Cassia bark (Cinnamomum cassia, Chinese cinnamon) has been used in Chinese cooking for over 4,700 years and appears in the earliest Chinese pharmacopoeia. Hong shao rou (red-braised pork belly) is one of the great dishes of Hunanese and Shanghainese cuisine: thick slabs of pork belly slow-braised in soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, rock sugar, cassia and star anise until they collapse into trembling, lacquered tenderness. The dish was famously Chairman Mao's comfort food, and the cassia bark is what gives the braising sauce its distinctive warm, resinous depth.
Ingredients
Main
1000 g skin-on pork belly, cut into 4cm cubes
Braising Liquid
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
40 g rock sugar, roughly crushed
500 ml water, approximately
Aromatics
2 cassia bark sticks or Chinese cinnamon
3 star anise
2 dried red chillies
1 thumb fresh ginger, sliced into coins
3 scallions, cut into 5cm lengths
Cooking
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Method
Place the pork belly cubes in a large pot of cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Blanch for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse under cold running water. Pat dry.
Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-based casserole or wok over medium-high heat. Add the pork belly cubes skin-side down and sear until golden, about 3-4 minutes per side. Work in batches if needed.
Add the Shaoxing rice wine and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, rock sugar, cassia bark, star anise, dried chillies, ginger and scallions. Pour in enough water to just cover the pork.
Bring to a full boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low. Cover and braise for 1 hour 30 minutes, turning the pork every 30 minutes, until the meat is very tender and yielding.
Remove the lid and increase the heat to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, for a further 15-20 minutes until the sauce reduces to a thick, glossy glaze that coats the pork.
Remove and discard the cassia bark, star anise, dried chillies, ginger and scallions. Serve immediately over steamed white rice.
Notes
Hong shao rou is even better the next day, reheated gently. The fat solidifies when chilled and can be partially skimmed off if preferred. Do not substitute cassia bark with Ceylon cinnamon: the stronger, more resinous flavour of cassia is essential to this dish.
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