Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Homemade Char Sau 叉烧


Last Sat I had my second attempt on Homemade Char Sau using the Buffalo Smart Cooker. During the first attempt few months ago, the taste was ok but the Char Sau looked too MJ (not black enough) since the recipe did not mention putting in dark soy sauce and I followed strictly. But for this second attempt, I put in dark soy sauce and lots of it. And the results look more like Char Sau. Taste wise? I give myself two thumbs up!

15 comments:

MrsBaDaK @ Jocelyn said...

WAAAAAAHHHH !!!!!!! Char Sau, soooo yummy !!!!... Can I hv the recipe ?.. Jeff loves char sau... maybe I can try to make for him... hehehehe...

jjcht said...

I use the Buffalo Smart Cooker to do it leh. not oven baked. But i saw the oven bake recipe somewhere in a Chinese food blog. Let me find it and translate for u. I think making char sau the most important part is to marinate the meat overnite. Again, planning is the key factor :)

jjcht said...

Found this link but in Chinese: http://chingkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-post_30.html

You can see the photos. Nice right?
Let me translate the recipe for u:
Ingredients:
Pork 250g
salt 1/4t
sugar 1t
dark soy sauce 1t
soy sauce 1t
char sau sauce 1t
sesame oil 1/2t
Sao Xing rice wine 1/2t

Methods:
1) Marinate the meat with all the ingredients. Keep in fridge overnight.
2) Oven baked 180c, 50min. Cut into slides and serve.

Sounds simple ya. Let me try it out this weekend :)

Anonymous said...

Hi,

The char shao you made looked very nice....May I know how you use buffalo smart cooker to make this? :)

jjcht said...

Hi there, Anonymous. My friend? The char sau not only look nice, they taste good too. Here is the method to prepare char sau with Buffalo smart cooker:
Ingredients:
Pork
sugar 4tbsp
oyster sauce 2tbsp
soy sauce 2tbsp
dark soy sauce 1tbsp
garlic
pinch of pepper
nan ru (red fermented beancurd) half piece

Method:
1) Mix all ingredients above and leave overnite in fridge.
2) Put mixture (in step 1) into the Buffalo Smart Cooker. Switch on. Press "Cooking/Reheat" button. 2) Wait til the steam comes out. Open the lid and turn the pork 2-3 times until the Cook button turns to green. Ready to serve.

Unknown said...

I'm thinking of buying this Buffalo Smart Cooker. Can you tell me how you find the smart functions? I primarily want to use it for cooking brown rice. But now I'm interested in all the smart functions. It's very expensive; so I'm quite hesitant.

jjcht said...

Hi Colleen, thanks for dropping by. I had used all the functions, it's a very useful kitchen helper. If budget is a concern, you may try to look for other brands with similar functions. Such microcomputer cookers are getting more popular for modern lifestyles nowadays.

Anonymous said...

May i ask which MENU to choose on the Buffalo Smart Cooker?

jjcht said...

I used "Cooking/Reheat" button.

Renny said...

I am considering getting a Buffalo Smart Cooker & would love to know anything about it at all from someone who owns one! I am having trouble finding reviews on it. Can it hold the rice at warm for an extended period? Does the rice stick much? Does the rice burn? & most importantly, have you cooked brown rice & are you happy with the results? Thanks for any input you can offer.

jjcht said...

Hi Renny, it's better to drop by the Buffalo shop to take a look of the cooker, talk to the salesperson and attend the product demo (if any). The rice did stick a abit and that was probably becoz I cooked the rice in not big amount (i think 2 cups only). But the rice didn't burn. I have not tried to cook brown rice with it. What I usually do is use it to cook soup/dish and I used the normal rice cooker to cook rice. Hope that helps.

Kawaii said...

Hi,
I just received a buffalo rice cooker as a present along with a small recipe book. Majority of the recipes requires me to blanch the meat first. Do you find this nessasary? I feel like it defeats the purpose of less work if I have to use a separate pot to blanch the meat before putting it in the buffalo rice cooker.

Btw your BBQ pork looks delicious! I will try making it once I learn how to use the rice cooker.

jjcht said...

Wow, you are so lucky to receive a Buffalo Rice Cooker as a gift. I only blanch the meat if I use it to cook soup. No need to blanch the meat if to make char sau. Need to marinate the meat before cooking.

Kawaii said...

Hi,

Right now I'm not feeling so lucky with this rice cooker. Having a hard time learning how to cook rice in it. My old rice cooker was so much easier. Btw do you know how to change the clock on it?

Thanks!

jjcht said...

I usually use the normal rice cooker to cook rice and use the Buffalo Smart Cooker to cook other stuffs, e.g. soups, char sau, fried rice, stew pork legs etc. I remember the Buffalo salesperson told me that if want to use the Buffalo Smart Cooker to cook rice, must cook a lot of rice, e.g. 3-4 cups, coz it tends to be more sticky and stick to the pot. I used it to cook 2 cups and it really stick to the bottom of the pot. I am not sure how to change the clock of the pot. May need to bring it back to the shop and ask the staff to change it.