SHANGHAI-STYLE BRAISED PORK BELLY (Hong Shao Rou)
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
3/4 lb. of lean pork belly (cut into 3/4-inch thick pieces)
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 cups water
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 cooking wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and water. 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. 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 the sauce has reduced to a glistening coating.
