Hongshao rou
Red-Braised Pork Belly with Fermented Tofu
Red-cooked pork is pork belly boiled briefly, browned with aromatics and braised until soft in a sauce coloured and flavoured with red fermented tofu, then reduced until it coats the meat.
The magazine boils 450 g of skin-on pork belly for 5 minutes, browns it with chilli, ginger and leek, braises it 40 to 50 minutes with red fermented tofu, bay and star anise and reduces the sauce to 2 tbsp.
Ingredients
For the pork
- Salt
- 450 g boneless skin-on pork belly, cut into 2 cm cubes
- 1.4 litres water, for boiling
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 2 red chillies, chopped
- 4 cm piece of ginger, thinly sliced
- 1 leek (white and light green parts), chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 3 tbsp mashed red fermented tofu, plus 2 tsp of its liquid
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 star anise
- 600 ml water, for braising
Method
- Parboil Boil the salted water, add the pork and cook for 5 minutes. Drain.
- Brown Heat a wok until smoking, add the oil, then the chillies, ginger and leek for 30 seconds. Add the pork and toss for 3 minutes.
- Season Add the sugar, soy sauce, fermented tofu and its liquid and a pinch of salt and toss for about 6 minutes until browned.
- Braise Add the 600 ml of water, bay leaves and star anise and bring to the boil. Reduce to medium-low, cover and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes until the pork is tender and cooked through.
- Reduce Uncover, turn the heat to high and stir for about 15 minutes until the liquid reduces to about 2 tbsp.
Food safety
Pork must be cooked through, with no pink and juices running clear. Hot oil and a reducing sauce spit and burn: keep children back. Cool leftovers quickly and reheat until piping hot.
Stir constantly during the final reduction.