What if I tell you there is a way to make Chinese BBQ Pork – Char Siu Pork Rice at home in a way that is simple, mess-free, affordable, AND delicious every single time? Sweet and Savory Pork roasted to a perfect, this finger-licking good Air Fryer Char Siu Pork will taste so good you no longer need to make a trip down to Chinatown for your cravings.
Since the pandemic, I have avoided restaurants and tried to eat at home as much as possible, but I would have random cravings for Char Siu Pork every once in a while. I have made Char Siu Pork from scratch before in the oven, but it is super time consuming, hard to source many of the ingredients, and never tasted nearly as good as the restaurants.
A few days ago, Lee Kum Kee’s Char Siu sauce on sale, and I decided to give it a try. The sauce was too sweet for my liking and lacked depth, but it made a perfect base foundation, so I decided to do many test recipes (7 different batches), and I finally found the one. I also tested it out between roasting it in the oven and an air fryer, and the air fryer is for sure the winner. Not only does it cut down the cooking time, make less of a mess, but the air fryer also creates a crispy outside with perfect caramelization while still maintaining the juice of the meat on the inside.
The Air Fryer I am using today is the 1829 Carl Schmidt Sohn All-in-One Multi-Cooker with Pressure Cooker and Air Fryer. I usually am not a big fan of crazy kitchen gadgets as I hate when appliances take up a large part of the kitchen counter. Still, I have to admit, having an Air Fryer helps save time and the cleaning mess versus roasting the meat in the oven. Maybe more air fryer recipes to come from a stubborn past anti-air fryer girl.
Air Fryer Link: https://amzn.to/3nIMoIH
1 lb of Boneless Pork Shoulder
4-5 tbsp of LLK Char Siu Seasoning
1.5 tbsp of Dark Soy Sauce
½ tbsp of Five Spice Powder
3 cloves of smashed Garlic
2 inch of sliced Ginger
1 tbsp of Chinese Cooking Wine (optional)
- Cut the pork into 4 inches wide and 2-inch thick pieces.
- Marinate the pork with LKK Char Siu Sauce, dark soy sauce, five-spice powder, garlic, Chinese cooking wine, and ginger. Massage the pork for 2-3 minutes, making sure every part of the pork is covered in the sauce; let it rest for at least 5 hours or better overnight.
- Spray the net with cooking oil and put the meat into the air fryer basket. Fry it at 400F for 30 minutes.
- Halfway through, flip the meat and add on more sauce.
- Let the pork rest for 3-5 minutes before cutting, serve ontop a bowl of hot rice.
- OPTIONAL: don’t throw away the oil and sauce at the bottom; toss vegetable or rice in the sauce or save it and use it as oil to stir fry veggies the next day
