Finished dish photo of Braised Pork Belly with Yardlong Beans (No Blanching, Time-Saving Pressure Cooker Version)

Braised Pork Belly with Yardlong Beans (No Blanching, Time-Saving Pressure Cooker Version)

Making braised pork belly used to be so tedious—blanching, pan-frying, slow cooking—it took a long time. Recently, I stocked up on pork belly, so here’s a simplified, time-saving version. Prep time is only 20 minutes. Soak the pork belly in cold water with cooking wine for half a day to remove the blood (the longer you soak, the better the result for removing the gamey flavor). A simple stir-fry followed by the pressure cooker takes care of everything.

Time:30–60 minutes
Difficulty:Easy

Ingredients

Pork belly600g
Dark soy sauce2 tbsp
Light soy sauce1.5 tbsp
Cooking wine2 tbsp
Rock sugararound 10 pieces
Star anise2 pieces
Ginger4–5 slices
Bay leaves2 pieces
Dried chili peppers3 pieces

Steps

1

Cut the pork belly into chunks, add ginger slices and cooking wine, soak in water for 4 hours to remove the gamey smell (refrigerate in summer). Squeeze out excess water after soaking, discard the water, and set aside.

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2

Soak dried yardlong beans in water for 4 hours, rinse, and cut into sections. Set aside.

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3

Pan-fry the pork belly over medium-low heat without adding oil until it turns golden on all sides. If you prefer less grease, discard the rendered fat.

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4

Add star anise and bay leaves, give it a quick stir, then add rock sugar and stir until melted.

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5

Stir to caramelize the sugar.

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6

Add the ingredients in this order: cooking wine, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce.

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7

Add chili peppers.

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8

Once everything is evenly coated and the liquid starts to bubble slightly, turn off the heat.

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9

Transfer everything to a pressure cooker.

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10

Add a small bowl of warm water. Since water evaporates slowly in a pressure cooker, there’s no need to add too much.

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11

Remove one piece of star anise to prevent the flavor from becoming too intense. If your pressure cooker doesn’t have a lid-off sauce reduction function, you can skip washing the stir-fry pan as it can be used for reducing the sauce later.

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12

Set the pressure cooker to meat stew mode (40 minutes).

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13

Once the time is up, release the pressure, open the lid, and the meat will be fork-tender.

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14

Use the lid-off sauce reduction mode for another 10 minutes, or switch to a stir-fry pan on medium heat to reduce the sauce.

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15

Before reducing the sauce, add the soaked yardlong beans or other side ingredients of your choice.

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16

The yardlong beans will soak up the sauce and be full of flavor. All done!

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Cooking Tips

1. The 10-minute lid-off sauce reduction helps evaporate excess water, giving a texture similar to braising in a cast iron pot. 2. If you don’t like yardlong beans, you can substitute with wide rice noodles or whole garlic bulbs—braised pork belly pairs well with almost anything. 3. For city dwellers who can’t eat all at once, divide into small portions and freeze. Reheat in aluminum foil with an air fryer, and it will taste just as good.