Chinese red braised pork
Hong Shao Rou or red braised pork. Highly recommend to double up on the recipe and freeze the rest. A billion times better then take away!
Ingredients (4 portions)
800g pork belly
4cm sliced ginger
3 spring onions + 1 for garnish
5 garlic cloves
Black pepper
Enough water to cover the pork, roughly 1-1.5 litre.
Sauce
2 tbsp neutral oil (vegetable, rapeseed, sunflower)
4 tbsp sugar
2 dl Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
4 tbsp light soy
3 tbsp dark soy
2 star anise
2 tsp grated garlic
3 cm piece of ginger cut into matchsticks
Method
Cut the pork in 3 cm cubes
Bring the water to boil together with sliced ginger, garlic, spring onions and black pepper, add the pork. Boil the pork for 7-10 minutes and skim off any impurities.
Sieve the pork but keep the cooking liquid for braising and flush the pork under cold water and pat dry the pork to make sure it’s dry.
In a pan (you might have to do this stage in batches depending on the size of your pan) add the oil and sugar and melt it to an amber coloured caramel. Add the pork and fry on each side for about 1 minute until nice and golden, careful not to burn the sugar.
Once golden, add the Shaoxing wine, soy, more garlic and ginger, spring onions and cooking liquid used when blanching the pork enough to cover the pork + 5cm
Let it simmer half covered for 2-2.5 hours until meltingly tender and the sauce is dark and a bit sticky.
Serve with smashed cucumbers, steamed pak choi and sticky rice.
Cukes
Ingredients
2 cucumbers
1 red chilli
1 lime, juice and zest
2 tsp palm sugar or light brown sugar
a pinch of salt
Coriander (optional)
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
Method
Peel and half the cucumbers, deseed and smash with your hand or a rolling pin into bite sizes (or simply break up with your hands)
In a pestle and mortar, bash the sugar with lime juice, zest, sesame oil (if using) and salt until the sugar has dissolved completely.
Mix with the cucumbers and leave to marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Add coriander just before serving.
