The Delicious Time of Making Homemade Char Siu

The time spent sizzling char siu is actually quite nice.

I found a stick-like block of pork at the supermarket,

it was domestic, about 500g, and cost around 600 yen.

When I have an encounter like this, I just can't help but want to buy it.

Once I bring it home, the meat is already close to room temperature, so I cook it right away.

First, I take out two cloves of frozen garlic and put them in the frying pan.

When you put frozen items in a pan or sandwich them in a pan,

the cold is transferred to the pan in no time, and they thaw!

I learned this from Twitter-sensei.

In the meantime, I rub salt into the pork and poke it with the tip of a knife.

I leave it like this for about 10 minutes.

I thinly slice the thawed garlic and place it in the pan with the pork.

I pour a generous amount of olive oil over it.

In our house, we always use olive oil when cooking.

Now, turn the heat to medium.

Once it starts to sizzle, I lightly wipe off the meat juices with a paper towel.

Apparently, this removes the gamey smell.

Learned from "Chef Mizushima's Logical Cooking".

To sear the block of pork, cook each side—front, back, and the edges—for about 3 minutes each!

Once seared, cover with a lid and cook for another 3 minutes on both the front and back!

The sizzling sound from the pan, the smell of the meat cooking.

A happy waiting time.

Once the meat is cooked, take it out for a moment.

Pour the sauce into the empty pan and mix it until it becomes syrupy.

Once it's syrupy, put the pork back in.

While coating it in the syrupy sauce, cook it for about 3 minutes on the front and 3 minutes on the back.

With this, the chashu is almost done!

I let it cool down a bit and then slice it thinly, but because the meat is thick, the inside is still a little red.

When I make chashu, it's usually red.

So, just to be safe, I transfer the slices to a silicone container and microwave them at 500W for about 3 minutes.

After doing this, it should be fine.

And it's done.

Actually, this time too, there was pre-made chashu at the supermarket for about 300 yen for 200g.

That's delicious, too.

It's delicious, but I feel like it's more cost-effective to make it yourself.

Well, if you convert the cooking time and effort into money, store-bought is definitely the winner.

But still, if you don't mind cooking, there's the excitement of waiting while it cooks and the savory aroma when it's finished.

And of course, the taste is priceless.

It's a bit of a hassle, but homemade is definitely more flavorful.

So, making char siu is a great way to enjoy a little luxury on your day off. I highly recommend it.

[Ingredients]

Pork shoulder roast (block) approx. 400g

Garlic: 2 cloves

(Ginger: 1 clove, if you have it)

[Sauce]

Soy sauce: 1 tablespoon

Sugar: 1 tablespoon

Oyster sauce: 1/2 tablespoon

Shaoxing wine or sake: 1 teaspoon

Star anise: 1/2 piece ← Highly recommended!