Char siu pork tenderloin with rice and greens
50 min · 59 g protein · 671 cals / serving
Cantonese barbecue pork, the glossy, red-edged slices that hang in every Chinatown window and fill New Year platters: lean pork tenderloin marinated in hoisin, soy, honey, five-spice and garlic, roasted until just blushing inside, then lacquered with a sticky honey glaze under the grill until the edges char. Sliced over rice with garlicky Chinese broccoli.
Ingredients
Pork
- 2 tenderloins (2 lb) pork tenderloin, silver skin trimmed
Marinade
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp for the marinade, 1 tbsp for the glaze
- 1 tbsp sherry, dry sherry or Shaoxing wine
- 4 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
To serve
- 1 1/4 cups jasmine rice, rinsed
- 3 bunches gai lan or broccolini Chinese broccoli, trimmed
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 green onions, sliced
Steps
- Mix the hoisin, soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the honey, sherry, five-spice, grated garlic, sesame oil and white pepper. Set 3 tablespoons aside in the fridge for basting. Coat the pork in the rest and marinate, covered, for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat the oven to 400°F and line a roasting tin with foil, with a rack on top if you have one. Lift the pork from the marinade, set it on the rack and roast 20–25 minutes, turning once and brushing with the reserved marinade, until the centre reads 145°F.
- Meanwhile cook the rice (1 part rice to 1 1/4 parts water, simmered covered 12 minutes, rested 10).
- Blanch the gai lan in boiling water for 2 minutes and drain. Heat the oil in a skillet, sizzle the sliced garlic for 30 seconds, add the gai lan and oyster sauce and toss for a minute.
- Turn the oven to the grill (broiler). Brush the pork with the remaining honey and grill 2–3 minutes, watching closely, until sticky and charred at the edges. Rest 5 minutes, slice thickly and serve over the rice with the greens, scattered with green onion.
Good to know
How do I get the red colour?
Restaurant char siu often uses red food colouring or red fermented bean curd. A teaspoon of fermented red bean curd in the marinade gives colour and depth; without it, the hoisin and glaze still give a deep mahogany.
Can I use pork shoulder?
Yes, shoulder (pork butt) is the classic cut and is richer and juicier, roasted longer to 165°F so it turns tender. Tenderloin is quicker and leaner.
Can I serve it with noodles instead?
Yes. Slice it over the longevity noodles, or tuck it into steamed buns. Leftovers are excellent in fried rice the next day.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 121
- Protein
- (36%)
- 11 g
- Fat
- (18%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (46%)
- 14 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 359 mg
About 35% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2686 kcal goes into the pot and 2262 g of ingredients comes out as about 2220 g of food: 121 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.