Red-Braised Pork Belly

Author's Note: For the month of November, I am participating in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month) and pledge to post once a day.

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This is the red-braised pork belly that I use for the filling for Gua Bao Potstickers. Of course, you can always serve this with a bowl of rice.

RED-BRAISED PORK BELLY FOR GUA BAO POTSTICKERS

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2-3 pounds skin-on pork belly, cut into about 3-by-5-inch rectangular chunks
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup dry white wine or sherry
3 stalks scallions, trimmed but left whole
3-4 slices of peeled ginger, about 3-inches in length and ¼-inch thick (or equivalent)
4-6 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 star anise
½ stick cinnamon
2 cloves
¼ cup brown sugar
3-4 cups chicken broth or water

Heat a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the oil and let heat for a few seconds. Add the pork belly, in batches if necessary, to brown the meat on all sides. Set aside. After you are done browning the meat, drain most of the excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon of fat.

In the same pot over medium-high heat, add the scallion stalks, ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds to release the aroma. Add the soy sauce, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, wine and one cup broth or water. Stir everything to combine. Add the pork into the pot. Cover with a lid, leaving the lid slightly ajar to release some steam.

Let simmer on low heat for about 1.5-2 hours, checking occasionally and stirring to make sure all the meat pieces spend some time submerged in the braising liquid. As needed, add 1 cup chicken broth at a time to replenish any liquid that has evaporated until you’ve used up the broth. You want to make sure to strike a balance: You want to have the concentrated flavor from the simmering liquid, but you want to make sure there’s enough liquid at the end of cooking to create the gel.

At about 1 hour, test the meat for tenderness. If needed, you can let simmer for another 30 minutes and check for tenderness again. You want the meat to be tender, but not so tender that it disintegrates when you cut it.

Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. The braising liquid will have a layer of fat. Carefully pour the liquid into a fat separator. Pour the separated liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a casserole dish or similar container. You want to make sure that the liquid does not have any of the garlic, ginger, onions or other bits and pieces that you don’t want to end up in the filling.

Gently slice the pork belly against the grain into ¾- to 1-inch thick slices. Add the meat to a casserole dish and spread it out to make an even layer. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The liquid will gel with the meat. Now the filling can be used in the Gua Bao Potsticker recipe.