Siu Mei in Hong Kong

Do you know that the siu mei (燒味) we have literally means “barbecued- flavor” and…

Hey, what’s that smell?

Oh…speaking of the devil…It’s siu mei!

What was I talking about? Right, siu mei is actually a general name for Cantonese dishes which have the meats roasted on BBQ spits or in huge ovens. And sometimes they are served with different sauces.

“So they are just barbecued meat with barbecue sauce? I have that in my country as well. What’s so special?”

Nothing  special, really. But depends on how the meats are seasoned, marinated and roasted, the siu mei could give a unique scent and taste. So, give them a try before you write them off, ok?

One of the more iconic siu mei food in Hong Kong would be char siu (叉燒). Char siu, which is also called “barbecued pork”, literally means “forked and roasted” because that’s how it is cooked. The texture and fat content of char siu can vary when used with different pork cuts (like loin or belly). The pork is usually seasoned with honey, five-spice powder, dark soy sauce, hoisin sauce and the like. Sometimes red food coloring is also used to give it some appealing color.

Char siu can be served alone as main dish, as side dish with rice or noodles, and used for stuffing in Barbecue Pork Bun. This versatility, together with its sweetness and smoke-grilled flavor is what makes char siu so popular.

Another famous siu mei choice would be roasted goose.

Goose is famous for its distinct flavor, and can you imagine how great it would smell after being seasoned with spice and roasted in the charcoal furnace? And let’s not ignore its crispy skin and juicy meat…a simple bite of it is enough to stimulate every single part of your tongue. Since roasted goose is greasy, lots of people prefer to serve it with the sweetish-sour plum sauce to counter the oily feeling. Like, char siu, roasted goose can be eaten alone or with rice and noodles (no such thing as roasted goose bun though).

But since geese are more costly, lots of standard restaurants would have roasted ducks instead. So ask if you want to make sure what you are eating is what you want to eat.

There are many more options like roasted pig, roasted pork rib and soy sauce chicken, but I will leave the exploration to you.

Even though they taste good, don’t eat too much. Just look at how they are prepared and it shouldn’t be too surprising that eating too much could result in heart disease and even cancer…

So…just one more piece of char siu, I guess. Or maybe two more pieces, or…

To hell with that, I eat what I want.