Iconic dishes · Guangdong
Char Siu
叉烧 — Honey-barbecued pork: caramelised red edges, molten fat cap, barbecued over lychee wood — the signature of every Cantonese roast shop and the standard of Hong…
Char siu is cut from shoulder or belly, marinated in fermented tofu, hoisin, maltose and red yeast, then hung in a roasting oven till the sugar burns at the tips. Good char siu is half char by weight: the "charred edges" are the point. It is ordered by the portion over rice, with a ladle of the dripping sauce.
Canton 8 in Shanghai carried the dish to two Michelin stars at a famously gentle price; in Hong Kong the same logic lives in roast-meat shops like Kam’s. Wherever you eat it, order it "half lean half fat" (bun fei sau) — the middle of the pig, the best of both.
Where to eat it
- Canton 8 (Shanghai, two Michelin stars)
- Roast-meat shops across Hong Kong and Guangzhou
- Bingsheng or Lei Garden (Cantonese banquet versions)
Named tables that do it well
- Yu Tang Chun Nuan — Michelin 1 Star
- Jiang by Chef Fei — Michelin 2 Stars
- Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew — Michelin 2 Stars
- Taianmen Guangzhou — Michelin 2 Stars
Routes that eat their way here
More dishes to know
- Hairy Crab (大闸蟹)
- Dongpo Pork (东坡肉)
- Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐)
- Cantonese Roast Goose (烧鹅)
- Big Plate Chicken (Dapanji) (大盘鸡)
- Yangshuo Beer Fish (阳朔啤酒鱼)