Dongpo pork
东坡肉 dōngpō ròu — Hangzhou pork belly slow-braised in Shaoxing wine until it trembles
ChineseNamed after the Song dynasty poet Su Dongpo, who governed Hangzhou, these neat squares of pork belly are a fixture of the city's restaurants around West Lake and of New Year banquet tables across Zhejiang. Cooked for hours in Shaoxing wine with soy and rock sugar, the fat turns soft and wobbly, the lean melts apart, and the skin goes glossy and mahogany. Each guest usually gets one square, eaten with plain rice and a green vegetable to cut the richness. The traditional braise uses only wine and no water; if you avoid alcohol, use the stock-and-vinegar version in the ingredient note, which is just as tender, though less fragrant. Chef's tip: tie each square with kitchen string before braising so it keeps its shape for serving.
- Total time
- 150 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ lb skin-on pork bellyone even piece, about 5 cm thick
- 6 spring onionstrimmed, left whole
- 1 oz fresh gingerthickly sliced
- 1 ¼ cups Shaoxing winemuch of the alcohol cooks off but not all; for an alcohol-free braise use 300 ml chicken stock, 1 tbsp rice vinegar and 1 tsp extra sugar
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 ⅜ oz rock sugaror brown sugar
- ¾ cup water
To serve
- 4 pak choi (optional)halved and blanched
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Scrape the skin of 1 ¾ lb skin-on pork belly with a knife to remove any hairs. Put it in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes to clean it. Drain and rinse under cold water.
10 minStep 2: Cut the pork into 4 even squares of about 5 cm. Tie each one like a parcel with kitchen string, crosswise both ways. Use a separate board for raw meat.
Step 3: Lay 6 spring onions and 1 oz fresh ginger over the base of a small heavy casserole or clay pot. Put the pork on top, skin side down, packed snugly.
Step 4: Add 1 ¼ cups Shaoxing wine, 3 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 ⅜ oz rock sugar and ¾ cup water; the liquid should come at least halfway up the pork. Bring to the boil over a medium heat.
5 minStep 5: Cover, turn the heat to the lowest setting and cook for 1 hour. You want an occasional lazy bubble only; a common mistake is letting it boil hard, which shrinks the meat and makes it dry and stringy.
60 minStep 6: Turn the squares skin side up, cover again and cook for another hour, until a chopstick slides through the lean with no resistance. The pork is far beyond the safe 145°F (145 °F) by now.
60 minStep 7: Lift out the pork and keep warm. Strain the liquid, skim off most of the fat and boil it over a high heat for 5 minutes, until it coats a spoon.
5 minStep 8: Snip the strings, set each square in a small bowl with 4 pak choi and spoon the glossy sauce over. Rest for 3 minutes and serve with steamed rice.
3 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 690 kcal
- Protein
- 22 g
- Carbs
- 14 g
- Fat
- 58 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does dongpo pork take?
- About 150 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 130 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of spring onions?
- Chives, or a little finely sliced onion.
- What can I use instead of fresh ginger?
- ¼ tsp ground ginger per tbsp fresh (add it with the spices).
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