Red braised pork belly Hong Shao Rou
This unctuous Red braised pork belly in a delicious aromatic soy sauce is a family favourite Chinese recipe. It takes a couple of hours of slow and low cooking to get the most tender and soft meat.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 800 g medium fat pork belly cut into cubes
- 2 spring onions cut lengthwise into 3 pieces
- 1 thumb sized piece of ginger , sliced
- water to boil
Master Stock Braising Liquid
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 3 tbsp dark brown sugar or rock sugar
- 100 ml Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
- 2 cups reserved blanching liquid
- 5 tbsp light soy sauce or soy sauce
- 8 tbsp dark soy sauce you can judge by eye if you want the colour darker or lighter
- A thumb sized piece of ginger sliced
- 3 spring onions cut lengthwise into 3 pieces
- 3-4 star anise
- 1 stick of cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium-sized pot add the pork belly and add cold water to submerge the pork. Add the spring onions and ginger. The addition of this is to neutralise the "farmyard" flavours of some pork, especially pigs reared in non Asian countries as they have a different meat producing process.
- Bring to boil over high heat. You will start seeing scum form on top of the water. Use a ladle or big spoon to skim off the scum. Repeat until the water is clear. Remove from heat. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process and the wash away any remaining scum.
- To start the caramelisation process, in a medium sized cast iron pot or a wok, add the sugar and oil . Over a low heat, keep stirring the sugar until it has melted and starts to brown. (You must watch this stage as the sugar can go from brown to burnt in a blink of an eye).
- Once the caramel has browned, add the pork belly carefully. Over a medium low hear, stir the pork in the caramel until it has all been coated. The caramel will carry on cooking and might get a darker colour.
- Degalze the pot or wok with a splash of cooking wine and scrape with a wooden spatula to release any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the master stock ingredients, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, ginger, spring onions and star anise and cinnamon stick.
- Turn up the heat and bring this up to a boil. Then reduce the heat to a simmer. Put a lid on and let it slowly braise for 1 1/2 hours. Keep an eye on this and stir occassionally in case the bottom is sticking.
- After the elapsed time, take the lid off and turn up the heat. This will reduce and thicken the sauce. Boil on a high heat for 15 minutes until the pork turns glossy. Keep an eye on this as it may burn. You don't want ti completely dry, but still saucy. The pork belly should now be quite soft and tender.
- Serve the pork belly in a bowl of rice as a one bowl meal or in a big bowl as part of a multi dish family meal.
Notes
Servings: 4 to 6