I eat a ton of Mexican and Cajun food. A ton. So I needed to shake things up, and char siu was the answer.

Char siu is Chinese barbecue pork. It’s sweet, salty, a little warm from the five-spice, with a sticky glaze that chars in spots. Traditionally it’s made with fatty pork shoulder. I used a pork tenderloin, because it’s lean, cooks fast and soaks up a marinade like nobody’s business.

Then the store didn’t have Chinese five-spice. That’s just life where I work. You improvise. I mixed my own from what I had, and you’d never know. The blend is in the recipe card.

Tenderloin vs. Traditional Char Siu

Pork shoulder has plenty of fat, so it forgives you if you leave it in too long. Tenderloin doesn’t. Pull it at 135°F, give it a few minutes under the broiler to set the glaze, and let it rest. It’ll coast up to about 145°F and stay juicy and slightly pink in the middle, which is exactly where you want pork tenderloin.

Tips for the Best Char Siu Pork Tenderloin

Save the marinade. Don’t toss it. It becomes the glaze. Just make sure it comes to a full rolling boil, since it’s been sitting with raw pork.

Watch the broiler. Honey burns fast. Five minutes is usually enough. Stay close and pull it when the glaze is bubbling with a few dark spots.

No Shaoxing wine? Dry sherry works. I used a sherry cooking wine and it was great. You can also skip it.

The red color is optional. Restaurant char siu gets its red from food coloring. I skipped it. Tastes the same.

Let it marinate. Four hours minimum. Overnight is even better.

What to Serve With It

I kept it simple with white rice and some garlicky pan-blistered green beans. It also makes great fried rice or sandwiches the next day, if any survives.

Sticky Char Siu Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin marinated in hoisin, honey, soy and five-spice, roasted hot, then brushed with the reduced marinade and broiled until sticky and charred at the edges.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Marinating Time 4 hours hrs

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Char Siu Marinade

• 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry optional
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder or the homemade blend below
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 pinch white pepper black pepper works too
• red food coloring a few drops, optional

Pork

• 1 pork tenderloin about 1 1/2 lb, silver skin trimmed

Homemade Five-Spice Blend (if you can’t find it)

• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp fennel seed crushed
• 1 small pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 1 pinch ground anise optional

Equipment

• Sheet Pan
• Aluminum Foil
• Small Saucepan
• Instant-Read Meat Thermometer
• Basting Brush

Method

 

Marinate

1. Whisk together all the marinade ingredients.
2. Pat the tenderloin dry and put it in a zip-top bag or shallow dish. Pour the marinade over it and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, turning once if you can.

Roast

1. Heat the oven to 425°F and line a sheet pan with foil.
2. Lift the tenderloin out of the marinade and let the excess drip back into the bowl. Save every bit of that marinade for the glaze. Place the pork on the sheet pan.
3. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, until the thickest part reads 135°F. A thinner tenderloin may be ready closer to 20 to 25 minutes, so start checking early.

Glaze and Broil

1. While the pork roasts, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring it to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, and boil until it reduces by about a third and coats the back of a spoon, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. When the pork hits 135°F, turn the oven to broil. Brush the glaze over the whole tenderloin. Broil about 6 inches from the element for about 5 minutes, until the glaze bubbles and chars in spots. Watch it closely.
3. Rest for 5 minutes (it should reach about 145°F). Slice and drizzle with any leftover glaze.

Notes

Five-spice: no store-bought five-spice? Mix the homemade blend and use all of it in place of the 1/2 tsp.

Cooking sherry is already salted, so don’t add any extra salt.

Temperature: tenderloin is lean. Pulling it at 135°F and letting the broil and rest carry it to 145°F keeps it juicy.

Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge and are great in fried rice.

🛒 Shop the gear I used in this recipe