''Siu mei'' () is the generic Cantonese name of meats roasted on spits over an open fire or a large wood-burning

rotisserie Rotisserie, also known as spit-roasting, is a style of roasting where meat is skewered on a spit – a long, solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire, or roasted in an oven. This meth ...

oven. It creates a unique, deep

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

flavor and the roast is usually coated with a flavorful sauce (a different sauce is used for each variety of meat) before roasting. Siu mei is very popular in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and overseas

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

s, especially with

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

emigrants Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

. In Hong Kong, the average person eats siu mei once every four days, with

char siu ''Char siu'' () is a Cantonese-style barbecued pork. Originating in Guangdong, it is eaten with rice, used as an ingredient for noodle dishes or in stir fries, and as a filling for '' cha siu bao'' or pineapple buns. Five-spice powder is t ...

being the most popular, followed by siu yuk (roast pork or pork belly) second, and roast goose third. Some dishes, such as white cut chicken and

soy sauce chicken Soy sauce chicken is a traditional Cantonese cuisine dish made of chicken cooked with soy sauce. It is considered a ''siu mei'' dish in Hong Kong. Another Cantonese dish, white cut chicken, often served with a salty ginger-onion paste, is mo ...

, are not roasted at all but are considered siu mei nonetheless. Siu mei is also known colloquially as siu laap (), as the latter term encompasses ''siu mei'' and '' laap mei'', a type of preserved meat. They are usually prepared in the same kitchen during autumn and winter season in what are often known as ''siu laap'' establishments or Chinese BBQ shops. Siu laap is also often sold alongside lou mei, such as orange cuttlefish and pig's ear.

History

After meetings held between the Food Hygiene Select Committee, the Markets and Abattoirs Select Committee and the Street Traders Select Committee on the topic of "Sale of Cooked Food, Siu Mei, and Lo Mei in Public Markets" in 1978, siu mei shops officially entered into Hong Kong public markets. The public market is a popular place for ordinary citizens to buy siu mei.

Preparation

As ''siu mei'' takes a great deal of resources to prepare, requiring large

oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool that is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...

s and rotisserie-like utilities for cooking the meat, few homes in

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, or overseas have the equipment for it. Usually meat of this type is prepared and sold from ''siu laap'' shops located in

hawker centre A hawker centre (), or cooked food centre (), is an often open-air complex commonly found in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. They are intended to provide a more sanitary alternative to mobile hawker carts and contain many stall ...

s (in Hong Kong),

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

s (overseas Chinese malls such as Pacific Mall), ethnic supermarkets (for example, the T & T Supermarket chain in Canada) and restaurants, which tend to mass-produce the numerous ''siu mei'' varieties rather than preparing it at each customer's request. The advantage of ''siu mei'' and ''lou mei'' is that the resulting meat retains its flavor and texture for the whole day, in contrast to

Peking duck Peking duck is a dish from Beijing that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners by ...

or crispy fried chicken, which have to be served immediately after preparation and cooking (hence these are eaten in restaurants), making ''siu mei'' and ''lou mei'' popular for party platters and take-out.

Take-out A take-out (US, Canada, Philippines) or takeaway (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) is a prepared meal or other food items purchased at a restaurant or fast food outlet with the intent to eat elsewhere. A concept found in many ancient cultures, take ...

is quite common, as customers order or prepare their own plain

white rice White rice is milled rice that has had the husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavor, texture and appearance of the seed; helps prevent spoilage (extends its storage life); and makes it easier to digest. After brown rice is milled ...

to accompany the ''siu mei''; a ''siu mei'' meal comprises meat atop plain

or noodles, and often with vegetables (

napa cabbage Napa cabbage (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''pekinensis,'' or ''Brassica rapa'' Pekinensis Group) is a type of Chinese cabbage originating near the Beijing region of China that is widely used in East Asian cuisine. Since the 20th century, it has al ...

choy sum Choy sum (also spelled choi sum or choi sam in Cantonese; cai xin in Standard Mandarin) is a leafy vegetable commonly used in Chinese cuisine. It is a member of the genus '' Brassica'' of the mustard family, Brassicaceae ('' Brassica rapa'' va ...

, or gai lan), usually served in a plastic foam take-out container or on a plate. In Chinese

fine dining Fine dining is a restaurant experience that is typically more sophisticated, special, and expensive than at a typical restaurant. The décor of such restaurants features higher-quality materials, with establishments having certain rules of din ...

and banquet halls, the barbecue platter yu chu (roasted suckling pig) or siu yuk (roasted pig belly), often in combination with char siu,

, siu aap (roasted duck) and jellyfish, is an appetizer that comprises the first dish in the ten-course Chinese banquet meal, while varieties of siu laap can also be ordered as full dishes à la carte (usually a half or whole chicken/duck/goose).

Varieties of siu mei and lou mei

Char siu ''Char siu'' () is a Cantonese-style barbecued pork. Originating in Guangdong, it is eaten with rice, used as an ingredient for noodle dishes or in stir fries, and as a filling for '' cha siu bao'' or pineapple buns. Five-spice powder is t ...

() - barbecued pork * Siu ngo () - roasted goose * Siu aap () - roasted duck * White cut chicken () - marinated steamed chicken *

Soy sauce chicken Soy sauce chicken is a traditional Cantonese cuisine dish made of chicken cooked with soy sauce. It is considered a ''siu mei'' dish in Hong Kong. Another Cantonese dish, white cut chicken, often served with a salty ginger-onion paste, is mo ...

() - chicken cooked with soy sauce * Siu yuk () - roasted pig, with crisp skin * Yu chu () - roasted suckling pig, with crisp skin * Orange cuttlefish () - marinated cuttlefish * Lou sui aap yik () - braised duck wings in

master stock A master stock or master sauce () is a Stock (food), stock which is repeatedly reused to Poaching (cooking), poach or Braising, braise meats. It has its origins in Teochew cuisine and is typically used in Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese and Fujian cu ...

Gallery

File:HK KTD 觀塘 Kwun Tong 瑞和街街市 Shui Wo Street outdoor food market shop 燒味店 siu mei April 2023 Px3 Chaa siu roasted pork.jpg File:HK WC 灣仔 Wan Chai 灣仔道 Wan Chai Road 街市 market shop 燒味店 siu mei 燒肉 siu yuk April 2024 R12S 22.jpg File:HK WTSD 清水灣道 Clear Water Bay Road 牛池灣街市 Ngau Chi Wan Market 燒味檔 Siu mei food August 2022 Px3 14.jpg File:HK SYP 西環 Sai Ying Pun 正街 Centre Street 皇后大道西 Queen's Road West shop siu mei September 2022 Px3 02.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siu Mei Hong Kong cuisine Cantonese cuisine Cantonese words and phrases Barbecue Spit-cooked foods American Chinese cuisine Chinese meat dishes

History

Preparation

Varieties of siu mei and lou mei

Gallery

See also

References