Hong Shao Rou (Red Braised Pork Belly with Abalone) (2024)

Hong Shao Rou（红烧肉), often translated as Red Braised Pork Belly, is a classic dish from Chinese cuisine, involving braising the pork in a sweet and savory sauce.

This beloved dish features pork belly as its primary ingredient, which is slow-cooked until tender in a rich and savory sauce. The sauce is characterized by a deep, reddish-brown color, which comes from a combination of dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine, along with rock candies that caramelizes during cooking, giving it a glossy finish and a deeply flavorful taste.

Varieties of Hong Shao Rou

Hong Shao Rou is a beloved dish that varies significantly from one region and family to another.

In Hunan, known for its love of bold and spicy flavors, locals often add chili peppers, garlic, shallots, and sometimes smoked or cured ingredients to their Hong Shao Rou, enhancing its robust and complex flavor profile.

In contrast, Shanghai’s version leans towards a subtler and sweeter palette. Therefore, Shanghai Hong Shao Rou is known for its sweeter taste due to the generous use of rock candies, which helps create a glossy, caramelized sauce. It is generally milder than the Hunan version, with no use of chili peppers or other spices, focusing instead on the balance of sweetness with the savory depth of soy sauce.

My hometown, Hangzhou, is located near Shanghai, which influences our local cuisine. As a result, my family’s Hong Shao Rou recipe leans towards the sweeter side, similar to the Shanghai style.

We often enrich the flavor and texture of Hong Shao Rou by incorporating various side ingredients. For instance, I have a hong shao rou recipe that includes hard boiled quail eggs, and you’ll often find restaurants adding elements like dried tofu, bamboo shoots, or potatoes to the pork belly. In this particular recipe, we’ll be adding abalone. However, feel free to omit these additional ingredients if you prefer, as the red braised pork belly alone is wonderfully delicious.

EQUIPMENT

• Large frying pan
• Dutch oven pot(Or you can use a clay pot, a slow cooker, or a regular pot)

INGREDIENTS

• 2lbpork belly
• 1tbspvegetable oil
• 4slicesginger
• 2green onions
• 3tbspscooking wine(shaoxing wine)
• 1tbspdark soy sauce
• 3tbspslight soy sauce
• ¼cuprock candies(If the rock candies are too large to be measured with a measuring cup, use approximately40gof them. Use brown sugar if you can’t find rock candies)
• hot water
• 6 to 8abalone(optional optional optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut thepork bellyinto cubes that are about2 inches in size. Place the pieces in a large bowl and cover them withcold water, ensuring they are fully submerged. Allow the pork belly to soak in the water for30 minutes.

2. 30 minutes later, drain the water, and pat the pork belly cubes dry with paper towels.

3. Heat1 tbsp ofvegetable oilin alarge frying panover medium heat. Add the pork belly to the pan and allow them to sear for a few minutes until they achieve a golden brown color onall sides except for the skin side. (It’s best to avoid pan-frying them with the skin side down, as it may cause splattering of oil. Therefore, I typically recommend leaving the skin side facing up when pan-frying pork belly cubes.)

4. Transfer the pork to aDutch oven pot, then addginger slices, green onions,cooking wine,dark soy sauce,light soy sauce,rock candies, and pour inhot water, making sure the liquid barely covers the pork pieces.

5. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer, covered, for about1 hour, or until the pork is tender and the sauce has thickened.

6. If desired, you can addabaloneorhard-boiled quail eggsin the dish with the pork belly. Carefully brush the abalone to clean them, then rinse. Make shallow slices in a grid pattern on the top of the abalone.

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7. Once the pork belly has simmered for one hour, add the abalone to the pot. Stir until the abalone is thoroughly coated with the sauce. Then, cover the pot and allow it to simmer for an additional10 minutes. (Skip this step if you don’t want to add abalone.)

8. Once the pork reaches your desired level of tenderness, remove the lid and thicken the sauce over medium heat. Stir continuously to ensure uniform heating and thicken the sauce to your preference.

9. Transfer the Hong Shao Rou to a serving plate, garnish with chopped green onions, and drizzle with the remaining sauce from the pot. Serve hot withsteamed rice(How to cook rice in 3 methods) and vegetables.

Tips for making Hong Shao Rou

1. Choice of pork belly

You have the option to use either fresh or frozen pork belly for this recipe. If opting for frozen pork belly, ensure to thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before cooking.

When selecting your pork belly, aim for a piece that strikes a good balance between meat and fat to achieve optimal flavor and texture. Ideally, choose pork belly with three layers of lean meat alternating with three layers of fat.

2. Cut into larger pieces

As the pork belly cubes significantly shrink during cooking, it’s advisable to cut them into double the size you desire for eating. This ensures they remain bite-sized once cooked. I personally like to cut it into 2” wide cubes.

3. Soak to remove impurities

You can choose to soak the pork belly in cold water for a minimum of 30 minutes. This allows any remaining blood and impurities to be gradually released into the water. Alternatively, if you want to save some time, you can blanch the pork belly to remove impurities.

4. Pan fry to remove extra fat

Before pan-frying, use kitchen paper to pat dry the soaked pork belly to minimize oil splashing.

Pan-frying creates a golden-brown crust on the pork belly, sealing in its natural juices and enhancing its flavor. It also helps to render some of the fat, resulting in a firmer texture and reducing the dish’s oiliness. The rendered lard from the pork belly can be preserved in an airtight container in the refrigerator for future culinary use.

5. Manage the Cooking Time

If you are going to add abalone, add it towards the end of cooking to ensure it remains tender and absorbs the flavors of the sauce without overcooking.

If the sauce is reducing too quickly, add a little water to prevent it from burning. Adjust the sauce’s consistency at the end of cooking. If it’s too thin, increase the heat and reduce it to achieve a rich, glossy texture.

6. Use both dark and light soy sauce

Light soy sauce provides saltiness and enhances the overall savory flavor of the dish, while dark soy sauce contributes a richer, slightly sweet flavor with a hint of caramelization. Together, they create a complex depth of flavor that is characteristic of Hong Shao Rou.

If you have to skip one, prioritizing light soy sauce over dark soy sauce is recommended for this dish. You could potentially substitute the dark soy sauce with an equal amount of light soy sauce. However, be aware that this adjustment may result in a dish that is less visually appealing, and the sauce may lack the caramelized texture and flavor characteristic of the traditional Hong Shao Rou.

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