The name “Hong shao rou” translates to red braised pork, as this is the color achieved by the combination of dark soy sauce and caramelized sugar (“táng gù”). Although this dish is not what most would call healthy, it is an absolute treat and guilty pleasure sure to please your guests. It takes a while to cook, but is well worth it. You can leave out a lot of the ingrediënts, but if possible, use them all. Dish takes about 3 hours, so keep that in mind!
Ingredients
- Skin-on pork belly (thick slices if possible)
- Vegetable oil
- Brown sugar or rock sugar (the latter is harder to find, but more traditional)
- Garlic (optional)
- Ginger (optional)
- Star anise (optional)
- Bay leafs (optional)
- Sichuan peppercorns (optional)
- Light soy sauce (optional, sub with more dark soy sauce)
- Dark soy sauce
- Shaoxing wine (I’m told dry sherry also works, but haven’t tested this. If you try this, keep me updated!)
- Spring onion (green bits, for garnish)
- Water
Cooking plan
- Start by parboiling your pork belly for a few minutes. (parboiling is the act of partly cooking food by boiling) This removes impurities and improves final texture. This also helps the flavor of the braise to penetrate deeper into the pork.
- Remove your pork from the water and skim off any scum that has formed in the water. Add garlic, ginger, star anise and sichuan peppercorns to the braising liqued and let it simmer for a bit. We will add it to our pork shortly.
- Cut your pork into bite-sized pieces, preferably a bit thick, as this makes it have more of a bite once they become soft from the braising.
- Next, heat some oil in a LARGE pan on high heat. We will caramelize the brown sugar in this oil, so make sure you add enough sugar to coat the pork fully. Put the sugar in the pan and wait for it to melt. Once it melts, carefully stir it around a bit until it has fully melted. If you haven’t used caramel in your cooking before, look up a guide or be extra careful, as it burns quickly!
- Toss your pork into the pan and stir carefully to coat your pork in this caramel. Then, add your soy sauces and shaoxing wine in a 4:2:1 dark:light:shaoxing proportion. Cook for a bit.
- Next, add back your braising liquid and cover your pan to let it simmer for about 2-2.5 hours.
- Once your pork is tender, add some sugar to thicken the sauce and reduce it into a thick glaze on medium-high heat.
- Garnish with the green part of some spring onion, and serve with white rice.
ENJOY!!