Recipes / Vietnamese dishes / Grilled Dishes

Xa Xiu (Vietnamese Char Siu Pork)

Name: Xa Xiu (Vietnamese Char Siu Pork)
Total time: 405 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Southern Vietnam
Ingredients: 1.5kg pork shoulder with fat; 1 piece ginger and 3 tablespoons vinegar for washing the meat; marinade made from 1 piece ginger, 5 shallots, 7 cloves garlic, 3 to 4 cilantro roots, 1 bird's eye chili, 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder, 1 tablespoon char siu powder, 2 tablespoons char siu marinade sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 4 tablespoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1/2 tablespoon seasoning powder, 3 tablespoons mai que lo (Chinese rose wine), 1 teaspoon white pepper, 2 tablespoons honey, 1.5 tablespoons sesame oil; basting sauce made from 2 tablespoons honey and 2 tablespoons water

Vietnamese dishesGrilled DishesSouthern Vietnamat least 6 hours to marinate or overnight, about 45 minutes to roast

Good char siu shows in the slice: a red rim, a pink center, and a grain still full of juice. Marinating long enough and watching the oven are the hard parts, since overcooking leaves the meat dry and flat.

This one marinates at least 6 hours, ideally overnight in the fridge. The leftover marinade is boiled for 5 minutes, with one part kept for dipping and one part thinned to brush over the meat. It suits a plate of char siu rice or a filled banh mi.

This batch weighs about 1.6kg, at roughly 231 calories per 100g.

Nutrition (this recipe makes 6 servings)

230.8kcal

16.7gprotein

17gfat

1.5gsugar

This recipe is sweetened with honey. Honey is still sugar, so keep the portion sensible.

Estimated from raw ingredients; the real numbers shift a little depending on how you cook and what you buy.

This batch makes 6 servings. A 1.5kg piece of meat, sliced, divides into 6 servings.

Ingredients for the batch

1.5kg pork shoulder with fat
1 piece ginger and 3 tablespoons vinegar for washing the meat
marinade made from 1 piece ginger, 5 shallots, 7 cloves garlic, 3 to 4 cilantro roots, 1 bird's eye chili, 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder, 1 tablespoon char siu powder, 2 tablespoons char siu marinade sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 4 tablespoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1/2 tablespoon seasoning powder, 3 tablespoons mai que lo (Chinese rose wine), 1 teaspoon white pepper, 2 tablespoons honey, 1.5 tablespoons sesame oil
basting sauce made from 2 tablespoons honey and 2 tablespoons water

Method

Soak 1.5kg of pork shoulder in warm water with ginger and 3 tablespoons of vinegar for about 15 minutes, then rinse it with clean water.
Peel 5 shallots, 7 cloves of garlic, and 1 piece of ginger, wash 3 to 4 cilantro roots, and chop everything small for blending. Seed the bird's eye chili if using.
Blend the shallot, garlic, ginger, chili, and cilantro roots to a paste, then add 1/2 teaspoon of five spice powder, 1 tablespoon of char siu powder, 2 tablespoons of char siu sauce, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 4 tablespoons of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1/2 tablespoon of seasoning powder, 3 tablespoons of mai que lo, 1 teaspoon of white pepper, 2 tablespoons of honey, and 1.5 tablespoons of sesame oil and blend again until smooth.
Wearing gloves, work the mixture into the meat so every surface is covered. Marinate in the fridge at least 6 hours or overnight.
Oven method: heat the oven to 180 degrees C, line a tray with foil, set the meat on a rack, and roast 15 minutes. Meanwhile boil the leftover marinade for 5 minutes, keeping one part for dipping and thinning another part with 2 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of honey for basting.
Take the meat out, brush both sides with the sauce, and roast each side another 10 minutes, brushing again at every turn. Finish under the top element for 5 minutes so the edges char.
Pan method: put the meat and all of the sauce in a pan, bring it to a boil over high heat, then lower it and braise, turning the meat often so it takes on the sauce. Once the meat firms up, add 2 tablespoons of honey and braise over low heat 5 minutes more for the color.

Tips

Pork shoulder is the cut here because it carries both lean and fat, so the meat is neither dry nor as rich as pork belly.
Frozen meat should thaw slowly in the fridge overnight and then be blanched 2 to 3 minutes.
Marinate and roast the pork in one piece and slice it afterwards, since slicing first dries out the cut faces.
The honey in the basting sauce is still a sugar, so a thin brush is enough for the color.
Brushing the sauce on at every turn is what chars the edges evenly.
Rest the meat 10 minutes after roasting before slicing so the juices stay in.

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