Now you’re speaking my language. Ethical pig eating girl here… Does anyone know what kind of pork they use at Needle and PRD? I’d feel like a pain in the ass asking them. 
Kinda’ feel like one asking here too. But you’re my friends, so…
I’m guessing if you are on the margins financially you’re not going to buy a more expensive product if you don’t have to. But I’m sure someone will pipe in with a more helpful comment
Post from 2019:
The secret to our char siu starts with the meat. We source from Salmon Creek Farms, where pigs are naturally and sustainably raised. We don’t use commodity meat. As you can see, the pork is well marbled. Even the lean portions come out tender and juicy.
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Hootie… Hoo!
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Thanks @PorkyBelly.
Perhaps the only disappointment is that they’re switching the meat on their famous Charsiu. What made Needle’s Charsiu so great was creating such a succulent bite from pork shoulder. I understand why they switch to pork belly (they said it holds up better / more forgiving for regular folks to try cooking this at home), but it’s not the same Charsiu.
Also unfortunate that you have to commit to 2 slabs of pork belly / cooking this at home vs. having a smaller portion of the dish already cooked and ready to eat, but they have limited operations, it’s understandable.
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Why the disappointment? Is the pork belly version not as good? You’ve already had it??
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This is the first time I believe Needle is doing a char siu belly. You guys will be the first to try it.
Isn’t belly the OG cut of choice for char siu? I need my fatty bits…
It’s typically butt/shoulder.
I see, always just assumed it was belly from the fat and slender cut.
Pork belly’s fat pattern is much more layered and distinct and it’s typically used for roasted pork unlike butt/shoulder where distribution of marbling’s much more even in an A5 wagyu-esque pattern.
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You may be confusing that with (the usage of pork belly) in OG sweet and sour pork Cantonese which initially was fatty pork or pork belly. Some old school wizard came up with the idea of deep frying then coating it with sweet and sour in order to make fat easier to eat (also fatty pork was much cheaper than lean pork back in the old days). Then due to evolution and health habits, sweet and sour pork changed to using pork shoulder, but you may be able to find pork belly sweet and sour pork in Hong Kong at certain shops.
But yes char siu best cuts are always pork shoulder, and the rest up to roasting technique and cuts.
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I’m not that bad 
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At first glance, thought you were talking about Mr. @PorkyBelly’s fat pattern…
(Sorry, @PorkyBelly. Please don’t remove me from your bat signals…)
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Soy sauce chicken at Pearl River Deli was excellent and refined. The accompanying rice was noticeably high quality. I never would have eaten there but for this thread. Thanks!
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Pressure!
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my marbled belly forgives you
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At PRD, since May, we used Salmon Creek Farms pork neck/collar cut, took my supplier a while to get this specific cut for me but I’ve been quite happy with it, sometimes you do get leaner parts but overall the marbling has been consistently high.
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