Of all the Chinese comfort foods, one I keep coming back to is char siu. Char siu is a Chinese BBQ roast pork. For an authentic recipe, you typically roast it in the oven for HOURS. I do not remember the last time I had hours to spare sitting in front of my oven, so I developed this shortcut recipe to make char siu using the instant pot. Eat the char siu over rice, or throw it into a sandwich for some char siu banh mi! Keep reading below for all the recipes.
What You Need for Instant Pot Char Siu
To make just the char siu, you’re going to need one recipe of my char siu marinade/glaze (see below) and one 3 lbs. boneless pork shoulder or butt. And a pressure cooker and oven. Basically, you cook the pork shoulder in the pressure cooker to cut down on time, then brush with glaze and broil in the oven to create the char siu flavored crust.
Yes, you can also buy premade char siu marinade, but it’s really not that hard to make from scratch. If you cook Chinese food semi-regularly, you’ll probably have most of the ingredients on hand. My specific char siu glaze recipe was taught to me by my Toisanese grandmother. You’ll notice that other char siu recipes use red food dye and a couple other ingredients that vary just slightly, but this is the one my family has been eating for generations. If you like how it tastes, check out my recipe for instant pot char siu ribs!
To Make the Char Siu Banh Mi
Once you’ve got your char siu, you can use leftovers to make banh mi-inspired sandwiches! All you need is to add some french rolls and pickled veggies (and some nonpickled ones as well). I use a basic quick pickle brine for all my Asian pickled veggies – one part sugar, two parts vinegar, four parts water. It’s super easy to remember because you just double each ingredient as you add it. It works for banh mi veggies like carrots and daikon, but I also love it for radishes and cucumber too. Add cilantro, cucumber, jalapeño, and mayonnaise if you like, and you’ve got yourself a nice Vietnamese-Chinese fusion sandwich.
All recipes needed will be listed down below! If you give them a try, let me know what you think.
Char Siu Marinade/Glaze
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp black bean garlic paste
- 1 tbsp grated ginger optional
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together to form a basic sauce that can be used as a marinade or boiled down for a glaze/bbq sauce
Instant Pot Char Siu Roast Pork
Ingredients
- 1 recipe char siu marinade
- 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder
- salt
- pepper
- Chinese 5 spice powder (optional)
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Pierce pork shoulder with fork several times. This will allow the marinade to soak deeper into the meat.
- Lightly season pork by sprinkling salt, pepper, and Chinese 5 spice powder, if using. Have a VERY light hand if using the Chinese 5 spice powder.
- Pour 1/2 the char siu marinade over the pork. You can either let the pork marinate for 30 minutes or just continue on to the next step for cooking.
- Put the pork with the marinade liquid into the instant pot. Add 1/2 cup water.
- Close the lid, seal, and pressure cook on high for 45 minutes. You can quick release or natural release the pressure, but the general rule of thumb I use is to pressure cook about 15 minutes per pound.
- Set your oven to broil (mine broils at 500 degrees F). Transfer the pork to a lined baking sheet or roasting pan.
- Brush some of the glaze onto the pork and broil for 1-3 minutes, until the glaze is bubbling and begins to caramelize. After the first glaze caramelizes under the broiler, take the pork out, brush more glaze on, and put it back to broil. Repeat 3-4 times or until all the glaze is used.
Asian Quick Pickled Veggies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup vegetables of choice
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Slice vegetables as desired.
- Mix sugar, vinegar, and water until sugar is dissolved. Add pinch of red pepper flakes, if desired.
- Pour pickling liquid over veggies, seal, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Leftover vegetables can be kept in the liquid in the fridge.
Notes
Char Siu Banh Mi
Ingredients
- 1 lb sliced char siu
- 4 french rolls
- 1/2 cup each pickled daikon and carrot
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
- 1 cucumber sliced
- sliced jalapeño as needed
- mayonnaise as needed
Instructions
- Before you start, check to see if you have char siu and pickled veggies ready. If making char siu from scratch, note that this will add significantly to the cook time. Pickled veggies will take at least 30 minutes.
- Once you have all the ingredients, slice and toast your french rolls.
- Spread mayo, layer char siu and a handful each of carrot, daikon, cilantro, jalapeño, to taste.
- Serve and enjoy!