This Char Siu, also known as Chinese BBQ Pork, is deliciously sweet, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and so easy to make!
This Chinese Barbeque Pork is so delicious, you’d never guess that I adapted the recipe from a WeightWatchers cookbook.
But I did.
And it’s awesome.
I suppose you could serve this Chinese pork tenderloin with rice or noodles, but the husband and I simply put the cutting board on the coffee table and ate it with our fingers while we watched Law and Order re-runs.
I found this Char Siu recipe in a cookbook I picked up from a used bookstore near my house – it’s called Weight Watchers Take-Out Tonight!
and it has lots of good recipes in it. This time of year, I think we can all appreciate some “healthier” options!
This Chinese BBQ Pork recipe is super easy, as long as you can remember to marinate the pork before you cook it.
Just mix up the Char Siu sauce, soak the pork overnight or all day while you’re at work, then roast it in the oven.
I added a few drops of red food coloring to my marinade because I wanted a nice rich color, but you could just as easily leave it out if you prefer.
Cutting the tenderloin into four pieces provides you with more surface area for the marinade to work into, which gives you more of those wonderful crusty pieces.
Let it rest for a bit after roasting, then slice it up and serve!
I used the leftover marinade as the Chinese BBQ Pork dipping sauce and sprinkled a few sesame seeds over the top. You can also use the marinade recipe as a recipe for Chinese BBQ Sauce and use it on other meats for a Chinese BBQ Flavor. Hot mustard would also be delicious with this pork.
This Char Siu is delicious by itself or over rice. You can also use it in our Singapore Noodles recipe.
We had a few pieces leftover, so I made it into a quick Thai-style Fried Rice which was awesome (if I may say so myself).
If you’re wondering about the roasting pan I used, I bought this Cuisinart Stainless Roaster with Rack
on Amazon and I totally love it. The rack is perfect for roasting this Chinese barbecue pork tenderloin.
Ready to dig in?
Char Siu Recipe (Chinese BBQ Pork Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless pork tenderloin - trimmed of fat and cut into four pieces
- 4 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
- 4 Tbsp. honey
- 4 Tbsp. sake - or use dry white wine
- 4 tsp. oyster sauce
- 4 tsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp. sesame oil
- 2 drops red food coloring - optional
Instructions
- Use the tines of a fork to prick the tenderloin all over.
- Combine hoisin sauce, honey, sake, oyster sauce, reduced sodium soy sauce, sesame oil and food coloring (if using) in a large non-reactive bowl. Pour half of the mixture in a large zipper-close bag, and refrigerate the remaining half of the mixture. Add the pork pieces to the zipper-close bag and massage the marinade into the meat. Remove excess air from bag, seal, and refrigerate overnight (at least 6 hours, up to 24).
- When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a roasting pan with a rack by lining the bottom of it with foil. Spray the rack with non-stick spray. Discard the used marinade and place the tenderloin pieces on the rack. Roast for for 25-30 minutes, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
- Let the pork rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes before slicing.
- Serve with the reserved marinade as a dipping sauce.
Nutrition
Hi, this recipe looks perfect! I am going to try it tomorrow. But may I mention that you might have forgotten a detail. Used marinade needs to be boiled for at least 2 minutes. Otherwise, you’re in danger of getting food poisoning, I’m pretty sure you just accidentally omitted that detail. I really look forward to marinating tonight and eating this roast tomorrow. Thanks!
Hi, Heather! The recipe calls for reserving half of the ‘marinade’ at the beginning so you can use it at the end as a dipping sauce. I think the wording was confusing, so I’ve updated the recipe to make it more clear. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
I made this for my Gamin Group yesterday and it was so delicious! Thanks for a great recipe.
I’ll be making pork fried rice tonight to accompany pepper steak and needed oriental style bbq pork. Following the recipe at 1/3 rd prportion, resulted in a very succulent, tender product. I hope that there is enough left over for the rice. (Grin) And the marinate/sauce is a killer. By the way I live at 7400′ elevation so had to add a bit of cooking time. Thanks, John M
Is there anything I could use instead of the Oyster Sauce? Not sure I should be eating anything with it. Thanks for any info you can share.
Hi, Debbie! I’d try substituting a mixture of soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce for the Oyster sauce. It won’t be exactly the same, but it will be close! Good luck 🙂
I’m part of your SITS blogging group coming by to say hi!
This recipe looks really yummy! Pork tenderloin can be hard to cook perfectly, but this looks moist and wonderful!
Hi, Laura! Thanks so much for dropping by to say “Hi!”. I love pork tenderloin – such a versatile ingredient!