Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Hongshao Rou (Red-Braised Pork)
Pork belly lacquered in caramel, soy, and rice wine until it trembles, Shanghai’s definition of home.
Chinese (Shanghainese) · medium · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 90 min
~672 cal · 61g protein · 10g carbs · 39g fat · 0g fiber · 10g sugars · 12g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Hongshao rou, red- pork belly, is one of China's most iconic home dishes: cubes of pork belly slow- in caramelized sugar, soy sauce, rice wine, and spices until the fat turns jelly-soft and the meat glistens mahogany. It is home cooking of the highest order, famously a favorite of Chairman Mao (whose Hunan version is well known), while the Shanghai style leans sweeter.
The technique of 'red-cooking', braising in soy and caramel, is a cornerstone of eastern Chinese cooking, and the balance of sweet and savory, with the melting texture of the belly, defines the dish. The sauce to a glossy, sticky lacquer clinging to each piece.
Served with plain rice to soak up the rich sauce, hongshao rou is a family dish across China, especially around Shanghai.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 lbs pork belly, large cubes
3 tbsp rock sugar
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 cup Shaoxing wine
Hard to find? dry (fino) sherry - the closest thing there is, and it disappears into the dish; buy dry sherry from the wine aisle rather than the salted bottle sold as cooking sherry. What will not work is rice vinegar, which is an acid where Shaoxing is a wine, and turns the dish sour
4 ginger, thick slices
3
2 star anise
1 small stick cinnamon
2 tbsp
for 4 steamed rice and greens, to serve
Instructions
1
Blanch the pork cubes 3 minutes, then rinse. (For the plant version, sear the mushrooms and tofu puffs instead.)
2
Melt the rock sugar in oil over medium heat until amber, then the moment it foams, add the pork and tumble to coat it in the caramel.
✎ Chef’s note
Watch the caramel closely; it goes from amber to burnt in seconds. The moment it foams, get the pork in to stop it cooking further.
3
Add the ginger, scallions, spices, wine, both soy sauces, and water to nearly cover.
4
Simmer with the lid ajar for 75 minutes (30 for the plant version), until fork-tender.
5
Raise the heat and reduce, turning constantly, until the sauce is glossy and clings to the pork. Serve over rice with greens.
Shanghainese home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Shanghai. Benbang cooking describes itself as thick oil and red sauce. Hongshao rou is the clearest case: pork belly browned and then simmered down with dark soy and rock sugar until the sauce turns syrupy and the fat goes soft, which is a very different aim from the lighter cooking further south.
🗺️
China. China holds eight great regional cuisines within one border, the fire of Sichuan, the delicacy of Cantonese dim sum, the wheat noodles of the north, and more. Techniques like stir-frying, steaming, and braising, plus soy, ginger, and rice wine, unify an endlessly diverse table.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Hongshao Rou (Red-Braised Pork)?
Pork belly lacquered in caramel, soy, and rice wine until it trembles, Shanghai’s definition of home.
Where does Hongshao Rou (Red-Braised Pork) come from?
Hongshao Rou (Red-Braised Pork) is a Chinese (Shanghainese) dish from Shanghai, China.
Can Hongshao Rou (Red-Braised Pork) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Hongshao Rou (Red-Braised Pork) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Hongshao Rou (Red-Braised Pork) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Hongshao Rou (Red-Braised Pork) take to make?
About 105 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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