Char Siu Chicken

I know I know...

To most Asian food enthusiasts, char siu (Chinese BBQ pork) is never char siu without the fat...

Some might say that char siu is never a char siu if it is not cooked with pork neck or shoulder...

I'm a food enthusiast but also a health freak! Thus, I like pork char siu but prefer the skinny pork tenderloin version as a healthier option. I know that the pork tenderloin kind of char siu is not the most ideal of char siu and can be a little dry to be the filling of char siu bao (steamed buns) or siew bao (char siu pastry buns). So, here I am exploring the possibilities of cooking char siu chicken.

I cooked these char siu chicken primarily to use it as the main ingredients to make char siu buns (both steamed and baked). Instead of writing a long-winded grandma-nagging post, I have decided to break my adventure of chicken char siu buns making into three blog posts. To start, this is how I made these flavoursome, tender and moist char siu chicken...

Char Siu Chicken that really taste like Char Siu!

The ingredients that marinate the chicken - Ops! I forgot to include soy sauce in the picture :p

Place chicken and marinade in zip lock bags and marinate chicken in the fridge overnight.

Cover the chicken with foil and cook them in the oven first.

While baking, prepare glaze with these ingredients.

Brush, grill, brush, grill, brush, grill...

Lovely sticky glossy glaze!

Lovely sticky tender char siu taste!

Our fussy boss: What is this?
Me: Char Siu chicken!
Fussy boss had a bite and continue to chew... 
Me: Nice?
Fussy boss didn't say anything and continue to chew.

I can see my husband's impressed facial expression when he were chewing these char siu. For this reason, I like to regard my husband's silence as a positive kind of agreement... LOL!

Here's the recipe inspired by The Art of Baking and mostly adapted from Lily's Wai Sek Hong

2kg chicken, preferably thighs, skinless and boneless

1 cup Hoisin sauce (1 jar, 240g)
3 tsp garlic powder
6 tsp soy sauce
250g sugar
3 tbsp Hua Tiao wine (can be substitute with sweet sherry or any Chinese cooking wine)
1 1/2 tsp five-spice powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper

To glaze:
2 tbsp dark caramel sauce
2 tbsp maltose (or honey but try to use maltose as it makes a lot of difference!)
2 tbsp cooking oil (I use canola oil)

Combine chicken with all marinating ingredients. Place them in zip lock bags and make sure the surfaces of the chicken are well-coated with marinade. Marinate chicken in the fridge for at least 2 hrs or preferably overnight.

Preheat an oven to 180°C or 160°C fan forced.

Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and baking paper on top. Arrange marinated chicken as a single layer (without any chicken stacking on top of each) on the lined tray. Pour marinade on the chicken and cover the tray with aluminium foil. Bake the chicken at 180°C or 160°C fan forced for 20 mins.

Remove chicken from the oven. Remove the covering foil and bake again at 180°C or 160°C fan forced for another 40-60 mins until chicken is tender. Keep basting while baking until the chicken develop a nice reddish coat.

While the chicken are baking in the oven, combine all glaze ingredients in a heat proof bowl. Warm glaze slightly in the microwave with low power for 10-20 sec or warm the side of bowl to help them to combine together. When the chicken is ready with nice reddish colour, remove them from the oven and brush each side with generous layer of glaze. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C or 180°C fan forced with grilling option. Grill each brushed side for 3-5 mins for a final shine and charred surfaces. Flip them over and brush the exposing side with a new layer of glaze and grill for another 3-5 mins. Repeat until nice charring surfaces on all sides of the chicken are achieved.

Happy Roasting
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