Char siu is often misunderstood to be the name of a sauce, and it is confusing, because you can indeed buy a jar of sauce called char siu. In fact it is the name of a method of cooking pork, in a sticky, sweet and spicy sauce containing soy, sherry, hoisin, honey and five spice. It is dark and glorious, but I don’t only use it for pork (though last week I coated a pork belly roast with it and, oh my…)

This week I coated a thick porterhouse steak with it and let it marinate for a few hours, then grilled it on super-hot coals on the braai. I also dunked portobello mushrooms in it and skewered them, also to be cooked over the coals.

In short, think of the below recipe as an alternative to the ubiquitous South African steakhouse sauce. I suspect you’ll be glad you tried it, and it’s very easy to make your own, if you have a few Asian staples in the pantry, and honey and sherry to hand. Here’s how…

Char Siu Sauce, steakhouse style

Char siu-basted Porterhouse steak and portobello mushrooms, braaied. (Photo: Tony Jackman)

Ingredients

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup honey

⅓ cup hoisin sauce

3 Tbsp full cream sherry

1 tsp five spice (a mix of cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star anise and Szechaun peppercorns)

1 tsp garlic powder

Method

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Perfect as a baste for skewered pieces of pork before grilling (which is its traditional use) but can be used to coat steaks; pork, beef or chicken roasts; even lamb chops (I’d add rosemary to that), almost anything you’d put on a grill or braai. It’s a lovely alternative to the monkey gland style of many “steakhouse” sauces. DM/TGIFood

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