I am inspired to think about my Mum's version again. Her written recipe do not match my palate memories of some of the batches she came up with. I think the main reason being that her written recipe is simply not sweet enough. It needs more sugar or honey. Or even better, just add more maltose which is cheap and has a thick consistency. 

As for the pork cuts, while Indonesian Pork Belly seem to be a good and widely available choice, it can be too lean and the strips of meat (especially at the bottom) can be too hard for good CS. I have used Brazilian pork (:frozen pork") and surprisingly, they turn out better. The lean parts are softer (cooks faster) and the fats are laid out better. I think another reason is Indonesian Bulan pigs are culled when they are younger and this you can tell by looking at the size of the knuckles. This is one reason why the belly cuts are too lean. 

If you can find "no see sky"cuts (Bu Jian Tian 不见天), that will be cheaper ($10-12 a kilo for frozen pork) and definitely more suited for CS. 

I will share a revised version of the Char Siew recipe here which I used yesterday. Do note that her original written recipe can still be accessed here and in the cookbook. 

If you prefer your CS to be stickier and sweeter, feel free to experiment with the recipe below. In my opinion, the most important ingredient is the sweets, soy based sauce (ie Hoi Sin or tau cheong) and the pork cut. CS is just caramelised sweet meat and other ingredients i.e. ginger, garlic, 5-spice powder, wine, play second fiddle.  Please check this video below for a visual of what I did for a recent batch of CS.  

While it won't match up to the version by You Kee XO Restaurant which uses the traditional roaster, this home cooked version is very good.