When I went to Cantonese restaurants with my parents, I was always attracted by their BBQ Pork (Cha Siu, or Cha Shao 叉燒) because of its lovely color in red and sweet fragrance. “Cha Siu” literally means "fork burn/roast". My mother said it’s better to use pork butt when roasting BBQ pork. Pork butt contains a lot of fat that results in moist, succulent meat after many hours of slow cooking with low heat.
Having moved to Australia, I have had less chances to go to Cantonese restaurants and Yamcha (飲茶). Well, it’s not bad though. I can learn to roast Cha Siu by myself at home. Traditionally, the masters who roast Cha Siu for Chinese restaurants would use a very huge oven. They skewer all seasoned boneless pork strips with long forks and place them in huge covered ovens so that all pork strips can be baked evenly and easily brushed with honey. However, we only have a moderate, home-size oven. How can we hang up a pork strip? Fortunately, my sister-in-law shared a trick with me. It’s very easy and simple. I’m very impressed with the result by using her trick. Now I can always enjoy professional-like, yet DIY kind of BBQ pork at home.