Since we first published this recipe in 2014, soon after we first embarked on this journey to document Chinese recipes, this recipe has been a staple on The Woks of Life. If you haven’t made it yet, what are you waiting for?
A Delicious Indulgence
Braised pork belly is an every-once-in-a-while indulgence in our household. As we creep towards middle age, Bill and I try to be healthier and avoid eating too much meat. We’re no health nuts by any stretch of the imagination…we’d eat anything and everything if all we had to worry about was the threat of pants that were a little too tight. There are countless times when the two of us walk into a bakery or gourmet shop for the sole purpose of just going in to look. So for most of our home-cooked meals these days, we try to stay pretty healthy—lots of veggies. But Shanghai-Style Braised Pork Belly (hóngshāo ròu in Mandarin – 红烧肉) is an exception! Rich pork belly combines with a sticky, sweet, savory sauce that anyone who’s tried it can’t resist. We always have pork belly in the freezer, and occasionally, when the mood strikes, we do indulge in this classic dish, as I learned to make it growing up in Shanghai. Today, thanks to viewers like you, we’re having pork for dinner (and a vegetable, of course). We’re just giving the hungry public what they want, after all.
Video: Watch Me Make It! (And answer all the questions we’ve gotten over the years)
A Famous Chinese Dish
The Chinese term for this braised pork belly recipe (hóngshāo ròu – 红烧肉), literally means “red cooked pork.” Red cooking describes a braising technique using soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine to creates a rich, reddish, dark-brown sauce. In China, that fat is prized. People don’t cut the fat out, because in the old days, eating pork belly may have been a once-a-year occasion. For a small village, slaughtering one pig was an annual event, and the animal was shared amongst everyone in the village. Why would you waste any of it? To stretch that pork, it would have been sliced very thinly, with a small amount added to a stir-fry of mostly vegetables. This dish, which is all meat, and involves cutting the pork belly into thicker chunks, was very much reserved for special occasions. These days, as China has modernized, incomes and access to rich food have increased. Like in Western countries, some people can eat meat-heavy dishes like this anytime they want, and now avoid eating the fat on the pork belly. I say, eat it less often, and enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed, without waste! Another important point is to look for skin-on pork belly. After braising, the skin has a delicious gelatinous texture. The collagen in the skin also helps give the sauce that shiny, sticky quality. That said, if you can only find pork belly without the skin, you can still make this recipe. 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 (see our cookbook for that one), and tofu knots (one of Sarah’s favorites—we recorded my mother’s recipe for Hongshao Rou with this variation). The list goes on (see more variations in the box below), but since I’m from Shanghai, I like to cook the original, un-embellished Shanghai-style version. This shanghai red cooked pork belly recipe is designed for eight people as part of a larger Chinese meal with a couple other dishes, but if you serve it as the main event perhaps with a side vegetable, you may find it serves 4-6. The ingredients are very simple: pork belly, oil, rock sugar or granulated sugar, wine, soy sauce, dark soy sauce. Just SIX ingredients. Crazy, right?
Shanghai Braised Pork Belly: Recipe Instructions
Start by cutting your pork for your Shanghai braised pork belly. Cut the pork belly into 3/4-inch thick pieces.
Mao’s Braised Pork Belly: While it has this name in China, Mao did not invent the dish. It was simply a favorite of his. This is a Hunan variation on the dish, with added aromatics and a light chili heat. Dongpo Rou: A very famous variation in which larger chunks of pork belly are braised until very tender. Meicai Kou Rou: A well-known steamed dish using meigan cai (moy choy in Cantonese), a dried preserved vegetable. Braised Pork Belly with Meigan Cai: Our simpler version of mei cai kou rou, which is braised instead of steamed. Cantonese Braised Pork Belly with Arrowroot: This Cantonese classic dish (see goo mun fay gee yook) is commonly served around Chinese new year; red fermented bean curd adds lots of flavor. Pork Belly with Pickled Mustard Greens: savory and tangy, the addition of sour pickled mustard greens counterbalances the richness of the pork belly. This version has become a family favorite.
And here are a couple “modern” variations from Sarah and Kaitlin!
Instant Pot Braised Pork Belly: While not the same a true red cooked pork belly, it’s a fast dish cooked in a “master stock” in the instant pot. Red Braised Pulled Pork: Can’t find pork belly? Try this version, made with pork shoulder in the oven.
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 it aside. Discard the water in the wok and clean it out. The photos in this post are from two separate cooking sessions. The process photos show the rectangular pork belly, and the finished photos show the smaller square pieces. As long as the pork is about 3/4 inches thick, you shouldn’t need to adjust the cooking time! 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. It’s 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, it’s time to eat! Let us know in the comments if you’re interested in any other variations of this dish, and we’ll get right on it. (not that we’re 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).
