Char Siu

Char Siu

Char siu is Cantonese barbecue pork, lacquered in a sweet, sticky glaze of hoisin, honey and five-spice and charred at the edges, so the wine wants ripe fruit to meet the sweetness, a little spice to echo the five-spice and soft tannin. A fruit-forward, spiced red leads. Avoid austere, high-tannin reds.

Pairs Perfectly

A Zinfandel, California, USA. Brambly, ripe and gently sweet-spiced, it meets the caramelised glaze and the five-spice without a hard edge.

Pairs Well

A Gewürztraminer from Alsace, off-dry, France. Its lychee-and-spice perfume chimes with the five-spice and the off-dry fruit answers the glaze.

A Primitivo, Puglia, Italy. The same ripe, sweet-fruited register as Zinfandel, soft and easy to find.

Avoid

Austere, high-tannin reds, which clash with the sweet, sticky glaze.

Failing That

A Cotes du Rhone, France.

If All Else Fails

Garnacha, Spain.

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