Char siu
Pork scotch or loin marinated in maltose, bean paste and rose wine and roasted: red-edged, glazed, best half fat and half lean. The café's char siu rice, char siu spaghetti soup, Yangzhou fried rice and Fujian fried rice all use a portion bought from the roast-meat shop. Australian BBQ shops sell it by weight; say half-fat or lean, and ask for 叉燒頭 for the burnt ends, which are the best part. There are BBQ shops in Sydney's Chinatown (Haymarket), Melbourne's Box Hill and Brisbane's Sunnybank, for example. With no shop nearby, roast a piece of pork scotch after a night in bottled char siu sauce (Lee Kum Kee 240g, for example, at Woolworths, Coles and every Asian grocer).
Cautions: read first
- Pork; char siu sauce contains soy and wheat, mandatory-declaration allergens in Australia; eat shop-bought roast meat the same day, and reheat leftovers from the fridge until piping hot.
Preparation
Slice, or dice for fried rice.
Origin
Guangdong. From the BBQ shop, by weight; to roast at home, marinate pork scotch in bottled char siu sauce (Lee Kum Kee, for example).
Availability in Australia
Herbal shops / specialists
Where · BBQ shops: Sydney Chinatown (Haymarket), Hurstville, Chatswood, Eastwood, Cabramatta; Melbourne Box Hill, Springvale, Richmond, Little Bourke St; Brisbane Sunnybank. The sauce: Woolworths, Coles, Asian grocers
What to ask for · Say half-fat or lean; ask for 叉燒頭 for the burnt ends
If it is not there · Pork scotch roasted after a night in Lee Kum Kee char siu sauce
