Barbecued pork with rice

Char siew rice (Traditional Chinese: 叉燒飯, Simplified Chinese: 叉烧饭; Mandarin Pinyin: chāshāo fàn; Cantonese IPA: [tsʰɑ₅₅ sɪʊ₅₅ fɑn₂₂], Jyutping: caa1 siu1 faan6, Yale: chā siū faahn; Min Nan: Char Sio Beng), also known as cha siu fan, Char siu fan, BBQ pork with rice and char siew rice, is a dish common in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and in other places where there is a sizeable Cantonese-speaking community, or where there is Cantonese influence.

As its name implies, the dish is by its bare basics char siu served with plain rice. Regional variations may exist however. In Singapore, the dish is very often served in the same stall as that for the dominant Hainanese chicken rice, hence using the same chicken-flavoured rice, topped off with sliced cucumber, and always served with a choice of sauces comprising of garlic chilli and soy sauce. Upon request, it is also possible for both chicken and char siew to be served in the same dish.

In Hong Kong, the dish is almost always served at restaurants serving other BBQ or roasted meat items, such as soy sauce chicken, boiled sliced chicken, roasted pork, duck or goose. As a result cha siu is commonly served with one of these items with rice, although cha siu-only is the most popular. It is also popular to be served in lunchboxes.

Char Siew Rice in Popular Culture

The dish is presented to real dramatic effect in the Stephen Chow movie God of Cookery. However it is in a variant hereafter known as sorrowful rice.