A little bit salty. A little bit sweet. Sticky. Loaded with umami. And porky rib goodness. There is just nothing here not to love.
Chinese takeout flavour at home
I like ribs. Correction. I love ribs. I’m always looking for ways to feed my rib addiction. Char siu ribs deliver. This isn’t anything you’ll get if you visit China. Not that I’ve seen anyway. This is something you might get at your local Chinese restaurant. Except it isn’t really that either. They serve ribs in a bunch of different ways at Chinese restaurants where I am. But they don’t do char siu ribs. I’m not sure why. I think maybe because it doesn’t fit the formula. But it should. It hits all the notes. Char siu flavour. Spare ribs. Addictive flavour. Fun to eat. And in absolutely no way authentic. Just like pretty much everything else on a Chinese takeout menu. I think it’s perfect.
A different approach
Char siu recipes are all pretty similar. Hoisin. Soy. Shaoxing. Honey. Fermented red bean curd. Or food colouring. That’s the easy version. Straight forward. Only slightly more difficult than buying a jar of char siu sauce. Gets you similar results. At the other end of the spectrum there are incomprehensibly complicated recipes. For the hardcore char siu purist. This is somewhere in the middle. I am not a hardcore char siu purist. If you’re looking for absolute char siu nirvana I am not your guy. But I’m also not interested in run of the mill. So I will try harder than most. Deep in the back of the internet I found a hardcore purist that was using red miso. I love miso. So I tried it. Now I’ll never make char siu ribs without it. Red miso adds saltiness. Like the fermented red bean curd. But it adds that major miso umami power too. That’s the gee whiz. It’s like char siu magic paste. It doesn’t add the deep red though. For that you have to cheat.
Char siu is supposed to be red
I used food colouring in this recipe. I’m not particularly proud of that. I generally try to stay away from dyeing my food. It’s just weird. But I’m a food blogger. And people expect that reddish brown tint to their char siu. So I had a choice. I could send you hunting for fermented bean curd. And you could have that in your fridge for the next 20 years looking for another reason to use it. Or I could suggest a little red food colouring. It’s cheaper. It takes up way less room. And you can use it to make unnecessarily red tandoori chicken. So it is not completely useless. Your call. You know your audience. If they won’t miss the colour just leave it out. Or get some fermented red bean curd. Keep it real. I know. This isn’t real. I did it on purpose. I’m not making the most perfect char siu ever here. I’m making ribs. In the style of char siu. That’s a subtle difference. But you’ll understand why I’ve done it when you taste these ribs.
This is slow food
You can’t rush ribs. That’s just a fact. So you can’t rush char siu ribs. Tough cuts need slow, gentle cooking to bring out their best. It’s like Texas BBQ. You want tender ribs? Falling off the bone but juicy? Low and slow is the way to go. When I make BBQ I like to run between 225F and 275F. I don’t agonize too much. As long as I’m in this range I know I’ll be OK. Takes a long time to cook ribs at 225F. A long time. So I push it a bit. As high as I can. But there is a limit. Push things to 325F and you get tough ribs. I don’t recommend it. Back things off to around 290F and things start to work. Ribs are about taste. And texture. A little bit of tug as the tender rib meat comes off the bone. That’s the golden rule for ribs. That’s what I’m after here.
When char siu meets ribs
Char siu ribs are ribs. Not pork shoulder. Not pork neck fillet. Ribs. So I want them to eat like ribs. The way ribs should be. With a char siu twist. So I took a little inspiration from an old BBQ rib recipe I’ve been making for years. That recipe is about hoisin and sesame oil and chili paste and apricot jam. Don’t worry. There’s no apricot jam here. But it is something you should consider for your next BBQ. I went a little sweeter. A little heavy on the hoisin. Light on the five spice. Honey at the end. To make things sticky. And soy in the glaze. To give it that salty sweet goodness that is perfect with ribs. So don’t leave me comments telling me the char siu you had in Hong Kong was different. Or that your local does it different. I already know that.
Char siu ribs smackdown – you be the judge
The day I took the pictures for this post I bought a nice chunk of char siu from one of the better Chinese groceries in town. That was my “scientific” control. Taste the ribs. Taste the char siu. I wasn’t going for exactly the same. But I wanted a similar flavour profile. And I surprised myself. I liked the ribs better. It wasn’t a dramatic difference. But there was no doubt in my mind. You’ll have to decide for yourself of course. Don’t take my word for it. Only you know what you like best. I’m willing to bet you’ll like char siu ribs though. Deep umami char siu flavour. And pork ribs. I don’t think you can go wrong. This one probably isn’t on your local takeaway menu. But I think it should be. I’m betting you will too.
