Traditional Hangzhou Dongpo pork

Ingredients

• 1200 g skin-on pork belly (wuhuarou)
• 150 g fresh Chinese scallions
• 60 g fresh ginger root
• 350 ml Shaoxing cooking wine (Huadiao)
• 60 ml naturally brewed light soy sauce
• 30 ml premium dark soy sauce
• 60 g Chinese rock sugar crystals (bingtang)

Method

1. Scrape the skin of the skin-on pork belly (wuhuarou) with the blade of a knife to remove any impurities, then rinse the slab under cold water.
2. Place the whole piece into a large pot, cover with cold water, add a small splash of the Shaoxing cooking wine (Huadiao), and add a few slices cut from the fresh ginger root.
3. Bring to a boil at 100 °C over high heat, then let simmer at 95 °C for 5 minutes, until gray foam rises to the surface and the meat turns pale about 2 mm deep.
4. Drain the meat and immediately plunge it into a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes to firm the flesh and make clean slicing easier.
5. Cut the chilled slab into neat squares about 6 cm across, then tie each cube crosswise with kitchen twine without overtightening to hold its shape during cooking.
6. In a cast-iron Dutch oven or clay pot, arrange the whole fresh Chinese scallion stalks and the remaining thick-sliced fresh ginger root to form a solid protective bed.
7. Place the meat cubes onto this aromatic bed, skin-side facing the bottom of the pot.
8. Add the Chinese rock sugar crystals (bingtang), then pour in the naturally brewed light soy sauce, premium dark soy sauce, and the remaining Shaoxing cooking wine (Huadiao).
9. Bring to a simmer at around 95 °C over medium heat for 5 minutes, cover the pot tightly, and turn the heat down to low to stabilize the internal temperature around 85 °C to 90 °C.
10. Simmer over very low heat (85 °C - 90 °C) covered for 60 minutes, until the liquid turns amber and the meat begins to soften.
11. Gently flip the meat cubes so the skin faces upward, baste the top with the braising liquid, cover again, and continue simmering over very low heat (85 °C - 90 °C) for 45 minutes.
12. Carefully transfer the pork cubes skin-side up into individual ceramic bowls, and add a spoonful of strained braising liquid to each bowl.
13. Set the bowls in a steamer over rapidly boiling water (100 °C), cover tightly, and steam over high heat for 30 minutes, until the skin is gelatinous and a skewer pierces through with no resistance.
14. Meanwhile, collect the remaining liquid from the pot, skim off the surface fat thoroughly, and reduce the liquid in a small saucepan over medium heat (around 100 °C) for 8 to 10 minutes, until it reaches a syrupy, glossy glaze that coats the back of a spoon.
15. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes off the heat, gently snip and remove the kitchen twine, spoon the hot reduction (at least 75 °C) over the glossy skin, and serve immediately.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

754.7 kcal

Protein

57.06 g

Carbohydrate

19.25 g

Fat

42.36 g

Fibre

1.6 g

Calcium

39.57 mg

Iron

2.51 mg

Magnesium

77.08 mg