This is the real deal...Borrowed from Betty Liu...JJ
RECIPE: 红烧肉 Mom’s Shanghai Style Red-Braised Pork Belly
Ingredients
1.5 lb pork belly (五花肉)
2 stalks scallions, cut into 2 inch lengths
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 cup shaoxing wine
Chicken stock or water (approximately 1 cup)
3 whole star anise
2 slices of fresh ginger
tofu knots, optional
2 cloves garlic, optional
2 tbsp rock sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar for caramelizing
oil for frying
1| Bring water to a boil in a sauce pan. Cut pork into 1″ slices. Put pork into saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. This step is to get all the gunk off the pork. It makes for a more tender / prettier pork belly dish. Drain and set aside.
2| Heat up wok on low until you see wisps curling off the edges. Add in oil and brown sugar. When sugar is melted, turn heat to medium and throw pork in and brown all sides of pork (This step might be a bit scary! The oil will pop, but don’t be scared! Don’t stir too much – just let it brown. Flip to brown all sides. This step gives it that rich caramel flavor). Add in 3 tbsp dark soy sauce. Keep frying (this time stir-fry) for 5-6 minutes. This is a very important step to ensure softness.
3| Place stock, light soy sauce, wine, star anise, ginger, garlic, scallions, in a saucepan or dutch oven. Sprinkle some more sugar in, to taste. (For first-timers, you can even mix light soy sauce and some sugar first to get the balance). Place pork in. The mixture should come up about halfway up the pile of pork. If not, add more water or stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low. Simmer for at least 1-1.5 hours (the longer the better the flavor and tenderness), stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom. When it’s almost done, I add in tofu knots.
4| When it is tender enough to slip a fork in with ease, take the cover off and let liquid evaporate and thicken. You should end up with a thick, glistening sauce that covers the tender pork belly.
Troubleshooting + Notes
If your pork is still too tough, or the color isn’t quite right, you can stop simmering and start heating up a new, clean skillet. Place the pork bellies on the heated skillet, with no oil, and dry-fry until browned on each side. This will help soften the pork belly fat and add to the flavor. You can also then add in 1 tbsp dark soy sauce + 1 tbsp brown sugar and fry it some more. Then put it back into the braise and continue as planned.
This is a very forgiving recipe. If it’s too salty or too sweet, just add more soy sauce or sugar to compensate. In true Chinese cooking way, simply taste the sauce as it finishes the simmer.
Some recipes call for adding cornstarch, but I’m gong to tell you straight-up: authentic recipes do not call for any cornstarch to thicken the sauce. It is thickened by cooking the sauce, uncovered, at the end on high. It’s easy to cook off too much of it, so keep an eye on the consistency of the sauce. It should be thick, glistening, and will easily cover the pork belly.
Don’t add the tofu knots in too early, otherwise they may overcook
Dark soy sauce is mostly for the color, light soy sauce gives it the flavor. If you had to use only one, I would use light soy sauce for the flavor.
Garlic is optional. It’s not in the orginal recipe, but I sometimes add it for some extra flavor. Up to you.
Traditionally, rock sugar is used, but I used brown sugar in the first step because I love the extra caramel-ness it adds. Any extra sugar added I do use rock sugar, as it helps with the texture and viscosity of the sauce.
