Mostly you make this with pork belly, but any fatty cut will work; shoulder is my other favorite here. And while there are many renditions of red cooked foods, this particular one requires something fatty and luscious.
Recipe by Hank Shaw on February 4, 2021
Prep time: PT15M
Cook time: PT120M
Total time: PT135M
Rating
4.5 stars (14 reviews)
Keywords
braises, pork
Ingredients
2 pounds pork, (or bear belly)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine ((or sherry))
2 cups Chinese stock, (chicken stock or water)
A 1-inch piece of ginger, (sliced thin)
3 star anise pods ((optional))
4 dried hot chiles
5 scallions, (sliced into 1-inch pieces)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 to 2 heads garlic, peeled but whole
2 tablespoons lard or peanut oil
Categories
Main Course
Cuisine
Chinese
Steps
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil the whole slab of belly for 5 minutes. Remove from the water and set on a cutting board to cool. Save the cooking water if you are not using stock later for this recipe. Cut the meat into largish cubes of about 2 inches across.
Mix the sugar with 3 tablespoons water until the sugar has dissolved. In a wok, heat the syrup over medium heat until begins to turn yellow, about 5 minutes or so. Add the par-cooked pork belly and turn to coat with the syrup mixture. Stir-fry until nicely browned.
Pour in the Shaoxing wine, soy and enough stock or cooking water to cover the meat, and add the star anise, ginger, and chiles. Cover and simmer gently over medium-to-low heat. How long? Until the meat is tender. Typically about 90 minutes, but for a wild hog or bear this could take up to 3 hours. Check after 90 minutes. Taste the stock and if it is getting too strong, remove some of the spices.
If you are adding the garlic to this dish, fry the garlic cloves in lard or peanut oil until they are nicely golden, then remove and set aside.
Once the meat is getting tender – but not quite ready – add a little sugar if you want. The stock should be a bit sweet. Re-cover and cook until the pork is practically falling apart. Remove the meat and set aside. Turn the heat up on the sauce to reduce it. When the stock has reduced to a sauce consistency, return the meat to the pot and add the garlic, if using.
Add the scallions and cilantro and serve at once. I prefer to eat this with simple steamed jasmine rice.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 735 kcal
Carbohydrates: 13 g
Protein: 41 g
Fat: 55 g
Saturated Fat: 19 g
Cholesterol: 163 mg
Sodium: 1357 mg
Sugar: 8 g
Reviews
Tammy on 2024-02-02 (4 stars): I haven't made your version of this yet but an old friend from college (He was from Hong Kong) had given me a recipe for char siu pork ribs that he had adapted for what ingredients he had available. As an experiment I used the marinade/sauce from his recipe on some venison ribs I was going to put in the slow cooker and the results were spectacular. Tender, tasty and so good we had none left! Dad had me make it twice a year after that. I can just imagine it with bear.
Kimberly on 2022-12-22 (5 stars): Oh my God. This was amazing. Everyone in my family, ages 1 to 43, LOVED it and couldn't get enough. We even went light on the sugar, and used an old vermouth that was starting to get vinegary (because we had run out of sherry vinegar). Pork shoulder combined with cabbage sautéed in some of the sauce and white rice, and a beautiful natural Rosé. Hank never ceases to amaze us.
Dean Sherwood on 2022-01-06 (5 stars): Absolutely incredible. I had this tonight, garnished with sliced jalapenos with brown rice and your pickled mustard greens. I don't know if I'd pair those greens with it again. Too much star anise for one meal, but I will definitely make this dish again and again and ....
Ben on 2021-09-16 (5 stars): I've made this a few times now and just made it for a group of friend's last night. It makes for an easy dinner inclusion because of how relatively off-hands it is in the second half of cooking, giving you time to focus on other items. Everyone raved about it and I don't see how anyone could not love this dish.
Chris H on 2021-02-11 (5 stars): I used the recipe on domestic pork shoulder and amped up the spice with a few finely cut Thai bird’s eye chili’s and added a bit of amaretto while I was deglazing. Holy tasty spicy Batman this is good. I am going to be making this regularly forever I think. Excited to do it with boar next time.
Dave Palmer on 2021-02-08 (5 stars): Made this with pork belly last night. Turned out to have fabulous flavours. Unexpected bonus was making the skin into crackling as an appetizer.
Ian on 2020-10-10 (5 stars): I did this with some raccoon because I'm all about eating everything I kill. It was amazing! Raccoon is totally different than other game meats like deer in that it isn't that lean so it was perfect for this dish.
Tony Burgess on 2020-08-03 (5 stars): Made this with a fat wild-hog belly yesterday. Another hit! Very different from much of the cooking I'm accustomed to, these Asian recipes that Hank is sharing are really inspiring me to broaden my culinary horizons. Thanks, Hank!
