Char Siu in Pressure Cooker

Ever wonder you can make char siu (Chinese BBQ pork) in a pressure cooker? With my recent kitchen toy, Instant Pot, I made this char siu dish with a significantly shorter cooking time. The pork meat was so tender and juicy. I don’t need to worry anymore, in case I forget my baking in oven, risking to ruin our dinner with over-baked, dried meat.

How about making the burnt marks on the surface? If you scroll down and browse the recipe below, you might yield to me something like this, “Is it that simple?” Yes, it’s downright simple and easy. Just a few minutes, you’ll get your char siu look exactly the same as those from oven. Previously, a few readers asked if we could make char siu without char siu sauce. Sure, you can. This is the recipe that you don't need any char siu sauce. I substituted it with two sauces that mainly made from fermented foods. The taste is evenly good as those baked from oven. Here’s the previous baked char siu recipe using oven.

Char Siu in Pressure Cooker Recipe (Printable recipe)
By Christine’s Recipes
Prep time: 10 mins + 3 hrs marinating
Cook time: 30 mins + plus 10 mins natural pressure release
Yield: 3 to 4 serves

Ingredients:

• 600 gm pork collar butt or pork neck
• 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp bean sauce ( I used Punchun 品珍.)
• 3 tsp red yeast rice sauce
• 2 tsp shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp freshly grated ginger juice
• 2 Tbsp honey
• ½ tsp garlic powder

Syrup for brushing:

• 2 Tbsp maltose (麥芽糖)
• 2 Tbsp hot water
• 1 Tbsp honey

Method:

1. Cut the pork into two chunks in 5-cm / 2-inch width. Put them into a glass container or zip-lock plastic bag. Mix the light soy sauce, bean sauce, red yeast rice sauce, shaoxing wine, ginger juice, honey and garlic powder. Pour over the pork. Mix well. Cover and chill in fridge for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
2. Put the pork together with the marinade into the inner pot of Instant Pot. Cover and turn the steam release handle to the “sealing” position. Press the “stew” button and set 25-minutes cooking time. Let it run natural release for 10 minutes. Quick release. When the float valve drops to the down position, open the cover and take out the pork. Reserve the sauce for dipping.
3. Mix all the ingredients of syrup well. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Pan-fry the cha siu pork until both sides are lightly brown. Brush syrup on the surfaces. Slice and serve. Enjoy!

Notes：

• Bean sauce is made of fermented yellow soybeans.
• Red yeast rice sauce is made of fermented red yeast rice. It tastes savoury and gives a vibrant red colour. That said, it can help lower blood pressure and blood sugar as well as prevent circulation diseases. Both sauces are available at Asian grocers.
• Maltose is a very thick syrup, yet not too sweet. It can be easily dissolved with hot water, available at Asian grocers or supermarkets.
• Marinate the pork for long enough time. It develops rich flavour inside. Remove the marinated pork from fridge and rest in room temperature for about 15 minutes before cooking.
• If you're interested in getting an Instant Pot, here's the info for you. I got it from Amazon (UK) as the model for sale in UK, with 220 volts, suitable for using in Australia.
• If you’re living in US or any countries with 110~120 volts electrical system, the model listed on Amazon (US) is the one to go for.