Oh pork belly, how I love thee! It may look like it took forever to make this and that it has a lot of steps, but you’re WRONG. This Hong Shao Rou – Szechuan Red Braised Pork Belly is so simple and delivers BIG time on flavor.
I have always loved the deep red color you see in Chinese slow roasted duck and other dishes and decided it was high time I try making my own. I’ve tried several different times now to make this and I think I achieved my goal this last round!
I’ve read a bit now in cooking Hong Shao Rou (Red Braised Pork Belly), or the “red-braising/cooking method.” It’s where the pork belly gets braised with soy sauce, sugar and other spices to get the color and caramelization that is so coveted. No red food coloring dye in this, no, no. I used brown sugar and the result was heavenly. A touch of rice wine vinegar to add some acid and tang and this result is scrumptious.
This is one delicious, sticky pork belly and with a slight hint of heat to make for an incredible dinner with steamed rice.
In this dish I wanted the pork belly to get infused with a few flavor weapons of choice: green onions, a Serrano pepper and fresh ginger.
Not only does this help start the cooking process and tenderizes the pork belly, but imparts a wonderful flavor base to the cut up pork belly. Once boiled for a few minutes in the aromatics the pork is removed from the liquid, dried off and pan seared in a hot wok with oil to start the crispy, crunchy edges going.
Remove the pork belly cubes from the hot wok and drain on paper towel. Set aside as you start the caramel sauce.
In your wok add the brown sugar and cook over medium heat until the sugar melts and bubbles. Quickly add the hot water to the wok and stir to mix thoroughly. Add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, Chinese Five Spice, ground ginger, red pepper flakes and the pork belly back to the wok and stir. Cover and simmer on low for 35 minutes.
The pork belly pieces become so succulently tender and the sauce gets richer and deeper in color as it cooks.
After 35 minutes, remove the lid and allow sauce to cook and thicken for 10 minutes more.
Serve this with steamed rice and top with finely chopped chives.
These little nibbles are rich, crispy, succulent and covered in a sweet, sticky and wonderful sauce that has a nice touch of heat. Feel free to omit the red pepper flakes if you like. I love it and hope you will too!
- 1 lb pork belly
- 4 cups water
- 4- inch piece of fresh ginger
- 4 green onions
- 1 Serrano chile
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice powder
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- chives for garnish
- Cut the pork belly into 1-inch cubes. Slice the ginger into four equal pieces. Trim the ends off the green onions and cut in half. Slice the chile lengthwise. Set all aside.
- In a large wok bring water to boil. Add the sliced ginger, onions, chile and pork belly. Bring back to a boil and turn heat down and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove pork belly from wok and dry with paper towel when cool enough to handle. Discard water and contents from wok.
- Add vegetable oil to hot wok and add pork belly pieces. Stir fry to brown on all sides. Remove from wok and drain on paper towel, set aside.
To your wok add the brown sugar and cook over medium heat until the sugar melts and bubbles. Carefully and quickly add the hot water to the wok and stir to mix thoroughly (this will sputter). Add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, Chinese Five Spice, ground ginger, red pepper flakes and the pork belly back to the wok and stir. Stir to coat the pork. Cover and simmer on low for 35 minutes.
- Remove the lid and allow sauce to cook and thicken for 10 minutes more. Serve this with steamed rice and top with finely chopped chives.
This is a wonderful recipe. One point of clarification, though, please. I had a good deal of oil and rendered fat in the wok after browning the pork. That is to be discarded before adding tHe brown sugar and hot water are added, right? The first time I made it I left the oil in the pan and there was quite a show when I added the water.
Nope, leave it in there Charlie. It caramelizes the sugar and yes, there is sputtering. Just be careful!
This looks super tasty!! I am shocked to see this listed as Szechuan though, I always thought it was a Shanghainese dish. Is this a variation they make of it in Sichuan Province?
Do you cut the skin off the pork belly or keep on?
Hi Kyle. I have never trimmed it before. After the quick boil it gets browned and then simmers in the sauce. Let me know what you think!
So I made this last night and loved it. I didn’t trim the skin but next time I will. After the 45 minute braise it’s not likely to have crispy skin so I think it’s better to roast skin separately with salt and serve this dish with a side of cracklins or bits of them on top along with Szechuan peppercorns.
Also may not be necessary to oil the wok because pork belly is so fatty.
Great recipe all in all, these are just slight modifications. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the update Klye, appreciate it. The crackling idea sounds excellent!
Made this today and it was delicious! Crispy but tender at the same time. Definitely worth the extra boiling step.
Thanks so much for coming back to let me know Sarah. I LOVE this recipe, too! 🙂
Hello! I was wondering if this recipe could be used on chicken, my best friends wife is Jewish and doesn’t eat pork at all and I want to include her in the meal.
Mike I do not see why not, although I would definitely adjust the cooking time. I have not made this with chicken, but it definitely would not need as much time (like the 35 minutes mentioned for the pork). I think 10 minutes should do the trick, although you might want to test it first on a few pieces to see instead of the entire batch. Let me know!
Hi Kevin,
My husband loves this recipe. Its his favourite dish now. Thanks
That made my morning reading this. Thanks so much for letting me know Viri! Have a wonderful weekend. 🙂
Kevin,
Great recipe! For those that want Sichuan peppercorns, do not eliminate the red pepper flakes as Sichuan peppercorns are not an actual pepper. In Sichuan cooking, these are used along with chile peppers in order to reduce the heat feeling from the hot peppers. Actual name of the spice is Hua Jiao or prickly ash. It is a numbing precursor for hot peppers. And on a side note, not all Sichuan style dishes have Hua Jiao included….Love your recipe,
thanks for posting.
Robert
Thanks for the tip here and for letting us all know Robert! Much appreciated. 🙂
Really delicious authentic taste. I did with pork shoulder and it was tender and ace.
Thanks so much Al for letting me know. Sounds mighty good to me!
Hi Kevin, I’ve cooked this twice before and the family loved it, tonight I’m making it for a dinner party for six !
I’m sure it’ll go down a treat.
Leslie, it’s comments like this that make my morning! Thanks so much for letting me know and for being a reader here. Hope the party was a success! 🙂
Had this twice now and the whole family love it, has become a firm favorite. Thanks Ann
Love to read these types of comments, thanks so much for the news Ann. 🙂
It looks and sounds great! I must try it! Thanks for recipe.
I hope you do Marta, it is SUPER tasty. Thanks for reminding me of this one (I have a pork belly in my freezer!) and for stopping by my site and leaving a message. Have a wonderful weekend. 🙂
Hi Kevin,
This looks so good. My only wish is that since this is a Szechuan recipe, that you actually had used Szechuan peppercorns. If substituting your red pepper flakes for Szechuan peppercorns, would you use the same amount?
Thanks so much!
Thanks so much! Alonna feel free to experiment with this recipe as you wish. I didn’t have any Szechuan peppercorns and most always use red pepper flakes. I’m sure the same amount would be fine, crushed would be my take. Feel free to come back and let me know how it turns out. Have a great weekend.
Love chinese braised pork and pork belly. Great looking dish
Thanks for stopping by Dave!
Those look like little flavor bombs! Delicious!
Hey Kevin! WOW this looks good! I’m not able to get pork belly here, but a while back we went on a food road trip to Knoxville and I found some at a co-op market. It is coming out of my freezer very soon!
What a striking dish, Kevin! That deep red color of the braised pork is totally enthralling.,..and perfectly done! I’ve never made braised pork belly, but perhaps the time has come to finally give it a shot. I hope you guys have an awesome weekend!