Instant Pot Char Siu is a pressure cooker adaptation of the iconic Chinese pork bbq dish popular at Chinese restaurants. Hoisin, soy sauce, honey, and spices combine to create a sweet, salty, sticky glaze that gives the tender pork bold flavors. Slice the pork and serve with sauteed vegetables in a rice or noodle bowl or shred the pork for Asian-inspired tacos.
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Char Siu (also called Xa Xiu or Chashu) is a sticky Chinese bbq pork dish that’s very popular at Chinese restaurants.
Although traditionally made with pork belly, char siu can also be made with pork shoulder or pork butt, which also happen to be cheaper cuts.
And that works out perfectly when you make Instant Pot Char Siu since pork shoulder is the best type of pork to pressure cook in the Instant Pot.
In this recipe, the pork is pressure cooked first and then finished by searing on a grill, frying pan, or broiler.
This allows you to pre-cook the pork and save time before dinner, since the final searing is so quick. It’s also helpful when entertaining because you save time by getting most of the work out of the way.
Sarah says ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Made this last night, as directed, and it was delicious…. THANK YOU for such fabulous recipes and such thorough descriptions of ingredients and suggestions of your favorite brands. My goal is to cook my way through your recipes 🙂
I like to make rice bowls with Instant Pot Chinese bbq pork using brown rice, vegetables (bok choy, carrots, spinach, and/or bell peppers) sauteed in soy sauce and oyster sauce, and a drizzle of the reserved sauce over everything. Sometimes I add pickled cucumbers and carrots. And if I’m in the mood, I top it with a fried egg.
A noodle bowl, ramen, or Asian tacos are also great ways to incorporate char siu pork. See the tips below on how I make Asian tacos with the char siu pork.
➡ If you’re looking for more Chinese Instant Pot recipes, try my brown fried rice, white fried rice, or beef lo mein with broccoli.
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Ingredients for Char Siu Instant Pot Recipe
💡 Ingredient and Recipe Tips
🥩 Pork Shoulder: Use pork shoulder for the best results. It’s fattier and cooks perfectly in the Instant Pot. Lean cuts like pork tenderloin won’t give the same tender, flavorful results.
✂️ Cutting: Slice boneless pork into long strips about 2 to 2 ½ inches thick. Narrow pieces allow flavors to penetrate better than large chunks.
🍖 Country-Style Ribs: Boneless country-style ribs are perfect – they’re pre-cut shoulder strips ready to cook!
⏰ Marinate Overnight: For maximum flavor, marinate pork overnight in the fridge. If you’re short on time, marinate as long as possible, or you can even skip the marination.
🔴 Red Color: Traditional char siu uses red fermented tofu or food coloring for its iconic color. I’ve omitted these, but add either if you prefer the restaurant look.
5️⃣ Five-Spice Powder: Chinese five-spice is a blend of star anise, fennel, Szechuan peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon is available in most grocery store spice aisles.
🍳 Browning: The pork is delicious without browning, but caramelizing adds gorgeous shine and deeper flavor. Sauté in a pan or broil in the oven for 4 minutes per side.
🍶 Rice Wine: Use Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine) for best results. Mirin (Japanese) works, but is sweeter – reduce honey or sugar if using it. Avoid rice wine vinegar!
🥢 Light Soy Sauce: Chinese light soy sauce is different from Japanese soy sauce and NOT the same as low-sodium. Substitute Japanese soy sauce if needed.
🍯 Dark Soy Sauce: Dark soy sauce is thicker and sweeter than light soy sauce. It adds color and depth. Substitute light or Japanese soy sauce with a dash of molasses.
🔥 Burn Message: The recipe was tested for 6-quart models. If using an 8-quart, increase the marinade by 50%. If your Instant Pot tends to get the burn error, increase the water to ¼ cup.
🌮 Pulled Pork Tacos: Shred the cooked pork and crisp in an oiled pan, adding reserved sauce a tablespoon at a time. Serve on tortillas with red cabbage, cilantro, pickled daikon and carrots, reserved sauce, and jalapeño or sriracha mayo.
❓ FAQs
You don’t need to add much water. All the sauces, rice wine, and honey contribute to the minimum liquid requirement. Also, the meat releases liquid. If you tend to get the burn message, add ¼ cup of broth or water.
This is traditionally a barbecue pork recipe, and browning allows the meat to caramelize. However, you could serve it over rice with some sauce, if you wish.
⏲️ How to Make Instant Pot Char Siu Pork
- In a medium bowl, stir together honey, hoisin, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, five-spice powder, ginger, garlic, and water.
