Hong shao rou (red-braised pork belly)
Photo: FotoosVanRobin Photostream · CC BY 2.0

History

Early Chinese texts describe meat simmered slowly in seasoned liquid as far back as the Qimin Yaoshu, an agricultural manual from around the sixth century, and the technique is closely tied to Dongpo pork, the braised dish associated with the Song dynasty poet Su Dongpo in Jiangnan cooking. Shanghai's version settled on pork belly, dark soy sauce for colour and rock sugar for a balanced sweetness, summed up locally as cooking with a soy sauce bottle in one hand and a sugar jar in the other. Restaurants across the city serve their own versions today, some adding bean curd knots, bamboo shoots or quail eggs to the pot.

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Common allergens: Soy

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 2 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 500g pork belly, skin on
  • 25g rock sugar
  • 2g salt
  • 10ml Shaoxing wine
  • 1 spring onion, tied in a knot
  • 3 slices of ginger
  • 10ml dark soy sauce
  • 25ml light soy sauce
  • 5ml rice vinegar
  • Cooking oil, as needed

Method

  1. Rinse the pork belly, then place it in a pot of cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook until just set, then leave the pork to cool in the liquid.
  2. Lift out the pork, press it flat under a board or weight until firm, then cut into even cubes about 3 to 4cm across.
  3. Pan fry the cubes until lightly golden and the fat begins to render, then pour off the excess fat.
  4. Add the Shaoxing wine and rice vinegar, cover briefly, then add the ginger and spring onion.
  5. Stir in the dark and light soy sauce and salt so the pork is evenly coated, then add enough hot water to just cover the meat.
  6. Bring to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for about 2 hours until the pork is tender.
  7. Add the rock sugar and raise the heat slightly, letting the liquid reduce until it thickens and coats every piece.
  8. Arrange the pork in a neat grid on the plate and serve with steamed rice.

Tip from the editors. Cool the pork in its poaching liquid before cutting it; that step alone keeps the cubes from falling apart in the pan.

Where to eat hong shao rou (red-braised pork belly)

Hong shao rou (red-braised pork belly) in Shanghai

Lan Xin (Lyceum) ★ 3.9

¥ ShanghaineseFrench Concession

Lan Xin, known locally as Lyceum Restaurant, on quiet Jinxian Road in central Shanghai holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand for wok-braised red pork belly.

OrderOrder the red-braised pork belly, reduced sauce, soft but firm texture.

TipIt holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and does not take reservations, so queues are common; go outside lunch and dinner peaks.

Directions

Fu 1015 1 ★ ★ 4.4

¥¥¥¥ ShanghaineseChangning

Fu 1015 on Yuyuan Road in Changning holds one Michelin star for Shanghainese cooking in a historic villa where all 15 private rooms carry old Shanghai flair.

OrderOrder the sauteed river shrimp with crabmeat and crab roe, and the shrimp-and-pine-nut stuffed duck.

TipSave room for the minced date cake and the cashew seaweed puff pastry among the dessert options.

Directions

Ren He Guan ★ 4.0

¥¥¥ ShanghaineseXuhui

Ren He Guan on Zhaojiabang Road in Shanghai, here since 2014, holds one Michelin star for hong shao rou and crab dishes from a brand over 200 years old.

OrderHong shao rou, red-braised pork belly cut into neat cubes with a braised egg.

TipDim yellow lights, 1930s memorabilia and singers in qipao set the room; book ahead or expect to wait.

Directions

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