Here is a fine recipe for making Chinese barbecued pork (Char Siu), which can be an entree (like pork over rice and a cooked green vegetable) or part of many different Chinese food recipes, like cut into small pieces for making Pork Fried Rice, or diced for making Eggrolls.

I found the original recipe at the Woks Of Life website ... and it looked delicious! I just made it and it looks terrific. And it tastes wonderful! We used it in making Chinese Egg Rolls and it is perfect.

Ingredients:

3 pounds of boneless pork shoulder/pork butt

¼ cup of granulated white sugar

2 teaspoons od sea salt

½ teaspoon of five spice powder

¼ teaspoon of white pepper

½ teaspoon of sesame oil

1 tablespoon of Shaoxing rice wine

1 tablespoon of light soy sauce

1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce

2 teaspoons of molasses

1/4 teaspoon of red food coloring (optional)

3 cloves of finely minced garlic

2 tablespoons of honey

1 tablespoon of hot water

Directions:

Cut the pork into long slabs, strips or chunks about 2 inches thick. Don’t trim any excess fat, as it will render off and add flavor.

Combine the sugar, salt, five spice powder, white pepper, sesame oil, wine, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, molasses, food coloring (if using), and garlic in a bowl to make the marinade (BBQ sauce).

Reserve about 2 tablespoons of the marinade and set it aside in a small bowl. Rub the pork with the rest of the marinade in a large bowl or baking dish. Cover the bowl/dish and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours. Cover and store the reserved marinade in the fridge as well.

Preheat your oven to 'bake' at 475 degrees F with the shelf positioned in the upper third of the oven.

Line an 11x17 inch baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a metal rack on top. Place the pork on the rack, leaving as much space as possible between the pieces. Pour 1 ½ cups water into the pan below the rack. This prevents drippings from burning or smoking.

Transfer the pork to your preheated oven. Roast for 10 minutes, then reduce your oven temperature to 375 degrees F and roast for an additional 15 minutes.

After the 25 minutes of roasting, flip the pork. If the bottom of the pan is dry, add another cup of water.

Rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees to ensure even roasting. Roast another 15 minutes. Throughout the roasting time, check often (every 10 minutes) and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F if it looks like it is becoming too dark (almost black).

Meanwhile, combine the reserved marinade with the honey and 1 tablespoon hot water. Stir well. This is the sauce you use next for basting the pork.

After the 40 minutes of elapsed roasting time, baste the pork, flip it, and baste the other side and the outside edges as well. Roast for a final 10 minutes at a convection setting of 375 degrees F if your oven has that feature. Otherwise roast for 15 more minutes.

The pork has cooked for 50 or 55 minutes total. It should be cooked through and caramelized on the surface.

If it is not caramelized to your liking, you can turn the broiler on for a couple minutes to crisp the outside and add some color/flavor. Be sure not to walk away during this process, since the sweet char siu BBQ sauce on the surface can burn quickly if left unattended.

Remove the char siu from the oven and baste it with the last bit of reserved BBQ sauce. Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing, then slice and serve with some rice and a stir fried vegetable (like bok choy).

Alternatively, you might reserve some BBQ pork to be diced to be used later as an ingredient in making eggrolls. Or, you can use some of the pork in small pieces when making pork fried rice.

Enjoy!