Hung Shao Pork

Name: Hung Shao Pork
Ingredients: 1 lb lean belly pork strips, chopped into postage stamp sized squares if you like but it's not really necessary. (Other cheap cuts of pork are also good; try the hock. And leave the skin on; it goes gelatinous and); 4 tablespoons light soy sauce; 2 tablespoons tamari; to taste oyster sauce, one big splodge; 1 inch fresh gingerroot, finely chopped; 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 1 cinnamon stick; 2 star anise; 1 teaspoon szechuan peppercorns, dry fried; 2 tablespoons sugar; 1/2 cup sherry wine (optional); 1 pinch msg (if, like me, you have no shame. Just please don't mention this to my mother.) (optional)

12 ingredients

11 steps

Ingredients

1 lb lean belly pork strips, chopped into postage stamp sized squares if you like but it's not really necessary. (Other cheap cuts of pork are also good; try the hock. And leave the skin on; it goes gelatinous and)
4 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons tamari
to taste oyster sauce, one big splodge
1 inch fresh gingerroot, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1 teaspoon szechuan peppercorns, dry fried
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup sherry wine (optional)
1 pinch msg (if, like me, you have no shame. Just please don't mention this to my mother.) (optional)

Directions

1

Stir-fry ginger and garlic in a big casserole dish.
2

Place pork in, skin down.
3

(Pluck it with tweezers first if it bears an unhealthy resemblance to your husband's back). Add everything else and a couple of cups of water.
4

Cover and simmer over a very low heat for an hour.
5

Turn the pork over.
6

Simmer again for an hour.
7

Fish the meat out and put it in a bowl.
8

Reduce sauce a bit, taste, and add more soy/oyster sauce if you think it's needed.
9

Strain through a sieve, pour over meat and enjoy.
10

I like to leave the meat, covered with the sauce, in the fridge for at least 24 hours before eating; the flavours intensify to a surprising extent. (It's also easier to remove fat from the top at this stage, when it's set.) Serve with rice; it's also good in sandwiches.
11

(The cold sauce turns into a delicious jelly.)