FOOD NEWS
The Crucial Ingredient That Gives Chinese Barbecue Its Sticky Glaze
BY TOM MAXWELL
Char Siu, the Cantonese-style pork barbecue, is known for its glistening glaze, and there’s only one ingredient that will help you achieve that high-gloss sheen at home: maltose.
Maltose syrup is pretty easy to find, both online and in brick-and-mortar stores. It's incredibly thick, which is what makes Char Siu so sticky.
We recommend heating up the jar in a water bath or microwave and covering your spoon with oil before using it. It gets extremely hot, so use extreme caution when heating it.
Once you've freed the maltose syrup from its container, mix it in with the other marinade or glaze ingredients.
In the middle of a searing hot grill or oven, it happily sets about its job, creating that exquisite glaze. It can also be used with Beijing roast duck, mooncakes, or sticky rice.