Tender nubs of flavour-packed pork gently braised with typical Chinese pantry staples – this recipe for hóngshāo ròu (红烧肉) sure is a crowd-pleaser.
My love for Chinese food was well and truly reinvigorated on my last trip there, and reproducing some of the dishes I enjoyed has definitely been a fun experience.
A quick stir-fry, this is not, as you need about 2 hours before anyone can dive into this red braised pork.
The name clearly comes from its rich colour which comes from combined light and dark soy sauce, plus a few other bits.
I’ve kept the recipe as traditional as I can; using lump sugar, Chinese chicken stock granules and Shaoxing wine. If these were tricky to find, I’d probably go with white sugar, decent chicken stock powder and lager.
One final drizzle (my personal touch) of Sichuan pepper oil – a flavour I fell in love with whilst over there – and you’ve got a bunch of flavours that’ll quite literally dance on your tongue.
Recipe based on this one.
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Shaoxing wine, lump sugar and Sichuan pepper oil can be found in good Asian grocers. If you can get it, buy Hua Diao, as it's the best Shaoxing yellow wine.