Air Fryer Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu Pork)

Using an Air Fryer to prepare this meat keeps it juicy and takes much less time to cook than in an oven.  Chinese BBQ pork, also known as Char Siu, is one of my most favorite meat dishes to eat.  I always ordered it whenever I had Chinese Food.  It is a very versatile meat dish that goes well in many recipes. 

Chinese BBQ Pork is fantastic in Asian soups such as Wor Wonton Soup and Hot and Sour Soup.  It can be added to any noodle soup or dish as well.  One of my favorite recipes that I include it in is my Pancit recipe.  It gives the noodle dish great taste and color.  It is common in South Asia to serve BBQ Pork (Char Siu) with rice.  

History of Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu)

Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu) is a recipe that is from the Cantonese Cuisine.  The region it originated in is Guangdong, China.  This province is in South China and is highly populated.

Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu) was usually prepared in markets stalls that had access to barbeque ovens and pits.  It was skewered onto long forks and roasted over the fire.  Most residents during the early years didn’t have an oven at home and relied on these market vendors to provide them with roasted meat dishes. They would display the cooked meat hanging on hooks for the customers to see.   Asian grocers are still selling roasted meats in the same manor in their deli.  You can get Chinese BBQ pork, Duck, Chicken, Asian sausages.  They are displayed hanging as they did in the past in a glass warming case and you can choose which one you want.

Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu) is also known in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.  It is known by different names and is usually served with rice.  This dish made its way to North America with early Asian settlers.  It is a very popular dish in the Western world. 

Why is the meat red?

The north American version of this dish uses red food coloring to get that perfect color.  My recipe also uses red food coloring.  There are alternative ingredients to use such as Red Bean Curd.  I tried the red bean curd ingredients once before and found that it didn’t give me the red color that I was accustomed to. I prefer the red food coloring.  It doesn’t alternate the flavor in anyway as food coloring doesn’t have a flavor to it. 

Easy flavor short cut!

I don’t season my pork from scratch.  I cheat and buy Char Siu sauce from the Asian Grocers.  It is easy to find in the sauce aisle.  The jar sauce also aids in the red color.  All the ingredients you need are in the jar version and the Char Siu sauce can also be used on other meats such as chicken. I do add garlic and onion powder and salt and pepper.  Just to give it my special touch.   

Which cut of pork meat to use?

I always use Pork Butt, also known as Pork shoulder.  I buy a Pork Butt roast from the butcher at the Asian grocers.  Once I get it home, I cut it into 2 rectangular shapes.  I use one and freeze the other for another day.  You can use pork tenderloin as well, but it doesn’t have much fat marbling in it.  Pork butt has great fat marbling throughout and that fat gives the meat great flavor and juiciness.’