Chairman Mao’s Red-braised Pork
Parboiled pork belly in a caramel of oil and sugar, simmered 40–50 minutes with ginger, star anise, chillies and cassia, then reduced and seasoned to taste
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
- Fuchsia Dunlop; W. W. Norton. NPR reprinted this recipe with the publisher’s permission
- Hunan has a provincial standard for this dish (below), but its text isn’t public; this is the most authoritative version with amounts and steps we could find. Dunlop is a British food writer on Hunan and Sichuan cooking, trained at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine
Not in the source — added by us (4)
- The recipe uses US measures; the ingredient table converts them: 1 lb ≈ 454 g, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 2 tbsp sugar ≈ 25 g
- The soy sauce, salt, seasoning sugar and scallion greens are “to taste”, and the water is “just enough to cover”; we don’t invent numbers for them
- The 40–50 min simmer is 45 min in the animation; steps marked “est.” are our estimates. Heat levels follow the recipe where it gives them; step temperatures are illustrative values for the animation
- The recipe is in English; the Chinese here is our translation
Other references (1)
- Local standardDB43/T 423.1-2015 “Mao-style red-braised pork” · Hunan provincial standard · 2015-12-30Open the original · Issued by the Hunan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision; replaces DB43/T 423.1-2010 · In force, but China’s national standards platform marks its text “not yet public”, so we couldn’t follow it
Ingredients
Numbers match the labels on the 3D model
454 g- 01Scallion greensa few piecesAdded just before serving
- 02Dried red chillies2Simmered with the ginger, star anise and cassia
- 03Star anise1
- 04Cassia barka small piece (or cinnamon)
- 05Ginger¾ inch piece, sliced, skin on
- 06Pork belly1 lb (about 454 g)Skin optional; cut into bite-sized chunks
- 07Braising saucewater, just to coverReduced over high heat at the end
- 08Peanut oil & sugar2 tbsp oil · 2 tbsp sugarCooked into a caramel first; the source says it gives the color
- 09Shaoxing wine1 tbsp (15 ml)Splashed in after the pork
- 10Soy, salt & sugarto tasteTo season as the sauce reduces
- 11Boiling watercooking onlyas neededThe pork comes out after 3–4 minutes
Cooking order
10 steps · about 61–86 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.
Simmer the pork belly in boiling water for 3–4 minutes, until partly cooked
Look for肉煮到半熟source
Look表面全部发白，切开中心还是粉红our estimate
煮 3–4 分钟
Lift it out and, once cool enough to handle, cut into bite-sized chunks
Put the oil and sugar in the wok and melt them over gentle heat
Look for小火加热到糖化开source
Look糖粒化成透明糖浆，冒大泡our estimate
约 1–3 分钟（估）
Raise the heat and stir until the sugar turns a rich caramel brown
Look for糖变成浓郁的焦糖色source
Look大泡变成满锅细密小泡，颜色从浅黄到琥珀再到红褐our estimate
约 30–90 秒（估；大火下变色很快）
Add the pork, then splash in the Shaoxing wine
Look for每块肉都均匀裹上红褐色的糖色our estimate
Listen黄酒沿锅边淋下去嗞啦一声，冒一阵白汽our estimate
约 30–90 秒（估）
Add water just to cover, with the ginger, star anise, chillies and cassia; bring to a boil
Look for加水没过肉，放香料，烧开source
Listen锅里传出翻滚的咕嘟声our estimate
约 3–7 分钟（估）
Turn the heat down and simmer for 40–50 minutes
Look for筷子轻轻插进去就透，肉软糯但不散our estimate
Look汤色红亮，肥肉开始半透明our estimate
炖 40–50 分钟
If you see… (3 cases)
- 筷子插进去还要用力: 盖好继续小火炖，10 分钟后再试↻ keep going with this stepour estimate
- 一插就透，肉软而不散: 开大火收汁→ step 8our estimate
- 汤快干了，锅底粘: 加少量热水，火调小↻ keep going with this stepour estimate
Toward the end, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce; season with soy sauce, salt and a little sugar to taste
Look for大火把汤汁收浓source
Look汁变浓、发亮，裹在肉上，锅底只剩一层our estimate
约 3–8 分钟（估）
Serve with plain steamed rice and simply stir-fried vegetables