Char-Siu- You Guide to Delicious, Sticky, Sweet Chinese Barbeque

After gathering all of your ingredients, take your pork butt and cut it into 8 pieces. I cut about 1 to 2 inch strips. Take a fork and prick the pieces to allow the marinade to absorb into the meat. Place strips in a plastic bag. Set aside.

Whisk together the sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, wine, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, five-spice powder and pepper in a metal bowl. If you're using maltose instead of sugar, whisk everything in a metal bowl over low heat on your stove since the maltose is so sticky, otherwise, you'll just have a big lump of maltose. You want to make sure it completely mixes with the other ingredients (10 minutes).

Once the marinade is completely mixed, measure out 1 cup and reserve for the basting glaze. Take the bag of pork strips and pour the rest of the marinade into the bag. Ensure that the pieces are completely covered with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can marinade it to up to 4 hours.

While the meat marinades, take the reserved 1 cup of marinade and pour into a small saucepan. Add the honey and ketchup. Whisk over medium heat until you get a nice syrup. This will be used for the basting glaze that will give the signature Char siu sweet, sticky crust.

After the meat has completely marinaded, you're ready to cook it! Heat the over to 300 degrees. Be sure to put your rack in the middle position. Place foil on a baking sheet. Set a clean wire rack on top of the baking sheet. Spray or brush rack with vegetable oil. Remove the pork strips from the plastic bag, letting excess marinade drip off. Place on wire rack. Put about 1/4 water on the bottom of the pan. Cover entire pan with foil. Roast for 20 minutes.

Now, here's where it get's a bit high maintenance, but the delicious results are worth it. Depending on your oven, adjust your roasting times plus or minus one minute.* Remove the foil and cook for 45 more minutes. * Turn the oven to broil and let roast for 8 more minutes. * Brush the basting glaze onto the pieces. Be careful of the heat! * Roast for additional 5 minutes. * Flip the meat over and brush with glaze. Roast for 8 minutes. * Brush with remaining glaze. Roast for 5 more minutes.Your meat should be a deep mahogany color with beautiful charred edges. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve with rice, noodles, or salad!