To me, Red Braised Pork Belly is the definition of Chinese comfort food. Fatty chunks of meat stewed in a savory, slightly salty, and sweet sauce. I could eat this for the rest of my life.. all I need is a bowl of rice. The best tip I can give you is to boil the pork belly beforehand. This will make it easy to cut the meat into the perfect chunks.
Growing up this was a dish my mom would make for us often. I remember coming home from school and being able to smell the pork as I opened the front door. The meat is incredibly tender and flavorful and the fat becomes almost as soft as jelly.
The pork belly is boiled, cut into chunks, and seared with rock sugar until caramelized. Then it's braised in a very flavorful liquid seasoned with dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, and aromatics. The dark soy sauce is what gives the dish a "red" color. Technically, it is more of a brown color, but this is what our Chinese ancestors have decided to call it.
What cut of pork to use?
Obviously, we will be using pork belly as our cut of meat. Since we are cooking it low and slow, the best result will come from a fattier cut. Most cuts will have 2 or 3 layers of fat, and I recommend one where the layers are a bit thicker.
As you can see, the pork belly I'm using has a very thick layer of fat. Some people might think it's too much, but I really like it. After a long braise, a lot of the fat actually gets rendered out, so each piece is not as fatty as you think.
Caramelizing with sugar
After you boil the pork, you want to caramelize it with some rock sugar to give it a good fragrance. My rock sugar came in giant clumps, so I had to crush it into a powder in my blender. This is really important because rock sugar takes forever to melt if it's not in powdered form.
How long to braise?
As with all braised dishes, the longer you braise it, the more tender the meat will be. I recommend somewhere between 45 and 60 minutes, but this really depends on your own personal taste. Since the meat is in relatively small pieces, I do not mind a slightly firmer texture as they will still be very easy to bite through.
If you still have a lot of liquid left in the clay pot (I did), just remove the pork and boil the liquid for 5-10 minutes. This will make the liquid thicker and coat the pork better.
Red Braised Pork Belly (Hong Shao Rou)
Ingredients
- 1 pound skin-on pork belly
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 green onion (chopped into 1-inch pieces)
- 4 slices ginger
- 3 tablespoons crushed rock sugar (or sugar)
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing cooking wine
- 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 piece star anise
- 2 cups water (or chicken stock)
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the pork belly for 2 minutes. What this does is firm up the pork belly so it is easier to cut.
- Transfer the pork belly to a cutting board and cut into ¾-inch chunks.
- In a large nonstick pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat. Add the pork belly, ginger, and green onions. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes until the pork belly develops a golden brown color.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the rock sugar and continue stir-frying for another 3 minutes.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Transfer to a small clay pot, cover, and simmer on the lowest setting for 45-60 minutes until the pork is tender. Check every 15 minutes or so and add extra water as necessary.
- If there is still a lot of liquid left, remove the pork then boil the liquid for 5-10 minutes until it thickens. Add back the pork and toss to coat. Enjoy!
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