Hong Sue Pork Recipe

1. Prepare pork

Pat the pork belly pieces dry with paper towels. Season lightly with a pinch of salt and the cracked white pepper.

2. Brown pork

Heat 2 tbs vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When hot, add the pork belly chunks in a single layer (work in batches if needed) and brown on all sides, about 6–8 minutes total. Remove browned pieces to a plate and reserve fat in pot.

3. Sauté aromatics

Reduce heat to medium. Add sliced ginger, smashed garlic, and halved shallots to the pot and sauté in the rendered pork fat until fragrant and beginning to color, 2–3 minutes.

4. Deglaze & build sauce

Pour in the Shaoxing wine to deglaze, scraping up browned bits from the bottom. Add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rock sugar, star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and the dark soy caramel. Stir to combine and let the sugar begin to dissolve, about 1–2 minutes.

5. Braise

Return the browned pork to the pot and add chicken stock (or water) so the liquid comes about halfway up the pork pieces (roughly 2 cups). Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to low, cover slightly ajar, and braise gently for 1.25–1.5 hours, turning pieces once or twice, until pork is fork-tender and sauce is reduced and glossy. If after 1 hour sauce is still thin, remove lid and simmer uncovered last 15–20 minutes to thicken.

6. Finish sauce

Taste sauce and adjust seasoning with a little more light soy for saltiness or 1 tsp sugar if too bitter. Stir in 1 tsp toasted sesame oil and half the scallion lengths in the last 2 minutes of cooking. Remove and discard cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and star anise before serving.

7. Prepare bok choy while pork braises: bring 6 cups water and 1 tsp salt to a boil in a wide saucepan. Blanch halved baby bok choy for 30–45 seconds until bright green and just tender. Drain and immediately plunge into ice water if you prefer to keep very crisp; otherwise drain well.

8. Optional finishing: Heat 1 tbs vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, add blanched bok choy cut-side down and sear for 30–45 seconds to develop color, then transfer to serving plates as a bed for the pork.

9. Arrange the bok choy on a shallow serving platter or individual plates. Spoon large chunks of braised pork belly on top of the greens, and spoon generous amounts of the reduced braising sauce over the pork and bok choy.

10. Scatter remaining scallion pieces and cilantro leaves over the top. Drizzle a few drops of toasted sesame oil and finish with an extra crack of white pepper. Serve hot with steamed rice.