hong shao rou

The juicy and fatty pork belly is smothered in caramelized sauce. It's sticky, savory, sweet, and succulent. 

Hong Shao Rou 红烧肉

500 g pork belly,

neutral oil

g rock sugar sugar

tbsp light soy sauce

tbsp dark soy sauce

Shaoxing wine

water

ginger

star anise pods

tangerine peel (fresh

onions

Blanch the pork belly. In a pot of boiling water, gently drop the pork belly cubes in. Blanch for 3-4 minutes until the scum rises to the top. This ensures that the impurities won’t be in our final sauce.

Rinse your pork chunks for any impurities. Drain and tab excess moisture with a tea towel.

Heat a heavy duty pot (like a dutch oven or large cast iron with a lid) on medium high heat.

Drizzle in the oil and add the pork.

Sear the pork on all sides and add the sugar and soy sauce in.

Once the sugar has caramelized and coated the pork, deglaze the pot with Shaoxing wine and water.

Add the ginger, citrus peel, and star anise.

Cover and lower the heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour until the pork is tender. Supplement with more water if the sauce seems too thick / might burn. Alternatively, you can cook this in an instant pot or pressure cooker with 300mL of water for 20 minutes on high pressure.

Serve on top of rice. Drizzle the glaze on the rice first and plate a generous mountain of pork belly! Garnish with scallions and enjoy!!

This Chinese Braised Pork Belly recipe (Hong Shao Rou) is juicy, sweet, savory, melts in your mouth, and is packed with authentic flavors.

Chinese Braised Pork Belly {Hong Shao Rou}

pork

vegetable oil

sugar

tbsp soy sauce (low sodium)

tbsp Lao Chou (dark soy sauce)

tbsp Liao Jiu (Chinese cooking rice wine, can be substituted for red wine)

oyster sauce

salt

green onion

yellow onion (largely chopped (optional))

potatoes

Cut the pork belly into 1 inch-size cubes. Try to make sure there is both meat and fat on each cube. 

Add the ribs into a large pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. 

Using a strainer or spoon, remove the scum (or the foam) on top. 

Drain the pork belly using a strainer. Pat the pork belly dry with a paper towel.

Heat the oil in a wok (a large pan or pot works too) until shimmering and then add the sugar. Cook the sugar over medium to high heat, continue to stir to create caramelization for 2-3 min or until the color is amber. Make sure to stir constantly to prevent burning. 

Add the pork belly in and stir fry for 5 minutes on medium heat.

Add ginger, the white part of the green onion (leave the green part for garnish), and the yellow onion (if using any). Sir-fry for another 2-3 minutes. 

Add the cubed potatoes and stir well.

Add 1.5 cups of boiling water, soy sauce, Lao Chou (dark soy sauce), Liao Jiu (rice wine), oyster sauce, and salt to the pot. 

Close the lid and cook for 25 - 30 minutes or until the sauce has been reduced to a thick, shiny, syrupy liquid. 

Garnish with green onion, and enjoy!

This Chinese red braised ribs recipe uses an instant pot to cut the cooking time but maintains amazing flavors and tenderness of the ribs.

Chinese Red Braised Ribs {Hong Shao Pai Gu}

lb ribs (Cut in half across the bones)

tbsp onion (roughly chopped)

ginger (roughly chopped)

tbsp Chinese five spices

coconut aminos (or soy sauce)

soy sauce (low sodium)

Salt (to taste)

garlic (minced)

tbsp Lao Chou (dark soy sauce (optional))

tbsp Liao Jiu (Chinese cooking rice wine (optional))

potatoes (cubed (optional))

Get the ribs cut in half from the middle (so the bones are half of the normal length, this can typically be requested at meat counter in grocery stores)

Add the ribs in an instant pot with 1/4 cup of water in it. Season with chinese five spice and coconut aminos. Add chopped onion, ginger.

Seal and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.

Remove the ribs from the pot and let it cool. Set the broth left in the instant pot aside for later.

How to Cook The Ribs

Heat the oil in a wok (a large pan or pot works too) until shimmering and then add the sugar.

Cook the sugar over medium to high heat, continue to stir to create caramelization for 4- 5 min or until the color is amber. Make sure to stir constantly to prevent burning.

Once the color has turned amber- add in the ribs immediately.

Caramelizing the Sugar

Cut the semi-cooled ribs into individual pieces.

Add ribs in to the caralized sugar and oil and stir for a couple minutes to get the carmalized sugar evenly coated around the meat.

Once meat has been coated well in the caramelized sugar, allow the meat to sear on both sides for about 1 minute, to get a crispy glaze.

Add minced garlic (if using any). Stir and let it release the aroma for another 2-3 minutes. 

Add 1.5 cups of broth which was set aside, coconut aminos, Lao Chou (dark soy sauce), Liao Jiu (rice wine), and salt to taste to the pot. 

Enjoy!

Red Braising the Ribs

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Hong Shao Rou 红烧肉

Chinese Braised Pork Belly {Hong Sh...

Chinese Red Braised Ribs {Hong Shao...

Top 3 hong shao rou recipes from across the web

The most viewed hong shao rou recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Hong Shao Rou 红烧肉

Chinese Braised Pork Belly {Hong Sh...

Chinese Red Braised Ribs {Hong Shao...

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