- Stir together the sauce and pork. If possible, marinate for a couple of hours or overnight. Transfer the pork and sauce to the Instant Pot.
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.
- The display will go from On to 25:00. The float valve will go up after a few minutes. The display will count down to 00:00.
- Do a natural release of pressure. Once the float valve goes down, the lid can be opened.
- Carefully transfer pork to a medium bowl and set aside.
- Heat the sauce in Saute mode to reduce it. If desired, add a cornstarch slurry to the sauce to thicken it quickly. (To make the cornstarch slurry, combine 1 to 2 tablespoons cornstarch with equal parts water and whisk into a smooth paste).
- Heat a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Drizzle a teaspoon or two of oil in the frying pan. In batches, brown the pork on both sides. Don’t crowd the pan. Add some of the reduced sauce as needed to deglaze.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Instant Pot Char Siu | Chinese Pork Bbq
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing wine)
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 2 teaspoon garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon water
- 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder (1.4 kg)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions
- Cut pork into long strips about 2 to 2½ inches thick.
- Mix together 2 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 2 tablespoon Chinese rice wine, 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder, 1 tablespoon ginger, 2 teaspoon garlic and 2 tablespoon water.
- If you have the time, marinate the 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder in the sauce for 8 hours or overnight.
- Transfer the pork and marinade to the Instant Pot.
- Close the lid and pressure cook on High Pressure for 25 minutes.
- Do a natural pressure release (NPR). [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Open the Instant Pot and carefully remove pork from the Instant Pot using a large slotted spoon or tongs, place it in a bowl and let it cool for a few minutes.
- Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat.
- Brown the pork, in batches, on both sides until caramelized and browned, about 5 to 8 minutes. If necessary, pour 2 to 3 tablespoon of the sauce from the Instant Pot over the meat to moisten the pork while it’s cooking. Make sure it doesn't burn. Transfer pork to a serving dish.
- In Saute mode, reduce the sauce in the Instant Pot until thickened. If desired, add a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. To make the cornstarch slurry, combine 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with equal parts of water and whisk into a smooth paste. Gradually add the cornstarch to the sauce.
- Slice the pork into medallions and serve with vegetables and rice or noodles. Drizzle with reserved sauce and sprinkle with 2 teaspoon sesame seeds.
Notes
- Country-style ribs can be used instead of pork shoulder.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Diane N says
This recipe is delicious! Followed directions. Only thing I added to marinade was a squirt of Sriracha. Didn’t need to brown it. Just reduced the marinade in pot until it thickened and spooned some over meat. Made it in an old fashioned stove top pressure cooker for 25 minutes and it came out perfect. Will make ramen soup tomorrow with leftover meat.
Neena Panicker says
Diane, thank you for taking the time to comment and for your tips. I’m so glad you like the char siu pork recipe!
Sarah says
I mean, nice recipe but I cannot find HOW MUCH water anywhere? Am I mad?
Neena Panicker says
Hi Sarah, great question! You don’t need to add much water. When you pressure cook, any liquid in the recipe can take the place of water (as long as it’s not starchy). So all the sauces (and the liquid released from the meat) are enough to bring the Instant Pot to pressure!
Jim says
Thank you! I’ve been trying to find an easy way to make charsiu. We all loved the recipe.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Jim, I’m thrilled to hear that you loved the recipe!
Suzanne says
Just finished making this, fantastic!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Awesome, thank you for commenting, Suzanne.
Sarah Empey says
Made this last night, as directed, and it was delicious. I took screenshots of the soy sauces and rice wine and took them to my local Asian market. With the help of an employee, we found the exact ones for only $1.99 per bottle.
I’m looking into making my own Chinese Five Spice just for fun. THANK YOU for such fabulous recipes and such thorough descriptions of ingredients and suggestions of your favorite brands. My goal is to cook my way through your recipes 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Awesome, Sarah! Thank you for following the blog and for trying out my recipes – I’m excited that you’ve found me 🙂
Jan says
Thank you soooo much for this recipe! I’ve been using an oven method -really delicious, but very messy, so I don’t do it often.. Your recipe is fantastic & so much easier & sooooo delicious! I only had one soy sauce & no rice wine on hand, but went ahead with everything else. I did use 1/4 cup water as you suggested as well as boneless country style ribs. Perfect. Then browned it all up with a mealthy crisp lid. OMGosh! Best Char Siu pork ever – even better than take out & melt in your mouth tender! Can’t wait to try with all ingredients & pork shoulder. GREAT recipe – you are a genius – thank you, thank you, thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Jan, thank you for that comment – you’ve really made my day! I’m excited to hear how much you like the recipe <3