Chinese braised pork belly is one of my grandma's favourite dish to make. The pork is simmered for a long time so that the fats in the pork will just melts away in your mouth. The trick to making the prefect Chinese braised pork belly (dong po rou) is patience! Although it requires long hours of cooking time, but it is definitely worth the time!
Secure the pork belly with cooking strings and blanch pork in salted boiling water for 2 minutes.
Remove and rinse under running water.
Pat dry the pork and heat up a frying pan, drizzle 2 tbsp oil in and sear the sides of the pork till golden brown.
Heat oil in a separate pan and add in the ginger, garlic and spring onions then the aromatics (cinnamon stick and star anises) fry for a min and add in brown sugar and fry until golden brown.
Add water and bring to boil.
Add in the dark soya sauce, light sauce and Chinese cooking wine and mirin.
Bring to boil. Add pork and simmer for 2 hours.
Turn off the heat. Remove the pork and let it cool down to room temperature.
Place the meat in a steamer and steam for 1 hour.
While the pork is steaming, heat up the gravy in a small pot and thicken with cornstarch slurry.
Once the pork is done, dish up the pork and cut into 4 equal blocks. Drizzle over the thicken gravy and serve!
Video
Notes
To remove the hair on the pork belly skin, you can use a torch to burn away the hairs
Soak the pork belly in poaching liquid overnight in fridge and steam the next day for best flavour