Shanghai Red-braised Pork
Pork belly poached until just set, pressed, cubed and browned, then braised about two hours with wine, vinegar, soy sauces and salt; rock sugar glazes it
Preparing 3DThe ingredients and steps are below if you want to start there
Drag to rotate · Click a label for the amountDrag sideways to turn · tap a label for the amountTap a dot for the amount · drag sideways to turn
About this source
- Shanghai Municipal People’s Government English portal (Shanghai International Service Portal); credits thepaper.cn, Xinmin Evening News and the restaurants
- We found no local or industry standard for Shanghai red-braised pork; this is the most official version with amounts and steps we could find. No chef is credited
Not in the source — added by us (3)
- Ingredients (for 500 g pork), order and the “about two hours” braise follow the page. It gives no times for poaching, cooling, pressing, browning or reducing; those steps, marked “est.”, are our estimates
- The page only specifies a gentle simmer and “slightly higher” heat for reducing; other heat levels are our estimates, and step temperatures are illustrative values for the animation
- The page doesn’t say whether the ginger and scallion are removed; the 3D grid leaves them out. The page is in English; the Chinese here is our translation
Other references (1)
- Heritage listingⅧ-230 “Traditional cooking techniques of Shanghai Benbang cuisine” · National intangible heritage · 2014Open the original · Fourth national list of intangible cultural heritage; safeguarding unit: Shanghai Lao Fandian (Old Restaurant) · Background only: the listing says who safeguards the technique, but gives no recipe
Ingredients
Numbers match the labels on the 3D model
500 g- 01Pork belly500 g, in 3–4 cm cubesPlated in a 3×3 or 4×4 grid
- 02Braising glazehot water, just to coverThe braising liquid, reduced until it coats every piece
- 03Rock sugar25 gAdded after the braise, to reduce the sauce
- 04Soy sauces & salt25 ml light · 10 ml dark soy · 2 g saltThe source says the dark soy gives the color; glossy, not heavy
- 05Wine & rice vinegar10 ml Shaoxing wine · 5 ml rice vinegarSplashed in together after browning, then covered briefly
- 06Gingercooking only3 slicesBraised along with the scallion knot
- 07Scallion knotcooking only1Braised along with the ginger
- 08Cooking oilas neededFor browning; pour off the excess afterwards
- 09Poaching watercooking onlycold water, as neededThe pork poaches until just set, then cools in it
Cooking order
12 steps · about 3 h 21 min – 4 h 1 min total (some estimated)
● in the source our estimate
The “look for” cues follow the cited source but haven’t been checked line by line by a cook yet; those marked ○ are our own additions.
The doneness cues haven’t been translated yet, so they’re shown in the original Chinese.
Scrape any residue off the skin and rinse the pork in warm water
Put the pork in a pot of cold water and bring it to a boil
Look for肉和冷水一起烧开source
Look水面浮起灰白浮沫，肉表面发白our estimate
约 5–15 分钟（估：看水量和火力）
Turn down to a gentle simmer and cook until the pork is just set
约 10–20 分钟（估；原文没写）
Turn off the heat and let the pork cool in its cooking liquid
Press it in a shallow tray under a board or weight until firm, then cut into even 3–4 cm cubes
Fry the cubes in a little oil until lightly golden and the fat begins to render
Look for表面微黄，肥肉开始出油source
Listen油里一直是细密的嗞嗞声；变成噼啪溅油，多半是火大了或者肉上带水our estimate
约 5–10 分钟（估）
Pour off the excess fat, add the Shaoxing wine and a splash of rice vinegar, and cover briefly
Look for酒和醋下锅嗞啦一声、冒一阵白汽；盖上锅盖焖一下，声音变小our estimate
Look开盖时锅底只剩薄薄一层汤汁our estimate
约 15–60 秒（估）
Add the ginger and scallion, then both soy sauces and the salt; toss so every piece is coated
Look for翻匀，让每块肉都裹上source
Look肉块表面变成均匀的红褐色、发亮（颜色主要来自老抽）our estimate
约 30–90 秒（估）
Add hot water just to cover the pork and bring to a boil
Look for热水刚好没过肉，烧开source
Listen锅里传出翻滚的咕嘟声our estimate
约 2–5 分钟（估：加的是热水）
Turn down to a gentle simmer and cook for about 2 hours
焖约 2 小时
If you see… (3 cases)
- 筷子插进去还要用力: 盖好继续小火焖，15 分钟后再试↻ keep going with this stepour estimate
- 一插就透，夹起不散: 加冰糖，火稍微开大收汁→ step 11our estimate
- 汤快干了，锅底粘: 加少量热水，火调小↻ keep going with this stepour estimate
Add the rock sugar, raise the heat slightly and reduce until the sauce thickens and coats each piece evenly
约 5–15 分钟（估）
Arrange the pieces in a neat grid, usually 3 by 3 or 4 by 4