# Hunan-Style Home-Cooked Braised Pork

![Hunan-Style Home-Cooked Braised Pork](./湖南家常红烧肉.jpeg)

Hunan-style home-cooked braised pork is soft and glutinous in texture, rich but not greasy.

Estimated Cooking Difficulty: ★★★

## Essential Ingredients and Tools

- Pork belly with skin
- Dried millet peppers 🌶 (adjust according to preference)
- Ginger
- Light soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Bay leaves
- Cinnamon bark
- Star anise
- Rock sugar
- Cooking wine
- Salt
- Rock sugar (for locking in moisture and coloring)
- Cooking oil
- Boiling water

## Quantities

This recipe serves 2 people.

- Pork belly: 500g
- Cooking oil: 10g
- Bay leaves: 5 pieces
- Ginger: 3 slices
- Cinnamon bark: 1 small piece
- Rock sugar: 6 pieces
- Cooking wine: 20g
- Light soy sauce: 5g
- Dark soy sauce: 2g
- Salt: 2g
- Star anise: 3 pieces

## Instructions

* Wash the pork belly with skin and place it in a pot with cold water. Add 2–3 slices of ginger to remove the gamey odor. Bring to a boil, then remove the meat and rinse off the white foam with cold water.
* Cut the pork belly into 1.5cm x 1.5cm cubes.
* Heat the pot, add the oil, and stir-fry the rock sugar over low heat until it turns caramel-colored. Add the cut pork belly and stir-fry over medium heat to coat evenly with color.
* Add the prepared ginger, star anise, cinnamon bark, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, cooking wine, dried millet peppers, and salt. Stir-fry over low heat for 1 minute, then add boiling water until the meat is submerged.
* Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer slowly for 30 minutes. During the simmering process, stir every 10 minutes to prevent sticking.
* When the sauce has reduced to one-third of its original volume, increase the heat to medium to thicken the sauce before serving.

## Additional Notes

If you encounter any issues or have suggestions for improvement while following this guide, please submit an Issue or Pull request.