The other day, when I blogged about the char siew (barbecued meat) that I cooked…
…somebody said in his/her comment that he/she would use pork belly when he/she cooked his/hers.
Well, I did buy two slabs/slices of pork belly that time when word was going round that there would be a shortage here owing to the breaking down of the machine used for slaughtering. I went through all the stuff in the freezer and found one slice/slab left only. My missus must have cooked the other one and all the lean meat and the pork leg/trotter that I bought.
I took it out to defrost and looking at the instructions at the back of the packet…
…it did say pork belly too but one would have to remove the skin before use. I told my missus that and she asked me to just leave it there – she would cook it later that morning.
I did not tell her that somebody mentioned that she would use her flip pan when cooking char siew but coincidentally, my missus took out hers…
…to use that day.
Come lunchtime that afternoon, the char siew…
…was ready and it was perfect…almost!
I love char siew that is very well-charred and so siew-ed like this…
…and what we had that day, cooked using the sauce from Uncle James, tasted great except that it was a little bit too salty. My missus said that it would be just right for two slices/slabs of pork belly and we only had one.
It went very well with rice so on the whole, we enjoyed it, very sweet and juicy and tender too. I guess we can improve on it the next time we decide to cook this again – we still have a few packets of the sauce in the pantry.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I usually buy lean meat but when coming to char siew I prefer to use pork belly . I guess the fats makes a difference in the char siew. Never try Uncle James’ char siew sauce and I don’t recall seeing them on the shelves at the Supermarket I get my groceries. I use Lee Kum Kee BBQ sauce. Not bad too.
Quite well-marketed here alongside Dollee products. My friend was promoting them once. We used Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce before – I think it was banned one time, now we use Maggi.
https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/victor/
I see you’ve been busy honing your BBQ skills!
Don’t forget the dipping sauce too.
To me, it’s equally important.
Oh? Not for me. When I eat this outside, I will not want them to pour any sauce over the meat…and no, I do not want any dipping sauce to drown out the taste. I may have mentioned it before that I will only resort to sauces when something does not taste good or when one cannot go without the other.
Is that someone, me?? Lol.
Finally, she took the flip pan and used it. Long time I did not make char siew at home. Maybe one of these days, when I buy a nice slab of pork belly from the butcher.
Probably. My missus has used her flip pan a few times but it still looks brand new. I guess she takes good care of it.
We get very nice choice cuts of pork at the fruit and vegetable sundry shop in the next lane near my house but we have to go very early, around 7 would be nice or else it will all be sold out. They get fresh meat delivered from the butcher every morning on days when there is slaughtering. May be more expensive, I would not know but so convenient and so happy with the quality of the meat we buy from there. The chicken parts too!
Beautiful home made char siew and I love the charred bits. I haven’t come across Uncle James char siew sauce yet.
Oh? It is very well distributed here – I think it is affiliated to Dollee products.
that looks juicy. i have to try that one time, it reminds me of bbq liempo in the philippines 🙂
I went and googled. Sure looks similar in the photos! You should be able to find this char siew at the Chinese restaurants Down Under, the Cantonese ones especially. While you’re at it, you can go for the siew yoke, the roast pork belly with the crackling crispy skin. I think I had that at a yam cha place in Auckland.
That Flip Pan looks cool. I haven’t used one in years. Might have to get back into one!
It sure is very useful, not messy too…like the air fryer as the spluttering is contained inside.
Judging by the look, the char siu looks really good. Can I have some? 😀
Go grab a packet of the sauce, so easy to cook, so nice to eat.
I’m sure you can get very good char siew in Melaka, not like here – majority Foochows, very few Cantonese. Ours…not great, at best, just o.k. We had a good one, Cantonese guy from KL but he moved to the UK to join his brother in this line of business there.
I use pork belly too when making my char siu, the fat gives so much moisture which is need for dish like this. Your char siu looks great BTW
A little too salty this time around, room for improvement!