Finished dish photo of Braised Pork (Childhood Memories ~ Grandma's Braised Pork)

Braised Pork (Childhood Memories ~ Grandma's Braised Pork)

Although braised pork is a common dish, how can we make a rich, flavorful, and mouthwatering braised pork that is oily but not greasy?

Ingredients

Pork bellyto taste
Quail eggsto taste
Saltto taste
Star aniseto taste
Bay leavesto taste
Cinnamonto taste
Hawthorn slices (for faster cooking)to taste
Rock sugarto taste
Cooking wineto taste
Scallion and gingerto taste
Light soy sauceto taste
Dark soy sauceto taste
Chilito taste

Steps

1

Sprinkle a little salt on the cut pork belly and marinate for a while. Then, use toothpicks to poke through the pork belly to help the fat render out during stir-frying, reducing the greasiness.

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2

Heat oil in a pan and stir-fry rock sugar over low heat to make caramel.

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3

Once the caramel is ready and large bubbles form, add the pork belly and stir-fry over medium heat to evenly coat the meat with the caramel.

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4

Reduce the heat to low, add light soy sauce and dark soy sauce for color, and cooking wine to remove the gaminess. Doesn't the color look more tempting now? 😉

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5

Add water (enough to cover the meat), then add scallion, ginger, star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon, chili, salt, and rock sugar for seasoning. Finally, add the secret weapon—hawthorn slices (to speed up the cooking process).

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6

I cooked it in a pressure cooker for about 8 minutes (to save time). If using a regular pot, it takes about 40 minutes. Then, add the pre-boiled quail eggs and cook for a few more minutes before serving.

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