Dong Po Rou
Hangzhou Braised Pork Belly
Dong Po Rou is an ancient Chinese dish, whose origins have been lost. It's named
after Dongpo, the artistic name of Su Shi, a great artist, statesman and gastronome from the 11th century, who was exiled to Hangzhou
during part of his life. Legend has it, that Su Shi himself perfected this dish during his exile, and it thereafter became one of the most prominent Hangzhou dishes. It's now popular
thorughout much of China. It's not hard to see why this simple dish has been popular throughout the ages. It's simply delicious - and not very complicated to make at all; it just takes a
long time to cook. You can find pork belly and rock sugar at any Chinese store with a meat counter. Finding Shaoxing wine proved harder, and at the end I just used sherry. As you can
imagine, this dish is extremely rich - my pork belly had more far more fat than meat, so it's best eaten in small quantities. I think that I will make it again and serve it as an appetizer
for my Xmas dinner.
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Hangzhou-style Braised Pork Belly
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs pork belly
- 1 bunch green onions
- 4" ginger root
- vegetable oil
- Shaoxing wine or pale dry sherry
- 1/3 cup light sauce
- 1/3 cup rock sugar, crushed
Directions
Cut the pork belly into 1 1/2" squares. Cut green onions into 1 1/2" lengths. Peel and slice ginger root.
Oil the bottom of a saucepan just large enough to accommodate the pork. Add the green onions, placing them in a single layer that fills the bottom of the pan. Layer the ginger slices over the green onions. Set aside.
Bring water to boil in a medium-size saucepan. Heat a wok or skillet over high heat and add a think layer of oil. When hot, add the pork, skin side down and cook until browned. Transfer pork to the sauce pan with boiling water and boil for 3 minutes. Drain pork and rinse with cold water.
Place the pork belly, skin side down, in a single layer on top of the ginger in the prepared saucepan. Add enough Shaoxing wine to fill the saucepan to the middle. Pour soy sauce over the pork. Sprinkle rock sugar on the pork.
Heat saucepan on the stove over medium-high heat until it starts to boil. Cover, bring heat down to low and simmer for 90 minutes. Turn the pork pieces skin-side up, cover and continue simmering for another 90 minutes. Serve.
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Adapted from a recipe at the Taste Asian Food blog
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