Homestyle Braised Pork Belly (Easy to Learn)

First, prepare the dried spices and put them together.

Slice 5-6 pieces of ginger and 3-4 cloves of garlic.

Wash the pork belly with water and drain. I bought relatively lean pork belly, but fattier ones might taste better.

Cut the pork belly into large chunks.

Heat the pan until it smokes without adding anything. I use a cast iron pan; not sure about non-stick pans. Make sure the pan is very hot, then reduce to medium heat.

Place the pork belly skin-side down into the pan. You'll hear sizzling sounds—don’t worry, it won’t catch fire.

After about half a minute, check the bottom of the meat. It should look like this; you can slide the meat a little.

After about another half minute, the pork skin should look like this. Turn off the heat. Be careful not to burn it, but make sure it’s golden brown.

Place the pork in cold water to cool the skin.

Use a sharp fruit knife to scrape off the golden browned parts of the pork skin with moderate pressure. It’s easy to scrape off.

Wash the pork thoroughly with clean water and drain. This is what the scraped pork skin looks like.

Cut the pork into 3-4 cm cubes. Don’t cut them too small.

Make sure each piece of meat has skin. For better quality, you can buy premium pork belly with balanced fat and lean meat at the supermarket. Mine was bought from an ordinary market.

Clean the pan, put in the meat, add enough cold water to cover the meat, then add 2-3 slices of ginger and 2 tablespoons of cooking wine, and start heating.

Once it boils, continue boiling for one minute.

Take out the pork, wash it with clean water, and drain.

Add six tablespoons of cooking oil to the pan and gently fry the spices over low heat. Be sure to keep the heat low to avoid burning them.

When the garlic slices turn yellow, remove all the spices from the pan. Add the rock sugar and keep the heat low.

Melt the rock sugar over low heat. Swirl the pan; don’t use a spatula. Cook until the sugar turns amber-colored.

Quickly add the pork to the pan all at once, but don’t stir yet. Let it sit for about ten seconds before starting to stir over medium-low heat.

Ensure every piece of pork is coated with the caramelized sugar.

Add two tablespoons of cooking wine, one tablespoon of dark soy sauce, three tablespoons of light soy sauce, and one tablespoon of oyster sauce. Stir-fry over medium heat for one minute.

Add the previously removed spices and enough hot water to cover the pork. Bring to a boil over high heat, making sure to cover the pan. (Cold water can be used if hot water isn’t available.)

After boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for one hour.

After an hour, the pork should be cooked but not tender enough yet. Taste the broth and season with salt if necessary. Be cautious not to over-salt (as the broth will reduce further).

My son loves quail eggs, so I added cooked ones to the pot.

Keep simmering over low heat for another 40 minutes. Taste the broth again and adjust the salt level if needed. It shouldn’t be too salty.

Remove all the pork and place it on a serving dish. Turn up the heat and reduce the remaining broth.

After about five minutes, the broth should be reduced. The duration depends on the initial amount and saltiness of the broth (stop reducing if the broth is already salty).

When the sauce thickens, pour it over the braised pork.

Sprinkle sesame seeds and chopped green onions on top, if you like, or skip this step and serve directly.

Braised pork goes well with rice.