Jiangnan · main
Red-Cooked Pork
红烧肉 · Hóngshāo Ròu
Pork belly slow-braised in soy sauce, sugar, Shaoxing wine and spices until glossy and tender.
Red-cooked pork is the canonical Shanghainese home dish — pork belly cubes braised slowly in dark and light soy, rock sugar, Shaoxing rice wine, ginger and star anise. The 'red' colour comes from the caramelised sugar and soy. Three-hour cook reduces the sauce to a glossy glaze and the meat to spoon-tender. Mao Zedong was a Hunanese variant fan; the Shanghai version is sweeter and lighter than the Hunan original.
Where to try
Shanghai home-cooking restaurants (Lao Zheng Xing, Lao Fan Dian).
Dietary notes
Pork, soy.
Cities to try Red-Cooked Pork
Other east dishes
- Beggar's Chicken叫花鸡
A whole chicken stuffed with aromatics, wrapped in lotus leaves and clay, then slow-baked until the meat steams in its own juices.
- Beggar's Chicken — Jiaohuaji叫花鸡 (江苏式)
A Jiangsu-province variation of clay-baked chicken with a lotus-leaf wrap and a mushroom and pork stuffing.
- Dragon Well Tea龙井茶
China's most celebrated green tea — pan-fired flat leaves from Hangzhou's West Lake district with a sweet, chestnut flavour.
- Drunken Chicken醉鸡
Chicken steamed and marinated in Shaoxing rice wine, served chilled. A Shanghai banquet starter.