Chinese Braised Pork in Brown Sauce

You will love this recipe for Chinese Braised Pork in Brown Sauce.

It’s juicy and tender pork cooked in a flavorful sauce with a hint of spice.

Chinese Braised Pork Belly

Shanghai-Style Braised Pork Belly (hong shao rou, 红烧肉) is a popular dish in China. You’ll understand why the minute you taste it!

Braised Pork in Brown Sauce has just the right amount of bold flavor.

But, of course, you can tweak the spice level to your liking. This dish is one of my favorite authentic Chinese dishes to date!

International Influence

Our family has enjoyed hosting international students; from Toledo, Spain, and Shanghai, China, over the years.

The experience has taught us so much, expanded our perspectives, and enriched our lives. We’ve built relationships that will surely last a lifetime!

The Chinese recipes on the site are direct from China, literally.

Zhengzheng Ren (Dave) from Shanghai lived with us for his last two years in high school, then graduated from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

We are delighted he accepted his first job in Minneapolis this year.

Zhengzheng has cooked many Chinese specialties for us over the last six years. He has also invited other international friends over to our home to cook.

Yulin Zhou (James), from the Hunan Province of China, is one of them. We love Yulin, too; he is a sweetheart and a fabulous cook!

He has also taught us Chinese cooking techniques and shared so many delicious recipes that I will continue to share with you.

Now it’s your turn. Let’s get started!

Here are the ingredients you will need to make Chinese Braised Pork in Brown Sauce.

Ingredients

Affiliate links are underlined.

Pork Belly
Fresh Ginger
Leeks
Cooking Oil
Sugar
Red Chilies
Bay leaves
Star anise
Chicken Base
Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine
Regular Soy Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce
Greens Onions, garnish optional
Sesame Seeds, garnish optional

Two Kinds of Soy Sauces

It seems odd, but it’s essential to the taste and the color of many Asian recipes to include both kinds of soy sauce, regular and dark.

You can find both sauces at your local Asian Grocery Store or order from Amazon.

Once you have these in your kitchen arsenal, you can use them in many delicious Chinese recipes I will share.

Chinese Shaoxing Cooking Wine, Lee Kum Lee Premium Soy Sauce., and Lee Kum Lee Premium Dark Soy Sauce. (Affiliate links are underlined.)

Let’s Start Cooking

Boil the pork until you see large areas of white foam.

This means that the meat is fully cooked. Drain and rinse the pork with cold water. Cut the pork belly into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

Cut the ginger and leeks. Gather the other ingredients; red chilies and bay leaves.

Mix the sauce, both regular and dark soy sauce, with Shaoxing cooking wine.

Over low heat, add the vegetable oil and sugar to the wok.

Cook and stir until sugar is slightly melted and nicely caramelized, then add boiled pork.

Increase the heat to medium and cover the wok to avoid overspray.

Stir until all the pork is incorporated into the mixture and lightly browned.

Turn the heat back to low and add the sauce ingredients. Stir. Toss in the red chilies and ginger. Stir just until incorporated, about 20 seconds.

Add just enough water to cover the pork. Add the star anise, bay leaves, and leeks to the wok.

Increase the heat to high until it boils, then cover the wok, turn the heat down to medium/low, and simmer for 40 minutes – 1 hour or until pork is tender.

Turn up to high heat until all the liquid is absorbed.

Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Add water if it gets too dry. Fold in salt and chicken base.

Braised Pork Belly Recipe

And finally, here is the delicious, full-of-flavor recipe! Enjoy.

Chinese Braised Pork in Brown Sauce

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★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

• Author: Cindy Munson
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 6–8 servings 1x

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Description

You are going to love this classic Chinese dish. It’s juicy and tender pork cooked in a flavorful sauce with a hint of spice.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Meat Mixture

1 1/2 pounds pork belly

1/4 cup cooking oil

3 tablespoons sugar

Sauce

2 tablespoons regular soy sauce

4 tablespoons dark soy sauce

3 tablespoons Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine

Seasoning

6 red chilies

5 tablespoons fresh ginger

3 star anise

2 bay leaves

2 leeks, sliced diagonally

Flavoring

salt, to taste

Garnish (optional)

green onions

sesame seeds

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

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Instructions

1. Boil the pork until you see large areas of white foam. This means that the meat is fully cooked. Drain and rinse the pork with cold water. Cut into 1-inch cubes. Set aside.
2. Over low heat, pour cooking oil and sugar into the wok. Cook and stir until sugar is slightly melted and nicely caramelized; add boiled pork. Increase the heat to medium and cover wok to avoid overspray. Stir until all the pork is incorporated into the mixture and lightly browned.
3. Turn the heat back to low and add in the sauce ingredients, the red chilies, and ginger. Stir just until incorporated, about 20 seconds. Add just enough water to cover the pork. Add the star anise and bay leaves to the wok.
4. Increase the heat to high until it boils, then cover the wok, turn heat down to medium/low and simmer for 40 minutes – 1 hour or until pork is tender. Turn up to high heat until all the liquid is absorbed. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Add water if it gets too dry.
5. Fold in salt and chicken base. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve with rice or LoMein. Enjoy!

Notes

You Do Need Both Kinds of Soy Sauces. It is important to the taste of this recipe to have both kinds of soy sauce. Find both at your local Asian Grocery Store or on amazon.com.

Meat-Buying Tips. Look for pork belly with a good ratio of meat to fat. Pork should have bright white fat and the meat should be a nice pink color.

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Category: Main Dishes: Pork
• Method: Braising
• Cuisine: Chinese

Keywords: Chinese, Braising, Main Dishes, Dinner, Pork, Recipe, Shanghai, China, Authentic, Traditional, Hunan Province

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Nutrition Label. The nutritional values listed are an approximation based on the ingredients in the recipe card. Actual amounts may vary.

Serving Suggestions

Serve with white rice, fried rice, lo mein, or your favorite vegetable. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

I know you’ll enjoy this authentic Chinese meal as much as we do! If you make it, please let me know in the comments below. 😃

xo,
Cindy

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