Braised soy sauce pork belly is a favorite in many Chinese kitchens and is about to become a staple in yours too. Let the warm, caramelized, comforting flavors and spices envelop you on a fall day.
Braised Pork Belly is a very famous dish in China. Almost every household cook may have their own formula and twists based on the original. This is a meal that is built around the flavor of soy sauce and a handful of Chinese ingredients. The tender velvety meat of the pork belly surrounded by sweet soy sauce and star anise flavors will truly whets your appetite. 
The recipe today is very simple. Three main steps, parboiling, braising and caramelizing together impart superior flavor and increase visual appeal.
Once you master the basic, you can add other ingredients to layer the flavors. The matched ingredients are spring onion, garlic, dry chili, bay leaf and cinnamon sticks.
Braised Soy Sauce Pork Belly
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Braised soy sauce pork belly is a favorite in many Chinese kitchens and is about to become a staple in yours too. Let the warm, caramelized, comforting flavors and spices envelop you on a fall day.
Ingredients
- 800 g pork belly (cut into 3–4 cm thick pieces)
- ½ cup Chinese rice wine
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce (for coloring, optional)
- 4–5 slices of ginger
- 1 tablespoons of sugar
- 2 star anise
Instructions
- Parboiling — Bring water to a boil in a sauce pan. Put pork into saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. Discard the hot water and wash the gunk off the pork with cold water.
- Braising — Place pork belly, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, sugar and star anise in the sauce pan. Add water to barely cover meat. Lower heat to a simmer, cover with a lid, and continue braising for about 60 minutes.
- Caramelizing — turn to high heat, take the cover off and let liquid evaporate and thicken. Turn and mix the pork to make sure the meat is covered evenly. You should end up with a thick, glistening sauce that covers the tender pork belly.
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Chinese
Hi Lei, I am making this one tonight! I love pork belly but have had so many crispy skin pork bellies, I want to try something different. Should I leave the skin on the belly for this recipe? I am planning to add a few shallots and garnish with coriander, let me know if this is a bad idea!
Cheers, ben
Hi, Ben: It is a dish with the skin on the belly. shallots and coriander will be fine with it.
When I follow the recipe, the meat doesn’t turn brown like the photo and the sauce doesn’t thicken. Would love to know what I did wrong.
Love this recipe, thank you! :) I added garlic and five spice powder for my second try. But honestly, the original recipe is already very very good. Ginger makes the dish!