In the long river of Chinese food culture, braised pork has become a classic dish on the table with its unique charm of red color, mellow taste, fat but not greasy. It is not only a warm memory of family dinners, but also an indispensable delicacy at banquets. Today, we are going to discuss a home-cooked practice, so that braised pork can retain the traditional flavor while more in line with the concept of modern people's pursuit of healthy eating, so that it is fat but not greasy, and melts in the mouth.
Prepare the materials
First of all, to make a delicious braised pork, the choice of ingredients is crucial. It is best to choose pork belly with skin, which is fat and thin, and has clear layers, which is the key to the rich taste of braised pork. In addition, you also need to prepare a few slices of ginger, a green onion cut into sections, two or three star anise, a small piece of cinnamon, two or three bay leaves, an appropriate amount of rock sugar (for stir-frying sugar), cooking wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt and water.
Pre-treat the pork belly
Cut the pork belly into pieces about 2-3 cm square, which are evenly sized for easier flavor and beauty. Put the cut pork belly pieces into cold water, add a few slices of ginger and a small amount of cooking wine, boil over high heat and sprinkle off the foam, this step is called "blanching", which can effectively remove the blood and fishy smell from the meat. After blanching, remove the pork belly, rinse it with warm water, drain and set aside.
Stir-fry sugar color
Stir-frying sugar is a key step in coloring and adding flavor to braised pork. Put a small amount of oil in the pot, heat over low heat, and when the oil temperature is 50% hot, add rock sugar, and gently stir with a spatula to make the rock sugar melt slowly. As the temperature rises, the sugar solution will gradually turn amber and fine bubbles will emerge, which is the best state, quickly pour the pork belly pieces into the pan and stir-fry quickly so that each piece of meat is evenly coated with sugar. Pay attention to the heat in this step, too much fire is easy to burn the color, affecting the taste and color.
Bring to a simmer to taste
After the pork belly is coated in sugar, add the chopped green onions, ginger slices, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, and continue to stir-fry a few times to fully integrate the spices with the meat pieces. Subsequently, pour in an appropriate amount of cooking wine to enhance the flavor, then add light soy sauce to extract freshness, dark soy sauce to color (adjust the dosage according to personal taste, avoid too dark). After stir-frying evenly, add hot water that has not been covered by the meat pieces, remember to heat the water to avoid the meat shrinking and hardening when cold.
Once the heat is boiling, reduce the heat to a low and simmer. The slow cooking process is key to the formation of the taste and texture of braised pork, and the time varies depending on the size of the meat and the heat of the meat, generally taking 1-1.5 hours. During the period, you can turn the meat pieces in time to avoid sticking to the pan, and add hot water according to the soup situation. As the stew progresses, the soup gradually thickens, and the fat of the pork belly slowly precipitates and blends with the soup to form a unique mellow taste.
Remove the juice from the pan
When the soup is reduced to a small amount and becomes viscous, it is time to start collecting the juice. At this time, you can taste it and add salt to taste according to taste. Pay attention to keep turning the meat pieces when collecting the juice to avoid sticking to the bottom. When the soup is almost completely absorbed by the meat pieces and becomes shiny and rosy, you can turn off the heat and remove from the pan.
Tips:
When stir-frying sugar, stir-fry over low heat.