Shanghai Chinese · Dinner

Red-braised pork belly

Name: Red-braised pork belly
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese
Ingredients: 2 pounds lean skin-on pork belly, cut into 1-inch cubes; 2 tablespoons neutral oil; 3 tablespoons Chinese rock sugar or granulated sugar; 1/2 cup Shaoxing wine; 3 tablespoons light soy sauce; 1 1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce; 3 cups hot water, plus more as needed; 4 cups steamed jasmine rice; 1 pound steamed baby bok choy

Skin-on pork belly slowly red-cooked with rock sugar, Shaoxing wine, light soy, and dark soy until the cubes tremble beneath a glossy mahogany glaze.

About 1 hr 40 minTotal

About 1 hr 40 minActive

$$$Cost

ModerateDifficulty

Makes 6 servings

Equipment

Use a hot sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl for the covered phase.
Best value covered pot
Lodge Essential Enamel 6-Quart Dutch Oven · EC6D43
View at Amazon
Another workable path: Use a hot sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl for the covered phase.
Paid links. As an Amazon Associate, Kwilt earns from qualifying purchases.
How we chose
Research-backed · reviewed Aug 2026
We matched capacity, lid fit, oven rating, heat retention, maneuverability, care, stable model identity, and usefulness outside bread baking. Kwilt has not baked with this pot.
Lodge Essential Enamel 6-Quart Dutch Oven · EC6D43: The six-quart capacity, heavy cast-iron body, and fitted lid create the enclosed high-heat environment used by these bread methods while remaining useful beyond baking. Trade-off: At more than thirteen pounds it is demanding to move when hot, and the enamel needs gentler utensils and hand washing.
Another workable path: Bake on a preheated heavy sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl, keeping face and hands clear when removing the hot cover.
Sources
Lodge six-quart Essential Enamel specifications
Amazon exact product listing

Ingredients

1× recipe · Makes 6 servings

2 pounds lean skin-on pork belly, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons neutral oil
3 tablespoons Chinese rock sugar or granulated sugar
1/2 cup Shaoxing wine
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
3 cups hot water, plus more as needed
4 cups steamed jasmine rice
1 pound steamed baby bok choy

Instructions

Cover pork belly with cold water in a saucepan, bring to a boil for 1 minute, then drain, rinse, and pat thoroughly dry.
Heat oil and rock sugar in a over low until the sugar melts and turns pale amber. Add dry pork carefully and turn over medium heat until every side is lightly browned and coated.
Lower heat and add Shaoxing around the pot edge. Simmer 1 minute, then add both soy sauces and enough hot water to nearly cover the pork.
Bring to a bare simmer, cover, and cook 50 to 60 minutes, turning cubes occasionally, until skin is gelatinous and a skewer slides through the lean layers easily. Add hot water if the pot threatens to dry.
Uncover and simmer, turning gently, until the liquid becomes a shiny glaze that coats rather than floods the pork, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve small portions with rice and bok choy.

Shanghai and Jiangnan, ChinaJiangnan red-braising and noodle traditions

From the table

About this recipe

Hong shao rou is a broad Chinese red-braised pork family. The Shanghai and Jiangnan branch is known for a glossy sweet-savory soy-and-Shaoxing balance and melting cubes of skin-on pork belly.

Hong shao rou is a broad Chinese red-cooking family. This is the famously sweet-savory Shanghai expression, kept deliberately spare: belly, sugar, Shaoxing, light soy, and dark soy. It differs from DI099's Hunan Chairman's braise, which uses chile and warm spices and less soy-forward sweetness. This Kwilt version follows the reviewed household adaptation: Follow the unusually strong Shanghainese source signal and preserve its six-ingredient austerity, making the contrast with the already-authored Hunan spiced version explicit.

Sources

Dinner does not stop at the recipe

Keep recipes, plan meals, and build the grocery list in Kwilt.

Use the recipe here. Get Kwilt when you want the rest of dinner to stay together.

Get Kwilt for iPhone

See every recipe

Shanghai Chinese · Dinner

Scallion oil noodles

Springy wheat noodles glossed with slowly infused scallion oil and a spare sweet-savory soy reduction, crowned with brittle dark-gold scallion strands.

About 35 min4 servings

Deeply browned herb roast chicken carved beside glossy pan gravy, lemon, onion, and fresh herbs.

American · Dinner

Herb roast chicken with pan gravy

Dry-brined whole chicken with deeply browned skin, rosemary-sage butter, tender breast and legs, and a silky gravy built from its fond and defatted drippings.

About 14 hr 50 min6 servings

Fork-tender pot roast with browned edges, carrots, potatoes, onions, and silky dark gravy.

American · Dinner

Slow-braised pot roast

Hard-seared chuck roast braised low and slow with red wine, stock, tomato, thyme, carrots, and potatoes until spoon-tender, then finished with a reduced silky gravy.

About 4 hr 55 min8 servings