Hong Shao Rou AKA Braised Pork Belly AKA Red Cooked Pork

Hong Shao Rou is such a classic dish for me - something I grew up eating relatively often as a kid. For whatever reason, though, I never tried cooking it myself until this year! I think I had this vague impression that it was really challenging to make. But earlier this summer, when I wound up in the odd position of being in possession of too much pork belly, my mind went right to hong shao rou, so I started looking at some actual recipes. As it turns out - while you do have to wait a while to let the braising process happen - the dish is not actually hard to make at all, and can be done with as few as 6 ingredients!

Key, of course, is the pork belly. A fairly lean cut of pork belly with the skin on works best. I was really pleased at the ratio of meat to fat in this batch - often in the US, it can be hard to find decently lean pork belly! I've since learned that it's easiest to find the right leanness when you check Asian markets.

The pork is briefly blanched, then browned in a little oil and sugar before entering a long simmer with soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and cooking wine. You can also throw some aromatics in during this process, though it's not required! I happened to have ginger and scallions on hand, so I threw some in for the braising process.

The end result when the braising liquid finishes reducing is really tender, flavorful pork where the fat just melts away as you eat - truly a luxurious experience! In my opinion, hong shao rou goes best with a lot of rice and some sort of light vegetable side to add some contrast. Bok choy and gai lan are good options that come to mind for me.

Hong Shao Rou

adapted from The Woks of Life

Ingredients

12 ounces lean, skin-on pork belly

2 tbsp neutral oil

1 tbsp sugar (rock sugar if you have it; otherwise granulated sugar works)

3 tbsp Shaoxing wine

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 cups water

Instructions

1. Start by cutting your pork belly into 3/4-inch thick pieces.

2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the pork belly pieces for 2 minutes to remove impurities and start the cooking. Remove the pork, rinse, and set aside.

3. Over low heat, add the oil and sugar to your pan. Melt the sugar slightly and add the pork. Raise the heat to medium and cook until the pork is lightly browned.

4. Turn the heat back down to low and add your cooking wine, regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and water.

5. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until pork is fork tender. Every 5-10 minutes, stir to prevent burning and add more water if it gets too dry.

6. Once the pork is fork tender, if there is still a lot of visible liquid, uncover the pan, turn up the heat, and stir continuously until the sauce has reduced to a glistening coating.

I served the pork this time in a rice bowl with a variety of lightly stir-fried mushrooms and bok choy with garlic. Give this recipe a try if you want to find a whole new way to enjoy pork belly, and prepare to find your new favorite preparation! :)