Red-Braised Pork Belly
Hong shao rou. A sugar caramel, a slow braise, and a reduction that turns the sauce to syrup. Written for the skinless belly you can actually buy.
- Serves
- 4
- Active
- 30 min
- Total
- 2 hr
If you have skin-on belly
Use it. Everything below stays the same, with three changes:
- Blanch a little longer, 10 minutes rather than 7, to firm the skin and clear the scum.
- Give the braise about 15 extra minutes. The skin needs longer to go soft, and it's done when it yields with no resistance at all.
- Reduce less aggressively. The gelatin from the skin thickens the sauce on its own, and it thickens further as it cools.
Getting body into the sauce without the skin
Skinless belly makes a thinner sauce, since the gelatin isn't there. Three ways to fix it, in order of how much trouble they are:
- Reduce further. Take it to a syrup that coats a spoon heavily; it tightens more in the fridge.
- Ask the butcher for a piece of pork skin and braise it alongside, whole. Lift it out before serving. All the gelatin, none of the texture people object to.
- A teaspoon of powdered gelatin, bloomed in a spoon of cold water and whisked in at the end of the reduction. It works, and nobody can tell.
Substitutions, from a regular grocery store
Everything here is on the shelf at H-E-B, mostly in the Asian aisle, and none of it changes the dish in a way you'd notice.
| Traditional | What to buy instead | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rock sugar | Granulated white sugar | Same weight. Rock sugar melts more gently, so keep the heat low and watch the caramel closely — granulated goes from dark honey to burnt faster. |
| Shaoxing wine | Dry sherry | 1:1, near the vinegars rather than the Asian aisle. Don't use "cooking wine" — it's salted, and this dish already has two soys in it. |
| Dark soy sauce | Regular soy plus ½ tsp molasses | Dark soy is mostly there for colour and a little sweetness. If the store has it (Lee Kum Kee, black label), use it; otherwise this gets you close. |
| Light soy sauce | Any regular soy sauce | Kikkoman is fine. "Light" means light in colour, not low sodium — don't reach for the reduced-sodium bottle here. |
| Star anise, cinnamon stick, bay | All three are in the spice aisle | Whole, not ground. Ground spices cloud the sauce and go bitter over 75 minutes. |
| Dried chilies | Chiles de árbol | Any dried red chili works. Three is mild; they're for aroma more than heat. |
Ingredients
Method
-
Simmer
Blanch. Cover the pork with cold water, add half the ginger and scallion and 2 tbsp of the Shaoxing. Boil 7 minutes, skimming the scum as it rises. Rinse and pat dry.
-
Heat
Caramel. Melt the rock sugar in the oil over low heat, swirling the pan. Do not stir it and do not walk away.
-
Sear
Sear. Raise to medium and toss the pork in the caramel.
-
Braise
Braise. Add the remaining Shaoxing, both soys, the spices, the rest of the ginger and scallion, and hot water to barely cover. Cover and hold at a bare simmer. If you are using eggs, add them for the last 20 minutes.
-
Simmer
Reduce. Fish out the aromatics, then boil uncovered, spooning the sauce over the pork, until it is syrupy and clings. Taste for salt.
-
Prep
Serve over rice, with plenty of sauce.
If it's not right
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Bitter | The caramel went past dark honey. | There is no saving it; start the caramel again. |
| Thin sauce | Not reduced enough. Skinless belly always needs more reduction. | Reduce further, or see the section on getting body into the sauce. |
| Tough meat | Boiled rather than simmered, or not long enough. | Give it more time at lower heat. |
| Too salty after reducing | Salted before the reduction. | Salt at the end, never before. |
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