Braised pork belly(红烧肉) also known as red-cooked or red-braised pork belly is a common Chinese pork dish. It can be braised with different stems and dry vegetables. This recipe today is braised pork with healthy white radish.
I love braised pork very much so that I cook different types of braised pork at least twice in one month. And in China braising is a common method people cook pork, pork chops or ribs and etc. And the most famous one among those braised pork is red-braised pork, a famous way of cooking pork belly with spices and fermented tofu. Red-braised pork belly comes from Hunan Cuisine. And people in different provinces create their own ways of braising their pork belly.
The dish introduced today is braised pork belly with white radish. White radish is the most common ingredient in winter season of China. It is not expensive but rich in nutrition.
Besides white radish, we use potatoes, yam, and dried mushrooms to make braised pork belly. Why I use white radish today? Because white radish can reduce the oil feeling of the pork thus give the dish a better taste. Chinese people eat lots of white radish in cold winter because it can strengthen the body’s immune function, help to digest and absorb the nutrition of other foods.
I have made easy spicy white radish salad days before; you can check the recipe here.
Prepare the ingredients as follows. Then stir-fry the pork cubes to reduce oil contained. Move them out.
Stir-fry ginger, garlic, sichuan peppercorn, chili pepper together. Then add stir-fried pork cubes. Doubanjiang can also be added for your preference. I add some chopped fresh chili pepper for the purpose of adding some spicy taste. Spare it if you do not love spice that much.
Main Course
Chinese
Braised, pork
-
250
grams
pork belly - Half of white radish
-
2
star anise -
4
slices
of ginger - several sichuan peppercorn
-
2
or 3 dried red pepper -
2
garlic clove
, cut into slices -
2
teaspoon
salt -
1
teaspoon
dark soy sauce -
1
teaspoon
light soy sauce -
Doubanjiang
, optional
-
Clean the pork and cut into cubes. And cut white radish into small cubes with the similar with pork cubes.
-
Rinse the pork cubes in boiling water for 2-3 minutes or soak them in clean water for about 30 minutes.
-
Heat up a small amount of oil and stir-fry the cubes to reduce exceeded oil. Then move out.
-
Heat up 1 tablespoon of oil in wok. Add garlic,ginger red chili pepper, sichuan peppercorn and doubanjiang (optional)to stir-fry until you can smell the flavor.
-
Put all the stir-fried pork cubes in and continue stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add dark and light soy sauce and enough hot water to soak all the pork as well as star anise..
-
Turn down the fire to simmer for about 10 minutes. Add radish cubes in and continue the process of simmering.
-
Turn up the fire to absorb the water, add salt and serve hot.
Calories from Fat 594
Kimchi White Radish
