Busy nights made better with Air Fryer Char Siu Chicken – your sweet and savoury express ticket to Chinese BBQ flavour bomb!
My oven roasted Char Siu Chicken recipe is one of the top hits on this blog. One of the most frequent asked questions I get is whether you can air fry the chicken as well. The answer is a huge resounding ‘YES!’ with the exact same oven instructions and temperature. I still get questions on that though, so here’s a dedicated blog post for Air Fryer Char Siu Chicken for you! I slightly adjusted the timing here to be *more* air fryer accurate.
This char siu (char siew) recipe will get you succulent chicken that is irresistibly savoury-sweet, with accessible ingredients, all achieved in the convenience of your air fryer.
A quick disclaimer: my recipe follows my viral Char Siu oven-roasted recipe, which slightly veers off the traditional recipe. See more information on this in the ‘Key Ingredients’ section below.
Why You’ll Love this Air Fryer Char Siu Chicken
- Quick and Easy: This recipe is a game-changer for busy weeknights. In less than 30 minutes, you can have restaurant-quality char siu chicken on your dinner table.
- Bold Flavours: Char siu, or Chinese BBQ sauce, is a balance of sweet and savoury flavours! This is such a crowd-pleaser, perfect for those who love rich, umami tastes.
- Versatility: This Air Fryer Char Siu chicken can be used in multitudes of ways! Serve it over rice, noodles, as a side dish, or even as a main!
Key Ingredients for Air Fryer Char Siu Chicken
There are two components to Char Siu Chicken – the chicken and the char siu marinade:
Boneless Chicken
Your favourite boneless chicken of choice will work beautifully for this. Chicken thighs are perfect for this recipe due to their juicy, tender texture, but don’t discount on chicken breasts! If you follow this recipe, you will end up with juicy meat.
Totally optional, but in this recipe, I sliced a chicken breast in half, replicating the look of char siu pork slices. I also liked that they sliced easily into bite-sized pieces.
Can I use bone-in chicken? Yes! I used boneless chicken because it cooks quick. But bone-in chicken will require a longer cook time, so be sure to adjust accordingly. Boneless chicken can cook in the air fryer for 15 to 20 minutes, but with bone-in chicken, it will take a longer time 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the cut of chicken.
Can I use other proteins? Yes! This Char Siu marinade is EXCEPTIONAL on firm tofu. Pat tofu first, before coating with the marinade. You can of course use the traditional pork, but the cook times will be to your own discretion. I do not consume this meat, hence will not be able to advise on the cook times.
Char Siu Marinade
The char siu marinade is the heart of this dish!
- Garlic and Ginger: Fresh minced garlic and ginger add an aromatic kick to the marinade, infusing the chicken with depth of flavour.
- Light Soy Sauce: To enhance the umami taste and saltiness of the char siu sauce.
- Dark Soy Sauce: This adds a gorgeous dark colour to the meat, while adding a hint of sweetness.
- Oyster Sauce: This adds another depth of umami flavour.
- Honey: Traditionally maltose is used to create a sweet, stickiness to char siu. Instead I used honey which is easily found.
- Brown Sugar: Another sweetener is brown sugar, which adds a nice caramelised note to the protein. You can easily replace this with regular sugar.
- Five Spice Powder: Chinese Five Spice Powder is usually a blend of five ground spices, usually cinnamon, cloves, star anise, coriander seeds and cumin. Other spices may be included such as fennel and sichuan peppercorns, depending on the brand.
I don’t find there to be much difference between the different brands.
Find it in the spice section (where the white and black peppers will be), labelled as Five Spice Powder or Chinese Five Spice Powder.
Some options:
- McCormick Gourmet, Chinese Five Spice Blend, 1.75 oz
- 123 Organic Simply Natural Organic Chinese Five Spices Powder, 70 g
In Singapore, a brand that I commonly go for is Sing Long. This brand is easily available locally and for cheap.
- Red Food Colouring (optional): This is the most controversial ingredient in this marinade, for sure, but this is the main way hawkers get colour on their meats here in Singapore. Feel free to omit if you’re not comfortable, or try beetroot food colouring for a more natural alternative.
