Red Braised Pork Belly with Quail Eggs

I bet this red braised pork belly (红烧肉) is most Chinese people's favorite childhood dish. The savory, glossy, and sticky sauce of this dish can totally turn everyone into a RICE KILLER! Our grandparents always make the best 红烧肉! I have adjusted this recipe for years and finally perfectly duplicated my grandpa's red braised pork belly. By blanching the pork belly for 30 minutes before pan frying and pan-frying the pork belly without cooking oil, we can get rid of extra oil from the meat and make the meat extra tender.

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% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Put 16 quail eggs in a small saucepan. Add cold water to cover eggs by one inch. Bring to a boil. Once the water is boiled, simmer over medium low heat for 7 minutes.

Step 2

Transfer the hard boiled quail eggs to a bowl of iced water. Leave eggs in the ice bath for 5 minutes for easy peeling.

Step 3

Peel the quail eggs. Set aside.

Step 4

Cut pork belly into 1 inch cubes. Put them into a pot and fill with cold water. Boil over high heat. Once boiled, skim off the froth if there is any.

Step 5

Add 2 green onions and 3 slices of ginger into the pot. Put the lid on, simmer the pork belly over low heat for 30 minutes. (Most recipes do not have this step. This is the most special and important part from my grandpa's secret recipe! With this simmering step, the pork belly will be less oily and much tenderer!)

Step 6

Drain the pork belly. Dry them up with kitchen towels.

Step 7

Layer the pork belly cubes in a frying pan, pan fry over medium heat until each side turns golden brown and a little crispy. (Do not add cooking oil at this step. Pork belly will release oil.)

Step 8

Transfer the pan fried pork belly cubes to a dutch oven pot. (There should be a layer of pork oil (lard) in the frying pan. You can pour the lard into a clean jar, and save it for other dishes. Lard is perfect for cooking Chinese style noodles.)

Step 9

Add 2 green onions, 3 slices of ginger, ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup cooking wine (Shaoxing wine), ¼ cup light soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce to the dutch oven pot. Add hot water until barely cover the pork belly cubes.

Step 10

Cook over medium high heat until boiled. Put the lid on. Turn to medium low heat to simmer for 1 hour.

Step 11

Remove the lid. Add peeled quail eggs to the pot. Stir to cover the eggs evenly with the sauce.

Step 12

Leave the pot uncovered, use medium heat to thicken the sauce for 10-15 minutes, until all the pork belly cubes and eggs are coated in glossy sauce, and there is barely no liquid left in bottom of the pot.

Step 13

Serve with steamed rice and vegetables of your choice.

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