ottawa foodies

I am the opposite. I like the long one better. But both look great! It just looks very "Char Siu". I used Soy Sauce as my version of Char Siu since I don't like to use coloring chemical. But the red color definitely makes the food look much better.

I prefer the "piled up" presentation myself. Looks great! No problem posting home made stuff here -- after all, that's one of the purposes of this vendor-agnostic comment area ("char siu" instead of "char siu at restaurant X").

This looked and tasted good enough that it was worth dirtying up two plates. Which looks better?

I hope I didn't make a faux-pas by posting home-made goodies. I didn't know if I should post here or the forums. It COULD have come from a resto. ;) I have the rest of the process: www.flickr.com/photos/adlr16/

Submitted for your approval.
Where to get Char Siu? Well I made this batch myself. :)

I just got some dish/serving ware courtesy of a G/C from Blue Oasis. So I wanted to try them out, though I couldn't decide between my nice new olive green toy or classic white. It's not a perfected Chinese family recipe or even the same taste as when you buy it from the supermarkets and meat counters of the seasoned Chinese entrepeneurs...BUT IT'S DAMN CLOSE!

The best Cha Sui in Ottawa, and it's as good as or better than most in Toronto, is made at Ging Sing... yes the restaurant. They use the neck meat of the pig, which is leaner and tastier. But it is relatively more expensive....

Thanks for the tip, Ashley. I usually get BBQ pork from the BBQ shop you mentioned (can't remember the name either but Double Happiness sounds right). It's the best I've found in Ottawa but I'll keep your Toronto recommendation in mind for the future! Too bad my freezer is quite small. :)

Mark, I recommend that you don't order any BBQ pork dish in Ottawa. Most of the BBQ pork dishes in Chinatown get their supplies either from Kowloon Market or the one (Double Happiness?) at Somerset & Booth. There isn't any good BBQ pork stores in Ottawa either. If you go to Toronto, buy as many as you can and put them in your freezer.

The "BBQ Pork with Rice and Green Vegetable" (menu item #174) was a bit disappointing because the pork was very dry and lacked the salty sweetness that typically characterizes char siu.

This plate would make a decent meal for a very hungry person, but you would have to ask for some hot sauce to make it yummy. The price was great -- even though the online menu claims $7.50 I'm pretty sure the menu in the restaurant had it for $6.50.

One pound of BBQ pork is about $7. They'll chop it for you if you like and the delicious smell on the way home will drive you crazy! Best char siu in Ottawa.

Ok, so Char Siu was on sale last week at T&T and we decided to try it out.

The result: Unbelievably tasty, the best char siu I 've had in a while in Ottawa. Just the right mixture of garlicness and sweetness without being too salty (a common sin). The bargain price of $3.99/lb only made it better. There was a long queue and they even posted a little sign telling when the next batch would be out to avoid disappointment.

Way to go, whoever's manning the bbq!