Greater China, Japan and Singapore (and general Sinophone areas in Southeast Asia and beyond)
Main ingredients
Pork, mixture of honey, five-spice powder, fermented tofu (red), dark soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sherry or rice wine
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
叉燒
Simplified Chinese
叉烧
Jyutping
caa1 siu1
Hanyu Pinyin
chāshāo
Literal meaning
"fork roasting"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin
chāshāo
IPA
[ʈʂʰá.ʂáʊ]
Hakka
Romanization
cha-seu
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization
chāsīu
Jyutping
caa1 siu1
IPA
[tsʰa˥.siw˥]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ
chha-sio
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese
xá xíu
Thai name
Thai
หมูแดง [mǔːdɛ̄ːŋ]
RTGS
mu daeng
Korean name
Hangul
차시우
Transcriptions
Revised Romanization
chasiu
Japanese name
Kanji
叉焼
Kana
チャーシュー
Transcriptions
Romanization
chāshū
Indonesian name
Indonesian
babi panggang merah / Cha Sio
Khmer name
Khmer
សាច់ជ្រូកអាំង
Cookbook: Char siu
Media: Char siu
Char siu (t͡ʃɑsiu̯; cha-SYEW) (Chinese: 叉燒; Cantonese Yale: chāsīu) (literally meaning "fork roasted")[1] is a Cantonese-style barbecued pork.[2] Originating in Guangdong, it is eaten with rice, used as an ingredient for noodle dishes or in stir fries, and as a filling for cha siu bao or pineapple buns. Five-spice powder is the primary spice, honey or other sweeteners are used as a glaze, and the characteristic red color comes from the red yeast rice when made traditionally.
It is classified as a type of siu mei (燒味), Cantonese roasted meat.
Meat cuts
[edit]Sliced char siu
Pork cuts used for char siu can vary, but a few main cuts are common:[3][1]
Pork loin
Pork belly – produces juicy and fattier char siu
Pork butt (shoulder) – produces leaner char siu
Pork fat
Pork neck end – very marbled (jyu geng yuk)
Cultural variations
[edit]
Cantonese cuisine
[edit]A plate of char siu rice
In ancient times, wild boar and other available meats were used to make char siu. However, in modern times, the meat is typically a shoulder cut of domestic pork, seasoned with a mixture of honey, five-spice powder, red fermented bean curd, dark soy sauce, hoisin sauce, red food colouring (not a traditional ingredient but very common in today's preparations and is optional), and sherry or rice wine (optional). These seasonings turn the exterior layer of the meat dark red, similar to the "smoke ring" of American barbecues. Maltose may be used to give char siu its characteristic shiny glaze.[4][5]
Char siu is typically consumed with a starch, whether inside a bun (cha siu bao, 叉燒包),[6] with noodles (chasiu min, 叉燒麵), or with rice (chasiu faan, 叉燒飯) in fast food establishments, or served alone as a centerpiece or main dish in traditional family dining establishments. If it is purchased outside of a restaurant, it is usually taken home and used as one ingredient in various complex main courses consumed at family meals.
The ovens used to roast char siu are usually large gas rotisseries. Since ovens are not standard in Hong Kong households, char siu is usually purchased from a siu mei establishment, which specialises in meat dishes such as char siu, soy sauce chicken, white cut chicken, roasted goose, and roasted pork. These shops usually display the merchandise by hanging them in the window.[5]
Southeast Asian cuisine
[edit]Char siu is often served in a noodle soup as here in Chiang Mai, Thailand "Mu daeng" redirects here. For the hippopotamus, see Moo Deng.
In Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, char siew rice is found in many Chinese shāolà (燒臘 or 烧腊) stalls along with roast duck and roast pork. The dish consists of slices of char siu, cucumbers, white rice and is drenched in sweet gravy or drizzled with dark soy sauce. Char siu rice is also a popular food within the Chinese community in Medan, North Sumatra, where it is more called char sio.
In Singapore, char siew rice can also be found in Hainanese chicken rice stalls, where customers have a choice of having their char siu rice served with plain white rice or chicken-flavoured rice, and choose from garlic, chilli and soy sauces.
In Thailand, char siu is called mu daeng (Thai: หมูแดง, pronounced[mǔːdɛ̄ːŋ], "red pork") and in Cambodia it is called sach chrouk sa seev (Khmer: សាច់ជ្រូកសាស៉ីវ, sac cruuk sa səyv).
In the Philippines, it is known as Chinese pork asado, but also referred to as cha siu. It is usually eaten with cold cuts or served stuffed in siopao.[7]
In Flanders and Holland, it is sometimes mistaken for the Chinese/Indonesian name 'babi panggang'. This is a different dish (mostly sweeter and served with yellow pickled Chinese cabbage, called atjar). In fact, these Chinese/Indo restaurants also sometimes serve cha(r) sieuw under the original name.
Japanese cuisine
[edit]Chāshū ramen
Japanese cuisine has adapted 叉燒 as chāshū (チャーシュー). Unlike its Cantonese variant, it is not roasted, but prepared by rolling pork belly into a log and then braising it at a low temperature.[8] This type of braising is a Chinese technique known as red cooking, which imparts a reddish-brown coloration. The Japanese adaptation is typically seasoned with soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar or other sweetener, without the red food colouring, nor five-spice powder that characterizes char siu. It is a typical ingredient for toppings in rāmen.[1]
United Kingdom cuisine
[edit]
Char siu is the main ingredient in jar jow, a once popular stir fry dish from East London.[9]
Gallery
[edit]
Char siu rice
Char siu bao
Japanese bento with chāshū
See also
[edit]
Food portal
China portal
Indonesia portal
Malaysia portal
Singapore portal
Thailand portal
Asado
List of pork dishes
Red cooking
Siu mei
Lou mei
References
[edit]
^ abcAsianCookingMom (6 June 2020). "Japanese Chashu Pork". Asian Cooking Mom. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
^"Siu Mei Kung Fu". RTHK. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
^"Chinese BBQ pork (char siu) 蜜汁叉燒". Graceful Cuisine. 7 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
^"The Ultimate Chinese Barbecue Guide". The Manual. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
^ abDeutsch, Jonathan; Elias, Megan J. (15 April 2014). Barbecue: A Global History. Reaktion Books. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-78023-298-0.
^Sinclair, Charles Gordon (1998). International Dictionary of Food and Cooking. Taylor & Francis. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-57958-057-5.
^De Leon, Adrian (1 May 2016). "Siopao and Power: The Place of Pork Buns in Manila's Chinese History". Gastronomica. 16 (2): 45–54. doi:10.1525/gfc.2016.16.2.45. ISSN 1529-3262.
^Jimura, Takamitsu (16 August 2021). Cultural Heritage and Tourism in Japan. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-67163-0.
^Dunlop, Fuchsia (19 March 2021). "How the British-Chinese takeaway took off". Financial Times. Retrieved 7 September 2025.