Char Siu Pork (Chinese BBQ Pork) usually makes you think of long marinade times and slow cooking, but we’ve made a quick and easy weeknight version.
Char Siu Pork is one of those delicious flavour combos that once you start you just can’t stop eating. Sweet BBQ glaze on tender pork - it’s a winner. But a lot of recipes call for long marinade times and even longer slow cooking of roast pork shoulder, which is too long for this home cook on a weeknight! Instead, we’re making our Char Siu Pork with pork tenderloin, a tender and delicious cut of pork, which takes just a few minutes in a pan and then 15-20 minutes in the oven. You'll have this main dish on the table in no time.
Easy Char Siu Pork Ingredients
The Char Siu sauce is easy to make and uses ingredients you can get at the supermarket - hoisin sauce, savoury soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, honey, five spice powder, brown sugar and garlic. Mix everything together and then pour it over the sauce. Once the pork has cooked, let it rest and then spoon over more sticky sauce.
We make a creamy dressing of mayonnaise, Greek yoghurt and lime juice.
Serve the rice bowl with coriander, avocado, matchstick carrots, cucumber and the lime mayo sauce. YUM!
Why is my Char Siu Pork not Red?
We skip the red food colouring, which means you won’t get that distinctive red colour to your pork (and you won't get the crazies after dinner), but if you long for that red edge to your pork you can add a couple of drops.
More Asian Inspired Bowl Recipes
If you like bowl food (and I mean, who doesn't?), you can also check some other fun dinner bowls like this Vegetable Dumpling Bowl, this Vietnamese Chicken Bowl, or this Asian-style Meatball Bowl.
How to make Easy Char Siu Pork
1. Preheat your oven to 220 C and line a baking sheet with paper.
2. Make a Char Siu sauce by combining hoisin sauce, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, sesame oil, honey, Chinese five spice powder and sugar. Peel and crush garlic into the bowl, then add hot water and mix well.
- 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon five spice powder
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon hot water
3. Pat dry your pork and season with salt and white pepper. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high, add oil then cook the tenderloin, turning every 1-2 minutes, until browned on all sides.
- 1 pork tenderloin fillet (500g)
- Salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
4. Transfer to the baking tray and pour over Char Siu sauce. Check the oven temperature has reached 220 C and then place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the fillet.
5. Meanwhile prepare your veggies. Peel, de-seed and slice avocado. Peel and matchstick (or grate) carrot. Slice cucumber in half lengthwise, remove seeds with a teaspoon and slice into half moons. Roughly chop coriander leaves and finely slice stalks. Slice lime in half.
- 1 avocado
- 1 carrot
- 1 cucumber
- ½ bunch coriander
- 1 lime
6. Make a lime yoghurt mayo by juicing lime into a small bowl, then mixing mayonnaise, Greek yoghurt and salt and pepper.
- 1 lime
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon Greek yoghurt
- Salt and pepper
7. Take the pork fillet out of the oven and spoon over the sauce. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, microwave rice according to packet instructions.
- 450g microwave rice
8. To serve, finely slice pork and serve on a bed of rice with avocado, cucumber and carrot, sprinkle over coriander and dollop lime mayo.
Little kids may like you to chop their pork into fingers.
- 1 avocado
- 1 cucumber
- 1 carrot
- ½ bunch coriander
Cooking tips
Make sure you line your baking sheet to save you some washing up - this sauce has incredible caramelisation, but we don't want that on your pan. One thing you can do to really concentrate the sauce is to make a little boat out of foil, which will keep the sauce close to your pork fillet. Alternatively, you can cook this on the BBQ.
Also, because pork tenderloin is one of the lean cuts of pork, we don't want to overcook it, or it will become tough. Make sure you follow the cooking time suggested.
Variations you can try on this Char Siu Pork Loin
- Rice - I like using brown rice, but you can use jasmine rice or white rice. I love making this fried rice recipe with any leftover rice, or you can even make char siu fried rice if you want!
Substitutions
- Vegetarian - Swap the pork for firm tofu.
- Gluten Free - Naturally Gluten Free.
- Dairy Free - Just skip the Greek yoghurt in the dressing to make this Dairy free.
Kid-Friendly Variations for Easy Char Siu Pork
- To serve - Slice pork into fingers, and serve all elements separately.
Equipment for Easy Char Siu Pork
You will need an oven, a baking sheet, a large frying pan, a stovetop, a microwave.
Some more Asian-style dinners
If you enjoy Asian food, have a look at these other yummy dinners like Five Spice Pork, or Sticky Mongolian Lamb, or Dan Dan Noodles, or these Sesame Noodles.
Recipe
Char Siu Pork Rice Bowl
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking sheet
- Large frying pan
- Stovetop
- Microwave
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- sesame oil 1.5 teaspoon total
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon five spice powder
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 pork tenderloin fillet 500g
- Salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 avocado
- 1 carrot
- 1 cucumber
- ½ bunch coriander
- 1 lime
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon Greek yoghurt
- Black pepper
- 450 g microwave rice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220 C and line a baking sheet with paper.
- Make a Char Siu sauce by combining hoisin sauce, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, honey, Chinese five spice powder and sugar. Peel and crush garlic into the bowl, then add 1 tablespoon hot water and mix well.2 tablespoon hoisin sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, 1 tablespoon honey, ½ teaspoon five spice powder, 2 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 cloves garlic
- Pat dry your pork and season with salt and white pepper. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high, add 1 teaspoon sesame oil then cook the tenderloin, turning every 1-2 minutes, until browned on all sides.1 pork tenderloin fillet, Salt, 1 teaspoon white pepper, sesame oil
- Transfer to the baking tray and pour over char siu sauce. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the fillet.
- Meanwhile prepare your veggies. Peel, de-seed and slice avocado. Peel and matchstick (or grate) carrot. Slice cucumber in half lengthwise, remove seeds with a teaspoon and slice into half moons. Roughly chop coriander leaves and finely slice stalks. Slice lime in half.1 avocado, 1 carrot, 1 cucumber, ½ bunch coriander, 1 lime
- Make a lime yoghurt mayo by juicing lime into a small bowl, then mixing mayonnaise, Greek yoghurt and salt and pepper.1 lime, 2 tablespoon mayonnaise, 2 tablespoon Greek yoghurt, Black pepper, Salt
- Take the pork fillet out of the oven and spoon over the sauce. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, microwave rice according to packet instructions.450 g microwave rice
- To serve, finely slice pork and serve on a bed of rice with avocado, cucumber and carrot, sprinkle over coriander and dollop lime mayo.Little kids may like you to chop their pork into fingers.1 avocado, 1 carrot, 1 cucumber, ½ bunch coriander
alphabravo5
This is delicious and easy