sui pork or chicken. Maybe I will Vortex some chicken thighs next week.
 
bakerman bakerman I am on a salt-restricted diet so I omitted the salt in the marinade recipe - Lau's recipe calls for 1-1/2 teaspoons of garlic salt (this is adjusted for 3-lbs of pork butt), and with my modification I can definitely tell the salt component is missing, but them's the breaks for me.
 
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Outdoor propane burner, 200,000 BTU
chilerelleno chilerelleno

You sparked my fading memory - I "thought" I had a 12" Calphalon hard-anodized (not non-stick) aluminum flat-bottom wok and I went and looked and whattaya know - I found it!

The hard-anodize was always trouble to cook on - I never figured it out - definitely NOT non-stick. But I read somewhere a few years ago someone started seasoning theirs like a carbon steel pan and had much better luck so I just gave it a first coat of peanut oil. The stove actually got the thing nice and hot (aluminum is a great conductor of heat) and smoked the peanut oil just like a Chinese restaurant. I am going to give it a few coats and we'll see what happens.

I am going to cook some egg / Char Siu fried rice (I have no fried rice veggies at the moment but I do have garlic and ginger) NYC Chinatown style (splash of soy sauce to give the rice a nice brown color and good flavor). If it works I'll post a photo!

If this works I will definitaley be making some of Made with Lau's Yangshou Fried Rice

Thanks for waking my brain up!
 
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I think I figured out the anodized aluminum wok dilemma.

When I first bought it I had an electric range and it just never made good-enough contact with the wok to get it hot enough. While my current gas range does not get hot enough for a 14-inch carbon steel wok, it gets plenty hot enough for a 12-inch anodized heavy aluminum wok!

Also, I do not think it will season very much being anodized - but it just cooked some excellent stir fried shrimp and shrimp heads and cleaned up quick just like a seasoned carbon steel wok!

Maybe now I will finally get some use outta the thing! :emoji_sunglasses:
 
Sorry, still learning the new forum keystrokes.
Lived in Seattle for over 16 years and the entire region (not only International District) had fantastic Asian food. Best Thai restaurant was a little hole in the wall in north Auburn.
One of the things I miss about Seattle is... Ivar's.
 
Next batch (6-lbs) just went into the fridge! Chinese Country Ribs! 😃

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