Chinese Style Braised Pork Recipes

CHINESE BRAISED PORK BELLY (HONG SHAO ROU)

Steps:

• In a wide pot or pan, add the three cups of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (the water level should be at least half the thickness of the pork belly). Add the pork belly and parboil for a minute on each side, just until the exterior is a bit firm. Remove the pork belly to a cutting board, and set the hot water aside (don't pour it out!)
• Add the garlic, ginger, star anise, Szechuan peppercorn, and cinnamon stick to the water and keep over low heat (we need this water to be hot since we will be adding it back to the pork and if it gets cold then it might cause the meat to toughen up)
• Cut the pork belly into cubes about 1.5 inches on each side
• In a Dutch oven or large pot, start heating up the oil over medium-low heat. Add 3.5 tablespoons of the brown sugar. Let the sugar sit undisturbed until you see it start to melt. Once it starts melting, you can use a single chopstick to mix it up a bit to speed up the melting process
• When all the sugar has melted and turned into a dark amber color, add the pork belly. Cook while flipping the pieces for a few minutes until almost every side of each piece is covered with the caramel. Be gentle so you don't break the pieces!
• Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine and cook for a minute. Then add the water with all the spices and aromatics. Braise the pork belly over medium-low heat for 2 hours, stirring once every 30 minutes
• After 2 hours, the pork should be fully tender. You can check by sticking a chopstick into the meat through the bottom. The chopstick should be able to easily pierce the entire piece. If you want it to be more tender, put the lid back on and keep braising until it reaches your desired tenderness
• Remove the lid and raise the heat to medium. Add the remaining 3.5 tablespoons of sugar and mix. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the sauce has reduced significantly and thickened up. Stir every few minutes to prevent the meat from burning. You'll know it's done when the sauce is thick enough to start sticking to the meat
• Remove the meat from the pot and then drizzle with some of the extra sauce. Serve hot with a side of rice and vegetables

ASIAN BRAISED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Coat a large wide ovenproof pan or Dutch oven with olive oil and bring the pan to high heat. Sprinkle the pork with salt and brown it on all sides. Remove from the pan and reserve.
• Ditch the fat from the pan and add a few drops of fresh oil. Toss in the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce and rice vinegar and reduce by half. Add the 3 cups chicken stock, oyster sauce, brown sugar, sambal, star anise, orange zest and juice. Stir to combine, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Taste to make sure it is delicious and adjust the seasoning if needed.
• Return the pork to the pan, cover and put in the oven. Braise the pork for 2 hours, turning it over once. If the liquid reduces too much during the cooking process, add the remaining 1 cup chicken stock. Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
• When the pork is VERY tender, remove the pan from the oven. Remove the pork, place the pan over medium heat, bring the liquid to a simmer and cook until the liquid reduces to a sticky sauce consistency.
• Serve the pork draped with the sauce.

CHINESE STYLE BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• In small bowl, combine garlic, ginger, peppercorns, mustard and sea salt. Rub all over meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• When you are ready to cook, preheat broiler. Transfer pork to a rimmed baking sheet and broil 15 minutes.
• Transfer to slow cooker.
• In a bowl, combine soy sauce, sherry, coconut sugar, and star anise. Pour over pork.
• Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

SHANGHAI-STYLE BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the pork. Return to the boil, skim, reduce the heat and simmer gently, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
• Using a potato peeler, remove 8 strips of zest from the orange. Put the star anise, cinnamon sticks, cumin seeds, dried chillies and orange zest in a piece of muslin and tie together tightly.
• Make the braising liquid by combining all the ingredients in a very large pot and bringing the liquid to a simmer. Add the bag of spices and the blanched pork, and bring back to a simmer, partially covered, skimming all the while.
• Cover the pot tightly and continue to simmer gently for 3 hours, until the pork fat and rind are very soft and tender. You can do this up to a day ahead, let the pork cool in the liquid, chill overnight, then reheat gently in the liquid before serving.
• Cut the bok choi in halves or quarters depending on their size, or the Chinese leaves into 5cm/2in pieces. When the pork is done, remove it from the liquid. Remove the skin and cut the meat into small pieces. Add the bok choi to the pot and cook over high heat until it is very tender about 3 minutes. Remove the bok choi from the cooking liquid and place on a warm dish. Arrange the pork on top.
• Skim off all the fat from the braising liquid and boil it to reduce it by about half. Pour some over the meat to moisten it and serve the rest separately. (You will probably have a lot leftover.) Serve with rice.