Homemade Char Siew (without artificial colouring)-updated 2/4/11

550 gm Pork shoulder butt meat (or whatever meat cut it's called) - marinated with 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp wine/liquor, 1/1/2 tsp five spice.

Marinade :

6 tbsp red wine husk/sediments (Hong Guk) (leftover sediments from making red rice wine)

400 ml water

6 tbsp rice wine

150 gm gula keping (Pin Tong)/ brown sugar (light)

4 tbsp chinese parsley/yim sai , very finely chopped
2tbsp coriander seeds powder

1.5 tbsp five spice powder

7 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp cooking oil/peanut oil

1 tbsp shao xing wine or 1 tsp whisky

1. Add 300 ml water with wine husk. Mix well and strain onto a bowl.

2. Mix the remaining sediments with 100 ml water and do the same.

3. Mix the strained sediment mixture with chinese parlsley, five spice, soy sauce, and rice wine

4. Heat the mixture in wok or pot (stainless steel only) and melt the sugar/pin tong.

5. simmer under medium low heat, stirring constantly until it is reduced to a 250 ml glaze.

6. Turn off heat and add in oil and shao xing wine.

7. Meanwhile, sliced pork into thinner strip if the whole shoulder butt is too thick, and marinade with salt and spices for a while before mixing in the cooled marinade.

8. Marinade for at least 3 hours before grilling it in the preheated oven under medium high heat. (Line the botton pan with aluminium foil and place below the grill so that the excess oil or liquid drips onto the aluminium foil). Bake (gas mark 3-4/170 degrees celcius) until it is cooked and slightly charcoaled at the sides, turning and brushing it twice or so and (actually...the more the better) with the marinade.

Note: The uncooked pieces may be kept in individual zip-lock packs and kept frozen until it is needed.