Hong Shao Rou

Anecdote

This recipe was developed in Shanghai following a series of unfortunate events, with the help of a handyman who was called by my landlord to fix the mould that had accumulated in my back room due to a poorly stored blue cheese wheel (another anecdote for another time).

This handyman essentially took pity on me when I told him that I was attempting to make hong shao rou but had no idea where to start. Without hesitation he started to wave imprecise instructions in my direction. It turned out very edible.

However, when I moved back to London, I had to rely on two photographs of rough measurements and my taste buds to recreate. After tweaking here and there, this is a rough guide to the dish.

You can read the full story (along with a few very nice photographs taken by Sophie Davidson) in the newsletter Women Cook for Me.

Ingredients

Serves around 4 (always have leftovers which you can use to make fragrant egg-fried rice or use as the base of noodles)

• Pork Belly 2x500g - you’re looking for a good amount of fat distribution, that’s what breaks down slowly in the braising process, becoming a melt in the mouth texture. I normally get both a fattier and leaner pack just to mix things up. Always go for skin on if you can get it.

Liquid goods:

• Small splash of oil

• Dark soy sauce - 75 ml rough

• Tsingtao beer (one bottle – 640ml) – any lager is fine

• Shaoxing rice wine – 150 ml rough

Fresh/dry goods:

• Ginger - 6 ish chunky slices (leave the skin on)

• Spring onion - 3 spring roughly chopped

• Cinnamon bark – 4 shards

• Dried chilies - 7 (I use the standard ones from the Chinese supermarket, they are not very spicy - if you use dried bird's eyes, perhaps don't put in 7...)

• Dried bay leaves – 7 ish

• Star anise – 8 ish

• Rock sugar (you can find this in a Chinese supermarket) – 10 small cubes

Recipe

1. Take each pork belly slither and cut rough cubes (roughly 3cm wide, or wider if you like them extra chunky)

2. Lay out all the fresh/dry goods that will go into the braise and also dig out the liquid goods

3. Place the belly cubes in a pan and fill with cold water (enough to just cover) and let it come to a boil (this will boil off the gross white bits). It shouldn’t take long, you’re just looking for the frothy gross bits to fully emerge which you scoop off

4. Rinse off the gross bits and drain the water

5. In the large pot/dutch oven that you will braise in, put a splash of oil and when hot, place the belly in and give it a quick stir fry (light fry only - around 4 minutes again), frying until golden golden is not what you’re looking, that toughens up the meat too much

6. Then you’re ready to pour in all the liquids and toss in all the dry and fresh goods (except the sugar and a handful of spring onion – set that aside and save for later)

7. Let it come to a boil and then turn the temperature down to a solid simmer. Put the lid on

8. It will bubble away slowly for about 3 hours

9. An hour in, add the sugar and half of the spring onion (more the white ends). Give it a stir. Just make sure there is enough liquid in there and it hasn’t dried out. If you think it needs more liquid, add a bit of water or beer. But if it was on a low simmer, it should still have plenty of liquid at this point

10. The end point is hard to tell as everybody’s preference is different (surprise surprise). But I think generally what you’re looking for is for most of the fat to have cooked out/breaks down easily, the liquid to have reduced a lot, deep brown colouring on the meat

11. You can dump in the rest of the spring onion near the end so that it still has a bit of structural integrity but it's really up to you

Basically near the end, just try it and see if it’s salty enough etc. and adjust accordingly. For example, I know some prefer a sweeter, stickier hong shao rou, but I prefer more sauce (to drizzle over rice) and a more savoury bite.

The bath at the beginning (before the braise):

This is the consistency I like:

Digestif

Other complementary dishes*:

• cucumber, black vinegar with garlic and chili oil

• steamed egg with sesame oil and soy sauce

• stir fried pak choi or broccolini

*suggested, just personal preference. Honestly pair whatever you want. If you want to put it in a corn taco, be my guest - as long as your belly is happy.