Char Siu rice with red sauce

Char Siu is the stepping stone atop which you can easily build a dozen dishes. You will find several examples of the ways to enjoy it on this website, be it in a noodle soup, with dry noodles, in a baguette, or of course, with rice. Amongst the Char Siu variations I've tried in Thailand, Khao Moo Deng, a Thai-Chinese take on Cantonese Char Siu Pork, was my favourite. It was also the simplest ; rice, Char Siu, its sauce, and that's almost it. You would typically add an egg, halved, and cucumbers in the Thai version ; I went for a more Cantonese version instead, that has a thicker, spice-rich sauce, and added some broccoli, which bring an interesting bitterness to the dish. I had the Thai-Chinese version of this dish in Thailand, on the road from Bangkok to Chiang Mai ; we bought it from street vendors, at the station where we took our night train. It might look dry, but it came with a lovely side red sauce that you can see on the picture, in a plastic bag. It is a slightly sweeter, more liquidy take on the cantonese Char Siu sauce, but it is equally lovely. Bonus point : If your Char Siu is ready, this recipe takes as long as your rice to cook.

Char Siu with rice - Recipe

Ingredients - Advice & key points

• Char Siu Pork
  • If feeling lazy, simply buy it premade from your nearest Chinese market, if it offers some. Don't forget to ask for its sauce on the side !
  • I advise you to make it yourself : here is my Char Siu recipe, easy and providing you with enough leftovers for lots of different meals !
  • Tip : Keep some in your freezer for whenever you fancy.
• Rice
  • I recommend using jasmine rice for this recipe.
• Toppings
  • My only non-negociables here would only be some good Char Siu and sauce. You can skip any other item !
  • Additional toppings can be lovely though. Feel free to add any type of greens you like, pickled chili peppers, fried garlic/shallots, halved boiled or soft-boiled eggs.... Have some fun !

Let's get saucy!