Chinese Braised Pork Belly – Dong Po Rou

Dong Po Rou is a traditional Chinese dish of braised pork belly cut in squares soaked with great flavors. The meat is so tender it instantly melts in your mouth. Once you taste it, you will fall in love with it!

Recipe Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Pork Belly – This is the key point of making this dish perfect. You have to choose a nice piece of pork belly with 5 layers of meat and fat. That is why Chinese people call it (五花肉)wu hua rou. It has five layers consisting of skin, fat, and meat. Try to get a square with even surface top and bottom.

Chinese Claypot – You can use a Chinese claypot or just use a regular pot. If you have Chinese claypot, it adds the authenticity, but it is not a must.

Cotton Strings – This is optional. You can use cotton strings to tie up the pork belly. This helps make the pork belly steady and firm. Pork belly can crumble after long hour of cooking.

Golden syrup / rock sugar – If you don’t have golden syrup or rock syrup in you kitchen, you can substitute it with palm sugar or brown sugar.

How to Make:

1. Cut the pork belly into 4×4 cm or 6×6 cm squares. Remember the size will shrink after being cooked. Tie up the pork belly. This will help the pork belly stay firm. Pork belly tends to crumble after long hours of cooking.
2. Pour in some cold water in a pot, enough to soak the pork belly. Put in the tied-up pork belly. (image 1, 2)
3. Throw in some scallions, leeks, ginger slices, bay leaves, and star anise. (image 3)
4. Turn the stove to medium heat, let it boil and soak for 10 minutes. This will help take out the smell in pork meat. You can see some white foam coming out. (image 4)
5. Turn the pork belly upside down to let it soak in the boiling water. Take all the meat out.
6. On a flat pan, burn each side of the meat without using oil. This will let out some oil from the pork belly. Some oil will come out. Your braised pork belly will not be so oily later. (image 6)

1. Prepare a cooking pot or claypot. Lay down lots of scallions at the bottom of the pot. (image 7, 8)
2. Add ginger slices, garlic, and star anise. Add some chili if you like. Put the pork belly on top of them. (image 9, 10)
3. Pour in white cooking wine, Shao Xing wine, dark soy sauce, golden syrup, and water. (image 11)
4. The water should cover the whole ingredients completely. Put on the lid, cook until it boils with medium heat. (image 12)

1. After it boils, put on low heat. Once in a while, turn around the pork belly (image 13). Let it cook for one and a half hour.
2. After one and a half hour, the water should subside and the meat has changed color to brown or dark brown. (image 14)
3. To have the meat softer and the broth thicker, you can continue cooking for another half hour with the lid open and on low heat.

1. Serve the braised pork belly, cut the ties(image 15, 16). Serve with warm white rice or steamed bun. Look at how soft the meat becomes! (image 17, 18)

FAQs

How do I reduce the grease in the broth after cooking?

You can keep the dish in the chiller. There will be a layer of fat on top after chilling for a while. Take away the layer, you will have less grease then.

Can I add boiled eggs in the dish?

Yes, you can boil the eggs separately and add the eggs after dish is finished cooking. Keep in the chiller with the eggs drowned in the broth. The next day the eggs will soak some of the broth and become more tasty.

How do I reheat the dish?

You can steam it or put it on a pan with low heat.

Storage

Keep this tasty dish in a closed container in the fridge for up to 6 days. You can freeze it for up to a month.

More Pork Recipes

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Easy Ground Pork with Tofu and Shrimp

The Secret to Crispy Pork Belly

The Secret to Juicy and Delicious Char Siu Roast Pork

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Dong Po Rou

Learn how to make Dong Po Rou, a traditional Chinese dish of braised pork belly cut in squares soaked with great flavors, plus tips to make it less oily!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Chinese

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 squares

Calories: 673kcal

Author: Claudia

Equipment

• ▢
  1 claypot optional

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 kg pork belly
• ▢ 600 cc white cooking wine
• ▢ 2 tbsp shao xing wine
• ▢ 5 tbsp dark soy sauce
• ▢ 2 tbsp golden syrup or rock sugar
• ▢ 1000 cc Water
• ▢ 2 slices Ginger
• ▢ 1 stalk Leeks/scallions
• ▢ 6 pcs Garlic
• ▢ 1 Star anise
• ▢ 2 pcs Bay leaf

Instructions

Cleaning the pork belly odor

• Cut the pork belly into 4×4 cm or 6×6 cm squares. Remember the size will shrink after being cooked. Tie up the pork belly. This will help the pork belly stay firm. Pork belly tends to crumble after long hours of cooking.
• Pour in some cold water in a pot, enough to soak the pork belly. Put in the tied-up pork belly.
• Throw in some scallions, leeks, ginger slices, bay leaves, and star anise.
• Turn the stove to medium heat, let it boil and soak for 10 minutes. This will help take out the smell in pork meat. You can see some white foam coming out.
• Turn the pork belly upside down to let it soak in the boiling water. Take all the meat out.
• Take all the meat out.
• On a flat pan, burn each side of the meat without using oil. This will let out some oil from the pork belly. Some oil will come out. Your braised pork belly will not be so oily later.
• Some oil will come out. Your braised pork belly will not be so oily later.
• Prepare a cooking pot or claypot. Lay down lots of scallions at the bottom of the pot.
• Add ginger slices, garlic, and star anise. Add some chili if you like. Put the pork belly on top of them.
• Pour in white cooking wine, Shao Xing wine, dark soy sauce, golden syrup, and water.
• The water should cover the whole ingredients completely.
• Put on the lid, cook until it boils with medium heat.
• After it boils, put on low heat. Once in a while, turn around the pork belly.
• Let it cook for one and a half hour.
• After one and a half hour, the water has subsided and the meat has changed color to brown or dark brown.
• To have the meat softer and the broth thicker, you can continue cooking for another half hour with the lid open and on low heat.
• Serve the braised pork belly, cut the ties. Serve with warm white rice or steamed bun. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Video

Notes

• You can use claypot or regular pot. Clayport adds the authenticity to the dish.
• Remember to soak the pork belly in boiling water for 10 minutes to eliminate the bad odor.
• Roast the pork on each sides to let out some oil. This will make the final dish less oily.
• Remember the size of the cut pork belly will shrink after being cooked. Make sure you cut to your desired size.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 673kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 66g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 31g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 47mg | Potassium: 240mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 28IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg

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