Red Cooked Pork is succulent, delicious and easier than you think–and a great example of the traditional Chinese dishes to be found in Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees. A copy of the cookbook was provided to me in exchange for an honest review; cookware from Anolon was provided to me for use in this review. Affiliate links have been used to link to items I am discussing.
Happy Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival! How’s that for a mouthful? Kinda makes me wish I could say it in Chinese. At any rate, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival is September 15 this year; the holiday, second most important in China after the New Year, celebrates the harvest and falls on the Harvest Moon (the closest full moon to the autumn equinox). And to celebrate, a group of bloggers is celebrating Kian Lam Kho’s Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees: Essential Techniques of Authentic Chinese Cooking
About the Red Cooked Pork itself…. As I mentioned the dish is easier than it looks. It includes several different steps: caramelizing the sugar, stir frying and browning the pork belly, and then braising the pork belly. But each of these steps is pretty simple–and not at all stressful as long as you remember your mise en place. In other words, have all of your ingredients prepped and measured before you start cooking this dish.
We loved this Red Cooked Pork. It definitely needs to be served with some kind of carb (we chose rice) and vegetables. It goes without saying that the dish is rich and filling–you will only want a small amount. I chose to remove some of the fat from the dish after browning the pork belly, and I also added one tablespoon of brown sugar at the end. Just a personal preference that we wanted the dish a tad sweeter. But we all loved the dish–and interestingly we all loved the sauce even more than the pork belly itself!
Anolon generously agreed to supply cookware for the dish we chose to make–and if we used two pieces of cookware they supplied two pieces of cookware! And even better, they are also providing the same cookware that they provided to me to my readers! The cookware they provided were pans suitable for stir frying and pots suitable for braising. Braising was a no brainer for me–I knew I wanted a piece of enameled cast iron because I already know that is what I prefer. Based on what I already own (and wanting something different) I chose the Anolon(r) Vesta(tm) Cast Iron Cookware 5-Quart Round Covered Casserole:
For the stir frying portion I chose to go with a pan, rather than a traditional wok. I did this because, first of all I already own a cast iron wok and prefer it to nonstick woks. Second of all, I wanted to show you, the reader, that you can make this traditional Chinese Red Cooked Pork in a traditionally European stainless steel pan, the Anolon Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel 12-Inch Covered French Skillet. And it worked beautifully (although I want to make clear I understand what makes a wok superior in many cases):
The one caveat is that when using a smaller pan to stir fry you may need to fry in batches. In some cases that can be a deal breaker, but for this Red Cooked Pork it just meant browning the pork in two batches and was no big deal.
The giveaway is now closed.
- 1 1/2 lbs . pork belly meat
- 3 T water
- 2 T sugar
- 3 cloves garlic (I minced out of habit)
- 2 inch scallions cut into 2- long pieces
- 3 whole star anise
- 2 T dark soy sauce
- 1 T soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine (I could not find and had to use white wine)
- 1 1/2 cups clear stock or water or the liquid from the par-boiling step
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Put the entire pork belly in a large pot covered by enough water to cover the meat completely. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to medium to maintain a low boil. Continuously skim off the scum as it forms on top of the boiling water. Boil for about 20 minutes uncovered and then drain the pork belly and place on a plate to cool. The boiling liquid can be reused for braising after filtering through a fine sieve. When the pork belly is cool to touch cut it into pieces of about 1.5 inches cubes.
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Melt the sugar and the water in a wok over medium high heat. Continue heating until the sugar is yellow at the edges (do not cook further so that the sugar coats the meat rather than crystalizing). Add the cubed pork belly and brown it in the caramelized sugar. Toss the pork regularly to prevent burning--and if needed, brown the pork in 2 batches.
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Add the garlic, scallions, star anise, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, wine and clear stock (or water) into the pan. Bring to a boil, scrape the bottom of the pan and then transfer the contents of the pan into a braising pot, such as a Dutch oven.
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Cover the Dutch oven and simmer over low heat. Stir the meat every 15 minutes to make sure the pork at the bottom of the pot does not get burnt. Do this for 1 hour or until the meat is tender. Remove the cover and remove the pork with a slotted spoon. Turn the heat to medium high and boil the liquid to the desired thickness. Pour over the meat to serve.
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You can serve this dish right away or keep overnight and reheat the next day before serving. (I chose to garnish this dish with snipped scallions.)
Laura,
The Chinese dish I’d like to learn the most would be Ma La Wonton. If I could pick a second dish, it’d be Ma Po Tofu! My brother turned me on to these numbingly spicy dishes at a restaurant in Logan Circle (Washington, DC). When we moved to Ohio I ordered them and . . . just no. Bland, insipid, and containing peas and carrots? Wtf? That is NOT Ma Po Tofu in my book!
I’m intrigued by this cookware, intrigued enough to hope I win one. The items you mention do not duplicate stuff I own (so no need for more decluttering!)
Thanks!
this recipe for the Chinese Red Cooked Pork sounds delicious, I’ve not had the chance to try this before. I love lemon chicken and use a cast iron skillet to make it at home – thanks for the chance to win this amazing prize package
I would love to learn to make the traditional Chinese dish of spring pancakes especially ones that are onion flavored or have a similar taste.
I would like to learn how to make General Tso’s Chicken or Kung Pao Chicken because I like spicy food!
I love the steamed pork buns. Or the soups – hot and sour is my favorite.
I would live to learn to make bao!!
I’d love to learn how to make any and all dim sum- and I’d love to make authentic pork buns gluten free!
I am a real novice when it comes to Chinese food, so I would have to start with something easy and work my way up, so maybe soup or a stir fry?
I love general tso chicken…but my exposure to Chinese cooking is bad American Chinese so a true cookbook would be awesome!
I love Chinese food and have had some of the best over in Hong King and China. I have to say yours looks delicious and so authentic. That cookbook sounds awesome.! I would love to learn how to cook Shanghai dumplings.
I would love to make anything in a good garlic sauce. Eggplant in garlic sauce is one of my favorites, though I’m not sure it’s authentic!
I would really enjoy making steamed buns. I had some a while back at a local Chinese restaurant and would love to recreate them at home. This cookbook would surely be filled with inspiration!
My kids love sesame chicken. I’d love to learn how to make that.
That looks so, so delicious. I would love to learn how to make traditional Chinese dumplings!
I would like to make this dish of a whole fried carp served with sweet and sour sauce I remember from China. I would first have to find a sweet and sour sauce that is right. There is a whole spectrum of sauce, from gloppy to too sweet.
I’d love to learn how to make Red Cooked Pork. I’ve never tried any red cooking but it looks delicious.
orange beef!
I’d love to learn to make steamed buns filled with red bean paste.
I’m so American in my Chinese that all I order is general tso….I want to know more and this dish looks fab!
garlic eggplant!
I would like to learn to make Peking Duck.
I’d love to learn to make Peking duck.