Honey Glazed BBQ Pork
蜜汁叉烧肉
Cantonese barbecued pork with glossy honey glaze, featuring sweet and savory flavors. A classic roasted dish with tender, caramelized exterior and succulent interior in aromatic marinade.
Servings
3-4 people
Prep Time
60 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Spice Level
Not Spicy
Ingredients
Seasonings
Auxiliary Ingredients
Brushing
Instructions
Mix the seasonings and auxiliary ingredients well to make the marinade sauce.
If using red yeast rice powder for coloring, first simmer with 2 times water over low heat to extract the color, then mix with the sauce.
For pork selection, generally use pork belly, pork neck, or pork shoulder, all three have the same cooking method, but the finished product has different colors and textures.
Pork belly after roasting is fatty but not greasy, with a tender texture. For health, buy leaner pork belly. Here we use pork belly as an example.
First wash the pork belly clean, remove the skin, cut to appropriate length, about 15-20cm long.
Put the meat in the marinade and mix well, cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 24 hours or more, turning it several times to help absorb the flavor.
Preheat the oven. Take out the marinated meat, remove the scallion and garlic from the surface, place on a roasting rack, with a foil-lined baking pan underneath to catch the oil.
Brush a layer of filtered marinade sauce, first roast at 245°C (highest oven temperature) for 10 minutes, high heat quick roasting to "seal the skin".
Then flip and roast. Adjust time, temperature, and flipping frequency based on meat size and thickness, oven power, and preferred texture - no fixed formula, need to be flexible.
If confident with the oven, can roast quickly at 210-220°C throughout for a dry and fragrant texture.
For low temperature slow roasting, flip multiple times to avoid burning, meat will be more tender:
1st flip: Brush marinade sauce once, then roast at around 180°C for 10 minutes.
Then 2nd flip, brush marinade sauce once, then roast at around 180°C for 10 minutes.
If the meat is larger or want it "drier", then 3rd flip, roast at around 180°C for 10 minutes.
Don't worry about the color not being bright, Maillard reaction will occur during roasting. Watch the heat to avoid burning.
Final step, brush with syrup and roast. After multiple flips and low temperature roasting, it's basically done, then brush both sides with syrup for roasting to enhance flavor and make the color more red and bright.
Malt sugar needs to be simmered with water to make it honey-like consistency. If no malt sugar available, can use honey instead, but honey will be sweeter than malt sugar.
To make the finished product surface red and bright, can brush with red yeast water (take 5g red yeast rice powder, add 15g water, boil and cool to extract color, strain, brush one layer of red yeast water then one layer of honey. If using malt sugar, can add 1-2g red yeast rice powder when simmering the malt sugar).
Roast at 180°C for 5-10 minutes, remember to watch the heat to avoid over-burning.
Special mention: Traditional Cantonese Honey Glazed BBQ Pork is indeed on the sweet side; you can adjust the amount of white sugar according to taste.
Peanut butter and sesame paste bring complex aromas; eggs make the meat tender and smooth and give a crispy skin when roasting; rose wine (low alcohol) is the essential aroma for Cantonese BBQ Pork. If you don't pursue appearance, you can skip the red yeast rice powder.
Key points:
- Everyone's preferred sweetness is different; adjust the amount of white sugar according to personal taste.
- Adjust the temperature according to your oven's temperament and the thickness of the meat. First roast at around 210-220°C for 10 minutes, high heat for quick roasting to seal the surface. Then roast at around 180°C, turning repeatedly. Lower temperature is easier to control and won't burn the inside, keeping it tender. You can also use higher temperature for quick roasting according to preference, which will give a drier, more aromatic taste.