Chinese Red Braised Pork Food

RED-BRAISED PORK CHOPS

Steps:

• Pound the pork chops back and forth with a pounder or the back of a knife (Chinese way) then marinate with rice wine, white pepper, salt and light soy sauce for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Mix 4 tbsp. of starch with 1 and 1/2 tbsp. water in a small bowl. Then mix with marinated pork chops.
• Heat oil to 160 degree C (almost smoky) and then fry the pork chop one by one until well browned.
• Heat around 1 tbsp. of oil in a pan and fry ginger and green onion over slow fire until aroma. Then place fried pork chops in, add a small pinch of salt, sugar and light soy sauce. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Pick the pork chops out, discard the ginger and green onion, and keep the sauce to pour over.
• Sprinkle chopped green onion and serve directly. Recommend serving with steamed rice.

SLOW-COOKED RED BRAISED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add pork belly; cook until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Drain.
• Heat vegetable oil and brown sugar in a wok or large skillet over medium heat until sugar is melted. Add pork; cook until browned on all sides, about 2 minutes. Add dark soy sauce; cook and stir until flavors combine, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer pork mixture to a slow cooker. Add rice wine, light soy sauce, scallions, ginger, and star anise. Pour in enough water to just cover the pork.
• Cook on Low until pork is tender, about 6 hours. Add diced chicken substitute, hard-boiled eggs, and more water to cover.
• Cook on Low until eggs absorb cooking liquid, rotating halfway through, about 1 hour more.

RED-BRAISED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• Bring large saucepan of water to a boil. Add pork and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high; cook 5 minutes. Transfer with tongs to cutting board; let cool enough to handle. Cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) chunks. Set aside.
• Heat oil in wok or large (4-L) saucepan over low heat. Add sugar and cook while stirring until it's melted and light brown; about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully add rice wine. Note mixture may splatter and steam.
• Stir in pork, broth, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, star anise and cinnamon stick; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Slice 2 green onions into 2-inch (5-cm) lengths. Add ginger to cutting board; hit sliced green onions and ginger several times with back of knife to lightly bruise and crush. Stir into pork mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until pork is fork-tender, about 1 hour.
• Uncover, skim fat from surface of cooking liquid and discard. Increase heat to medium and cook uncovered stirring often until sauce is thick and syrupy; about 15 to 20 minutes. Discard star anise and cinnamon stick. Transfer pork mixture to serving bowls. Thinly slice remaining green onion; sprinkle over top of pork mixture. Garnish with cilantro.
• Chef's tip: If you can't find pork belly, use 900 g boneless pork shoulder roast instead.

CHINESE BRAISED PORK BELLY (HONG SHAO ROU)

Steps:

• In a wide pot or pan, add the three cups of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (the water level should be at least half the thickness of the pork belly). Add the pork belly and parboil for a minute on each side, just until the exterior is a bit firm. Remove the pork belly to a cutting board, and set the hot water aside (don't pour it out!)
• Add the garlic, ginger, star anise, Szechuan peppercorn, and cinnamon stick to the water and keep over low heat (we need this water to be hot since we will be adding it back to the pork and if it gets cold then it might cause the meat to toughen up)
• Cut the pork belly into cubes about 1.5 inches on each side
• In a Dutch oven or large pot, start heating up the oil over medium-low heat. Add 3.5 tablespoons of the brown sugar. Let the sugar sit undisturbed until you see it start to melt. Once it starts melting, you can use a single chopstick to mix it up a bit to speed up the melting process
• When all the sugar has melted and turned into a dark amber color, add the pork belly. Cook while flipping the pieces for a few minutes until almost every side of each piece is covered with the caramel. Be gentle so you don't break the pieces!
• Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine and cook for a minute. Then add the water with all the spices and aromatics. Braise the pork belly over medium-low heat for 2 hours, stirring once every 30 minutes
• After 2 hours, the pork should be fully tender. You can check by sticking a chopstick into the meat through the bottom. The chopstick should be able to easily pierce the entire piece. If you want it to be more tender, put the lid back on and keep braising until it reaches your desired tenderness
• Remove the lid and raise the heat to medium. Add the remaining 3.5 tablespoons of sugar and mix. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the sauce has reduced significantly and thickened up. Stir every few minutes to prevent the meat from burning. You'll know it's done when the sauce is thick enough to start sticking to the meat
• Remove the meat from the pot and then drizzle with some of the extra sauce. Serve hot with a side of rice and vegetables

