Chinese Red-braised Pork Belly with Potato
Two types of soy sauce and a touch of sugar give this dish—beloved throughout China—its signature glossiness and a deep red-brown tint. Serve the tender pork belly morsels and potatoes with a light vegetable, like bok choy. Chinese red braised pork belly and potato is simple to prepare. And there’s little more comforting than an aromatic steaming one-pot dish when the weather starts to turn.
Ingredients
4 large potatoes
2 spring onion, white part only
2 oz. ginger (about a 2-inch piece)
1 3⁄4 lb. pork belly, skin on if desired
1 tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsp. Shoaling wine
3 cups hot water or stock
2 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
3 tbsp. superfine sugar or 1 1⁄2 oz. rock sugar
Direction:
Step 1: Smack the spring onion and ginger gently with the flat side of a cleaver or a rolling pin to loosen their fibers. Cut pork belly into 1-inch cubes.
In a medium saucepan, add half of the ginger and spring onion, add the pork and enough water to cover; bring to boil, then let boil 5 minutes. Drain and rinse the pork with cold water.
Step 2: Heat the oil in a seasoned wok over high heat. Add sugar(rock sugar)。 Stir till the sugar melted. Add the pork and cook until the meat is faintly golden and some of the fat is rendering, 1–2 minutes. Add the remaining half of ginger, onion, star anise, and cinnamon and stir-fry briefly until aromatic (about 2 minutes). (Add dry hot red pepper if prefer spicy version). Splash the Shaoxing wine around the edges of the pan. Add water or stock, light soy sauce, 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer; cover and let cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: Add inch potato cubes to the pot. Stirring every few minutes, to reduce the sauce by half, 10–15 minutes. Discard the ginger, spring onion, and whole spices. Stir in the remaining 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce.
Shortly before serving, bring back to a boil over high heat and reduce the sauce to about 1 inch of dark, sleek gravy. Transfer to a rimmed serving dish. Serve with rice.
