Garlicky and savory-sweet, this roasted pork is a mainstay of Cantonese barbecue shops and dim sum houses. Aside from eating it straight, which is hard to resist, there are countless uses for it, including as a filling for steamed buns and garnish for wontons in soup. Make a batch of roast pork, and you’ll have enough for a number of different applications. To make the pork look appetizing, char siu (chashāo in Mandarin) is often prepared with food coloring. But chemical coloring isn’t needed here, as the marinade employs dark soy sauce to impart an appealing reddish brown color to the meat. Select a well-balanced and fragrant Chinese five-spice blend that is not too medicinal or too sweet. For an unusual smoky edge, roast the pork over a wood fire, as the pros do in Kuala Lumpur.
This version of pork skewers is made in the oven, which tastes just as good, but you could always throw these on the grill for a version closer to the original.
Developed in the 1980s by a chef in Hong Kong, this sauce is all about umami.
A pinch of sugar in the spice rub ensures picture-perfect grill marks with layers of flavor.
Leftover rotisserie chicken finds new purpose in this endlessly comforting dish.
A satisfying weeknight dinner from Tiffy Chen. Serve with rice or noodles.
Crispy tots topped with savory-sweet sauce, mayonnaise, furikake, scallion, and katsuobushi.
Bugak is the ideal light beer snack: It’s crunchy, salty, and the fresher it’s made, the better. Thin sheets of kimchi add an extra spicy savory layer.
A little shrimp paste goes a long, long, long way in this delicious vegetable dish.