SHANGHAI-STYLE BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the pork. Return to the boil, skim, reduce the heat and simmer gently, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
• Using a potato peeler, remove 8 strips of zest from the orange. Put the star anise, cinnamon sticks, cumin seeds, dried chillies and orange zest in a piece of muslin and tie together tightly.
• Make the braising liquid by combining all the ingredients in a very large pot and bringing the liquid to a simmer. Add the bag of spices and the blanched pork, and bring back to a simmer, partially covered, skimming all the while.
• Cover the pot tightly and continue to simmer gently for 3 hours, until the pork fat and rind are very soft and tender. You can do this up to a day ahead, let the pork cool in the liquid, chill overnight, then reheat gently in the liquid before serving.
• Cut the bok choi in halves or quarters depending on their size, or the Chinese leaves into 5cm/2in pieces. When the pork is done, remove it from the liquid. Remove the skin and cut the meat into small pieces. Add the bok choi to the pot and cook over high heat until it is very tender about 3 minutes. Remove the bok choi from the cooking liquid and place on a warm dish. Arrange the pork on top.
• Skim off all the fat from the braising liquid and boil it to reduce it by about half. Pour some over the meat to moisten it and serve the rest separately. (You will probably have a lot leftover.) Serve with rice.

CHAIRMAN MAO'S RED BRAISED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• The first step is to blanch the pork belly, which removes any blood or impurities from the meat. To do this, add the pork belly and 3 slices of ginger to a pot with enough cold water to submerge the pork belly. With the lid on, bring it to a boil. Once the pot boils, turn down the heat and simmer for one more minute. Drain, rinse the pork belly clean, and set aside.
• With the wok set over low heat, add the oil and rock sugar (or 3 tablespoons regular sugar). Slowly melt the sugar, taking care to not let it burn. Then add in the pork belly, 3 slices ginger, and the white parts of the scallions. Turn up the heat to medium. Stir and coat the pork belly with the melted sugar.
• Now, add the Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, cinnamon, star anise, bay leaves, dried chili peppers, and water. Stir and make sure everything is submerged. There will be some caramelized sugar on your spatula, dissolve it in the water before covering the wok. Bring the mixture up to a simmer over medium low heat for 1 hour. Check the pork periodically to make sure the sauce doesn't dry up.
• Once the pork is to your liking in terms of tenderness, turn up the heat to cook off any excess sauce, stirring constantly. The sauce will reduce to a glistening coating on the pork belly. Last, add in the remaining ½ teaspoon sugar and the green parts of the scallions. Stir quickly and serve!

BRAISED PORK BELLY (红烧肉/HONG SHAO ROU/RED COOKED PORK)

Steps:

• Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the ginger, scallion, and blanch the pork belly pieces over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• After five minutes, clean the pork under running water and keep them dry with cloth or kitchen towel. Reserve some blanching water and pass it through a wire mesh strainer.
• Heat the sugar and oil in a nonstick pan. When the sugar turns to amber color, add the dried pork pieces into it.
• Pan-fry the pork for two minutes until all the sides are sear and colored.
• Add the pork, soy sauce, ginger, scallion, wine, star anise, and blanching liquid enough to submerge all the pork pieces to a pot.
• Braise the pork over low heat with the lid on for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is soft and tender. Turn the heat to medium and boil it uncovered until the braising liquid has reduced to a thick sauce.
• Dish out and garnish with thinly sliced scallion. Serve.

RED-BRAISED PORK (HONG SHAO ROU)

Steps:

• Cut the pork into 3/4-1 in (2-3cm) chunks.
• Pour the oil into a seasoned wok over a high flame, followed by the ginger and spring onion and stir-fry until you can smell their aromas. Add the pork and stir-fry for a couple of minutes more. Splash in the Shaoxing wine. Add the stock, spices, soy sauce, sugar and 1 tsp salt. Mix well, then transfer to a clay pot or a saucepan with a lid.
• Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over a very low flame for at least 1 1/2 hours, preferably two or three. Keep an eye on the pot to make sure it does not boil dry; add a little more stock or hot water if necessary. Adjust the seasoning and add the spring onion greens just before serving.