As we creep towards middle age, Bill and I try to be healthier and avoid eating too much meat. We’re no health nuts by any stretch of the imagination…we’d eat anything and everything if we didn’t have to worry about the threat of muffin tops.
There are countless times when the two of us walk into a bakery or gourmet shop for the sole purpose of just going in to look. But Shanghai-Style Braised Pork Belly (hong shao rou) is an exception!
So for most of our home-cooked meals these days, we try to stay pretty healthy–lots of veggies. But today, thanks to viewers like you, we’re having pork for dinner (and a vegetable, of course). We’re just giving the hungry public what they want, after all.
Shanghai-Style Braised Pork Belly (hong shao rou, 红烧肉), or “red cooked pork,” is a very famous dish in China. Everyone knows it, and there are many versions and twists based on the original. Some of the more well-known variations include the addition of squid (sounds odd, but boy, is it tasty), hard boiled eggs, and tofu knots (one of Sarah’s favorites. See my mother’s recipe for Hongshao Rou for this variation).
Other pork belly favorite recipes include Mei Cai Kou Rou, a famous steamed pork belly, Braised pork belly with arrowroot, a Cantonese New Year’s favorite,
And others not so similar but really good are Cantonese roast pork belly and Twice cooked pork belly.
The list goes on, but since I’m from Shanghai, I like to cook the original, un-embellished Shanghai-style version. This shanghai pork belly recipe is designed for two to three people because I’m cooking for three here, but you can certainly double and/or triple the recipe for bigger crowds. You may have to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
The ingredients are very simple: pork belly, oil, sugar, wine, soy sauce, dark soy sauce. That’s right, just SIX ingredients. Crazy, right?
Shanghai Braised Pork Belly: Recipe Instructions
Start by cutting your pork for your Shanghai braised pork belly. Cut the pork belly into 3/4 inch thick pieces.
Then bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the pork for a couple minutes. This gets rid of impurities and starts the cooking process. Take the pork out of the pot and set aside.
Over low heat, add oil and sugar to your wok. Melt the sugar slightly and add the pork. Raise the heat to medium and cook until the pork is lightly browned.
Turn the heat back down to low and add Shaoxing cooking wine, regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and water. It’s very important to the color and flavor of this dish that you have both kinds of soy sauce! Just head to your local Asian market, buy a bottle of each, and it will last you a year!
Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until pork is fork tender. Every 5-10 minutes, stir to prevent burning and add more water if it gets too dry. Once the pork is fork tender, if there is still a lot of visible liquid, uncover the wok, turn up the heat, and stir continuously until the sauce has reduced to a glistening coating.
And then, it’s time to eat! Let us know in the comments if you’re interested in any other variations of this dish, and we’ll get right on it. (not that we’re looking for another excuse to make it or anything…)
For entertaining, get one of these clay or earthen pots to serve your Shanghai Style Braised pork Belly (hong shao rou).
Shanghai-Style Braised Pork Belly (Hong Shao Rou)
Ingredients
- 12 ounces lean, skin-on pork belly (340g)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar (rock sugar is preferred if you have it)
- 3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Start by cutting your pork belly into 3/4-inch thick pieces.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the pork belly pieces for a couple minutes. This gets rid of impurities and starts the cooking process. Take the pork out of the pot, rinse, and set aside.
- Over low heat, add the oil and sugar to your wok. Melt the sugar slightly and add the pork. Raise the heat to medium and cook until the pork is lightly browned.
- Turn the heat back down to low and add shaoxing cooking wine, regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and water.
- NOTE: It’s very important to the color and flavor of this dish that you have both kinds of soy sauce! Just head to your local Asian market, buy a bottle of each, and it will last you a year!
- Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until pork is fork tender. Every 5-10 minutes, stir to prevent burning and add more water if it gets too dry.
- Once the pork is fork tender, if there is still a lot of visible liquid, uncover the wok, turn up the heat, and stir continuously until the sauce has reduced to a glistening coating.
This was my first true effort into the wonderful world of Chinese cooking and I must admit, it truly exceeded my expectations. The recipe was relatively easy for a beginner, but after cooking the pork belly for 45 minutes I thought I must have put to much water in it. I just followed step seven until it all thickened and then had a very enjoyable dinner.
I am so glad that your first experiment with Chinese cooking was a big success; keep on cooking! :-)
Tried this as the ingredients are so simple. It tasted a lot more better than expected and my family loves it. I cooked it for almost 90mins though as I used a bigger piece of pork. Taste delicious. I love recipe like this
I am so glad to hear that, Casey! Hope you try more of our recipes! :-)
Love this recipe.
TBH, I laughed outrageously at a bottle of soy lasting a year. My wine however, lasted about 4 months. :)
Hi Noell, so glad you enjoyed it.
Hello Judy. I am doing Gua Bao for dinner & was looking for a sticky pork recipe. I have just made your Shanghai-Style Braised Pork Belly and OMG it is so yummy. Perfect braised pork belly recipe for Gua Bao filling with pickled carrots and fresh coriander. Followed your instructions which are very simple and it was a success. I doubled the recipe and after one hour on low heat, the magic happened and the sauce thickened and became so glossy. This recipe is a winner. Your website is just wonderful. The whole family loves your cooking. We also love your Mei Cai Kou Rou (Steamed Pork Belly w/ Preserved Mustard Greens) which is just fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing these fabulous recipes with us. Cheers to more yummy recipes.
I am so glad to hear that, Jenn. Thank you for your lovely comment.
I don’t have a cover to my wok. Can I make this in a Dutch Oven over the stove?
Yes, you can.
For step 4, can I combine all 4 ingredients into a larger bowl and just add them to the wok together? Or do they need to be added separately as 4 different ingredients?
Hi Bryan, the way you are suggesting works too.
Will this work if I only have skinless pork belly?
Yes, you can, Michelle.
What sugar should is better for this? Brown or white sugar?
Hi Diane, I usually use rock sugar, but white sugar is fine too.
Made this for the first time and it turned out great! This one is for sure going in my Chinese dish rotation! I have made many other dishes from your website over the years and just want to say thank you for sharing all these wonderful recipes. Being able to recreate some of my favorite Chinese (mostly cantonese cuisine) at home brings me much joy.
Thank you, Gordon, that’s what we like to hear :-)
Hi Judy, I’ve only started cooking since lockdown and as I was cooking this dish I was sure this recipe wasn’t going to work for me, especially as I had read some of the comments beforehand. However, it suddenly came together at the end and had a glistening cost just as you described. It tasted great. My mum makes a version of this with lots of sauce, eggs and tofu but I thought I would try this version as I didn’t know it was a famous Chinese dish.
I came across your site in the last few months and I think it’s great. Love the detail and descriptions.
Next week, I hope to try Bill’s Hunan Beef recipe.
Sounds great, Peor! Happy wokking ;-)