Traditional Chinese 燒味 Literal meaning roast-flavored Wade–Giles shao wei | Simplified Chinese 烧味 Hanyu Pinyin IPA [ʂáu wêi] | |
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Siu mei (Chinese: 燒味; Cantonese Yale: siu1 mei2; "shāo wèi" in standard Mandarin) is the generic name in Cantonese cuisine given to meats roasted on spits over an open fire or a huge wood burning rotisserie oven. It creates a unique, deep barbecue 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 and Macau.
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Preparation
Usually meat of this type is purchased as take-out as siu mei takes a great deal of resources to prepare, and few families in Hong Kong or mainland China have the equipment for it. Shops generally have large ovens and rotisserie-like utilities for cooking the meat. Families order or prepare their own plain white rice to accompany the siu mei. A siu mei meal usually consists of one box comprising half meat and half rice, and maybe some vegetables. Certain dishes, such as orange cuttlefish, or white cut chicken, are not roasted at all, but are often prepared and sold alongside BBQ roasted meats in siu mei establishments, hence they are generally classified as siu mei dishes.