Other Ingredients:
- Fermented Red Beancurd
Traditionally char siu does not use red food colouring. The colour is derived from red fermented beancurd, which further adds a salty umami to the chicken. Red beancurd is not too easy to find, which is why I omitted this ingredient in my recipe.
If you manage to get your hands on a jar of this, use about a tablespoon worth of it in the marinade. Be sure to also adjust the soy sauces, so you don’t end up with a salty marinade!
How to Make Air Fryer Char Siu Chicken
Step 1: Marinade the Chicken
In a bowl, combine all of the marinade ingredients until a paste forms.
Toss the chicken in this marinade, ensuring they’re well-coated. Let them marinate for at least 15 minutes to soak up all those delicious flavours, overnight is always best.
OPTION: Slice Chicken
You can marinade the boneless chicken as is, but I sliced it in half to create two strips of meat.
Step 2: Preheat the Air Fryer
Preheat your air fryer to 375°F (190°C) for 5 minutes.
Step 3: Air Fry the Chicken
Place the marinated chicken in the air fryer basket, making sure they’re not overcrowded. I like to line my basket first, because the marinade can be a sticky stubborn mess to remove.
Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping them halfway through, until they’re golden brown and cooked through.
OPTION: Make the Glaze
While the chicken is cooking, heat the remaining marinade in a small saucepan. Allow it to come to a boil, and simmer it to reduce to a thick, glossy glaze.
This step is optional, because some would not feel comfortable cooking chicken marinade. Skip the glaze in that case – I assure you the air fryer char siu chicken is good even without!
Step 4: Allow Chicken to Rest
Once chicken is done, remove from the air fryer, and allow to rest for about 5 minutes to seal in the juices.
OPTION: Glaze the Chicken
If you made the glaze: once the chicken is done, brush the char siu glaze generously over the chicken thighs.
Return them to the air fryer for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the glaze is sticky and caramelized. If you have extra char siu glaze leftover, you can use this as sauce later on!
Step 5: Slice and Serve!
Slice char siu.
Sprinkle with chopped scallions and serve your Air Fryer Char Siu Chicken with steamed rice, noodles, or your favourite side dishes.
How to Serve Air Fryer Char Siu Chicken?
Char Siu is INCREDIBLY versatile. Serve it as toppings over:
If you have leftover (I always do), chop the char siu into smaller chunks and stir fry with rice for some quick flavoured char siu fried rice!
More Recipes Like This
- Easy Roasted Chicken Rice
- Air Fryer Sweet & Sour Chicken
- Oven Baked Kung Pao Chicken
- Chicken Kong Bak Bao
- Taiwanese Chicken Lu Rou Fan
Air Fryer Char Siu Chicken
2
servings15
minutes15
minutesIngredients
300g or 1 boneless, chicken breast
- Marinade:
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp garlic, grated
1 tsp ginger, grated
1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp red food colouring (optional)
Directions
- In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the char siu marinade.
- Place the boneless chicken in your marinade container, or a resealable plastic bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken, and massage marinade on to chicken, making sure it’s well-coated. Seal the bag or cover the dish and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes to let the flavours infuse, overnight is always best.
- Preheat air fryer to 375°F (190°C) for 5 minutes.
- Remove the marinated chicken from the bag or dish and place in the air fryer basket. Line air fryer basket for easier cleanup.
- Air fry the chicken at 375°F (190°C) for about 15-18 minutes, depending on the strength of your air fryer. Flip halfway through the cooking time. Cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) and is golden brown with a caramelised exterior. Cooking times may vary slightly based on your specific air fryer model, so keep an eye on it.
- Once the chicken is done, remove it from the air fryer and let it rest for a few minutes. This helps to retain its juices. Slice the char siu chicken into thin strips.
- Arrange the sliced char siu chicken on a plate. Serve it with steamed rice, noodles, or your choice of side dishes!
Did you make this recipe?
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I really liked your hor fun recipe, thanks for sharing all your knowledge here!
I’m curious if by tablespoon you mean 15ml or your average tablespoon you eat food with (varies from 7-10ml usually)?
I meant 15ml 🙂 However, most times I use my ‘average tablespoon’! The difference is too minimal to matter, what’s important is that you use the SAME SPOON for the measurements!