Char Siu at Home: The Right Pork Cut and How to Get the Glaze Right

Char siu comes down to two things: pork collar instead of loin, and a glaze that goes on at the end instead of the start. Get those right and the sticky red edge takes care of itself. Get them wrong and you have dry pork with burnt sugar on it.

Use pork collar, not pork loin

Pork collar, also sold as pork shoulder butt, is the cut used in real Cantonese char siu. It comes from the top of the shoulder, where the muscle is worked but still soft, and fat runs through the meat in thin streaks instead of sitting in one slab on the side.

That marbling matters more than anything else, and the numbers carry it. USDA puts the whole shoulder, the primal collar comes from, at about 18g of fat per 100g against the whole loin’s 12.6g. Trim both cuts right down to lean and the shoulder still holds 7.14g against the loin’s 5.66g, roughly a quarter more.¹ That second pair is the one that matters. It is the fat left after every piece you could cut away has been cut away, which means it is inside the muscle, where no knife reaches it.

That is why loin cooks up dry under a hot glaze. Pork collar stays juicy even at the high heat char siu needs for its sticky, slightly charred edge.

What to look for when you buy it

Pick a piece with white streaks running through the red meat, not just a fat cap sitting on one side. The streaks should be spread through the cut, not clumped in one corner.

Ask for a piece around 2 to 3cm thick. Thinner pieces dry out before the glaze has time to caramelise. Thicker pieces char on the outside before the middle is done.

Thawing it the safe way

If your pork collar is frozen, it thaws in the fridge. Never on the counter.

SFA is direct about it. Frozen food should not be left to thaw at room temperature. It belongs in the chiller, held above 0°C and no higher than 4°C, or in the microwave on defrost. As the meat thaws its core temperature climbs, and bacteria that sat inactive in the freezer start multiplying again. Thaw it the whole way through, too, because partly frozen meat cooks unevenly: the outside can cook while the middle stays raw. Check it with your hand or a skewer, and if you still feel ice crystals, keep going.²

The counter is the wrong place because of where a Singapore kitchen sits on the thermometer. SFA puts the fastest bacterial growth between 5°C and 60°C.³ A worktop sits square in the middle of that.

Plan ahead so the meat has enough time. A thick piece of collar takes longer to thaw than a thin one, so budget more time than you think you need.

The marinade

Traditional char siu marinade is a mix of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, five spice powder, sugar, and a spoonful of fermented red bean curd for that classic reddish colour. Some cooks add a little honey to the marinade itself, on top of the glaze that goes on later.

Rub the marinade into the meat and let it sit in the fridge. A few hours works. Overnight works better.

How to get the glaze right

The glaze is what separates good char siu from average char siu, and it goes on in two stages.

• Cook the meat through first, at a lower heat, so the inside finishes cooking before the outside burns.
• Brush on a honey glaze in the last few minutes, then raise the heat or move the pork under a broiler just long enough to caramelise the surface.

Watch it closely during that last stage. Honey burns fast, and the line between a deep char siu red and a burnt edge is measured in seconds, not minutes.

Baste at least twice during the final stage. Each layer of glaze builds the sticky coating char siu is known for.

Check it’s done, don’t guess

SFA’s rule for meat is plain: cook it thoroughly, and never cook it only partway, because half-cooked food just gives bacteria somewhere to grow. Its own doneness cue is that meat still pink inside has not been cooked through, and that the juices should run clear when you prick or slice it.⁴

With char siu, do not read the outside at all. The marinade and glaze already turn the surface a deep red long before the middle is done, so the colour you are looking at is the sauce, not the pork. Use a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the collar to confirm it is cooked through before it comes off the heat.

1. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (published 2019). Total fat per 100g, raw. Whole cuts, lean and fat: pork shoulder 18g (fdcId 167843) against pork loin 12.6g (fdcId 167818). Trimmed to lean only: shoulder 7.14g (fdcId 167845) against loin 5.66g (fdcId 168230). “Separable lean only” means every bit of fat that could be cut off has been, so what is left is marbling inside the muscle. Whole cut against whole cut, which is the only fair comparison. ↩︎
2. Singapore Food Agency, Guidelines on Thawing of Food (updated 27 Sep 2024): “Frozen food should therefore not be left to thaw at room temperature, to prevent food poisoning bacteria that may be present from multiplying to high levels. Frozen food is recommended to be thawed in the chiller maintained at a temperature not below 0ºC and not above 4ºC, or by using a microwave oven.” On why: “When frozen food is thawed, its core temperature rises and bacteria may start to be active again and multiply.” On thawing it fully: “Frozen or partially frozen food will require longer cooking time. The external surfaces of this food could be cooked, but the inner portion might remain uncooked”, so “Check for ice crystals in the food using your hand or a skewer. If food is not fully thawed, continue to thaw the food until no ice crystals are present.” SFA prints the chiller range with the ordinal mark (0ºC, 4ºC), quoted here as published. sfa.gov.sg (PDF, page 1) ↩︎
3. Singapore Food Agency, Food Safety Tips: “Bacteria grow most rapidly between 5°C – 60°C, a temperature range known as the ‘Temperature Danger Zone’.” The same page: “Do not thaw food at room temperature. It is safer to thaw food by defrosting overnight in the refrigerator, or by using the microwave oven at defrost setting.” sfa.gov.sg ↩︎
4. Singapore Food Agency, same guidance: “Food such as meat and poultry should be cooked thoroughly, with juices running clear when pricked or sliced. Meat that is pink indicates that it is not cooked thoroughly.” And: “Cooking your food at high temperatures (above 75^oC) will help to kill harmful bacteria in food. Do not cook food partially, as this increases the risk of bacterial growth.” SFA’s page prints that degree mark as a superscript letter o, quoted here as published. Note that SFA gives it as a cooking temperature that kills bacteria, not as a core temperature to cook pork to. sfa.gov.sg ↩︎