HONGSHAOROU

Shanghai-Style Braised Pork Belly (hong shao rou, 红烧肉), or “red cooked pork,” is a very famous dish in China. Everyone knows it, and there are many versions and twists based on the original. Some of the more well-known variations include the addition of squid (sounds odd, but boy, is it tasty), hard boiled eggs, and tofu knots

Start by cutting your pork for your Shanghai braised pork belly. Cut the pork belly into 3/4 inch thick pieces.

Then bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the pork for a couple minutes. This gets rid of impurities and starts the cooking process. Take the pork out of the pot and set aside.

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

Turn the heat back down to low and add Shaoxing cooking wine, regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and water. Its very important to the color and flavor of this dish that you have both kinds of soy sauce! Just head to your local Asian market, buy a bottle of each, and it will last you a year!

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

And then, its time to eat! Let us know in the comments if youre interested in any other variations of this dish, and well get right on it. (not that were looking for another excuse to make it or anything…) For entertaining, get one of these clay or earthen pots to serve your Shanghai Style Braised pork Belly (hong shao rou).