Red-Cooked Pork Belly (红烧肉)

Ingredients:

950g pork belly
45g garlic, thickly sliced
9g ginger, thickly sliced
110g shallots, thickly sliced
3 dried chillies
1 cinnamon stick
3 star anise
3 cloves
1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
80 - 100g rock sugar + 1/3 cup water
3 cups water/stock (or enough to cover the pork)
hard boiled egg (optional)

Sauce:
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
pepper & salt, to taste 

 

• Put pork belly into a pot of boiling water and cook for about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse the pork.  Slice the pork into 1 inch cubes.

• In a saucepan, add in rock sugar and water.  Cook until the syrup turns thick with a tinge of yellow. 

 

• Add in pork and stir to coat with syrup.  Continue to cook until caramelised.

  

• In a wok, heat oil and add ginger and shallots.  Sauté for about one minute on medium heat.  Then add in garlic, dried chillies, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves and Sichuan peppercorns.  Stir fry until fragrant.  Then add in sauce. Bring to the boil.  Toss in pork and syrup, and combine to coat the pork with sauce.  Transfer all into a saucepan.  Add in enough water to cover the meat.
• Bring to the boil and then reduce heat to a low simmer until meat is tender (about 2 hours).  Stir occasionally.
• Remove all the meat from the saucepan.  Discard the spices and strain the sauce.  Reduce the sauce on medium-high heat until sauce thickens and return the meat into the saucepan.