Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork Belly
HUNANESE · CHINA

Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork Belly

毛氏红烧肉Main

Hunan's most famous pot: pork belly caramelised in sugar, then braised down in rice wine and dark soy until the fat turns to jelly and the sauce goes glossy and almost black. No chilli heat here, just deep smoke, sweetness and pork.

Total
105 min
Heat
1/5
Serves
4

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Flavour profile

Heat
Funk
Acid
Richness
Umami
  • Caramelised
  • Silky
  • Smoky
  • Sweet

The real deal

Region
Hunan, China — the dish named for Mao Zedong's home province, cooked without chilli so the belly's own sweetness leads.
Technique
Caramelising the sugar with the pork in the wok before braising, then reducing the liquid right down to a lacquer.
We kept
Pork belly on the bone of caramel, rice wine, dark soy, rock sugar, ginger and scallion — no chilli, no soy-sauce shortcuts.

Ingredients

4 Serves

Braise

  • 900 g · cut into 3 cm chunks
  • 30 g
  • 1 tbsp
  • 200 ml
  • 2 tbsp
  • 1 tbsp
  • 2.1 l

Aromatics

  • 5 cm · thick slices, skin on
  • 3 · halved
  • 2
  • 1

Method

  1. Put in a pot and cover with cold . Bring to a boil and boil for 5 min, skimming the grey foam that rises. Drain, rinse the pork under warm water and pat it dry. This is what keeps the braise clean and the sauce glossy instead of cloudy.

    Don't skip the blanch. Without it the fat scum clouds the braising liquid and the sauce never turns to lacquer.

  2. Slice into thick coins, leaving the skin on — it holds the fragrance. Halve and bash the white parts lightly with the flat of a cleaver. Have and standing by.

  3. Heat a wok or heavy pot over medium heat, add 1 tbsp and . Let the sugar melt and bubble without stirring too much until it turns a deep amber and smells like toffee, about 3 min. Add the blanched pork and turn it through the caramel for 3 min until every piece is coated and burnished dark brown. This is the colour the whole dish hangs on — go past honey and towards mahogany, but pull it before it blackens.

    If the sugar smokes black, it's burnt — throw it out and start again. Burnt caramel means bitter sauce that no amount of braising fixes.

  4. Add the ginger, scallion, star anise and cassia, then pour in 200 ml and let it hiss off the alcohol for a moment. Stir in 2 tbsp and 1 tbsp , then add just enough hot to barely cover the pork. Bring to a bare simmer, cover, and braise low and patient for 1 h, turning the pieces once or twice. The pork should be spoon-tender by the end, the fat shot through with caramel.

    Barely cover, not drown. Too much water and you'll boil the pork grey instead of braising it dark.

  5. Lift out the pork with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Fish out and discard the ginger, scallion and whole spices. Turn the heat up to high heat and reduce the braising liquid until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and beads glossily on the surface, about 10 min. Return the pork and roll it through the sauce so every piece is lacquered, then take it off the heat.

    Don't salt until now — the two soy sauces and the reduced liquid can get salty fast once they concentrate.

  6. Pile the pork into a warm bowl and spoon the dark glaze over the top. Serve immediately with plain steamed rice so nothing goes to waste.

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