Chinese Dongpo Ron Pork - Sous Vide or Slow Cooker Chinese Belly Pork

This flavourful belly pork dish is slowly and gently cooked and results in a fragrant sauce with some delicious soft fat on the top of the pork which is not at all greasy and lovely meat below. Though this is a sous vide recipe and belly pork is amazing sous vide, Dongpo Pork would work just as well in a slow cooker. oh and I include below how to cook Pak Choi properly, well, Chinese style...

A little history..

While facing financial hardship during his exile in Huangzhou following the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial, Su Dongpo innovated upon the conventional method of preparing pork. He marinated the pork in a mixture of huangjiu (yellow wine), rock sugar, and soy sauce, and simmered it on low heat for long hours. He composed a poem titled "An Ode to Pork", where he described that pork was a most affordable meat source locally, and by a slowing cooking method, he obtained both a delicacy and a survival food for the families. The recipe was subsequently adopted and developed by people in the Hangzhou area, the capital city of South Song Dynasty. From Wikipedia

Ingredients:-

Belly pork ask your butcher to de-bone.
Shaoxing Cooking Wine half a cup
Dark Soy quarter cup
3 oz Rock Sugar (use brown)
Ginger 1oz sliced finely
Garlic 2 cloves chopped
Bay leaf
Star Anise 1
Spring Onions a bunch
Small Cinnamon stick
Water -about half a cup

Method:-

In a pan place all the ingredients and simmer for five to ten mins. Allow to cool a bit. My spring onions went into the sous vide bag.

Cut your belly pork into roughly 5cm pieces and tie with string as neatly as you can.

Slow cooker
Arrange your pork and pour over the sauce and switch on and go to work.

Sous Vide
In a large bag put all together and put in at 75 C for 16 hrs, switch on and go to bed.

When done, remove your pork parcels and set aside then sieve the sauce, put the pork back in a pan and allow to gently reduce whilst you cook your rice and pak choi.

How to cook pak choi Chinese style, cut into quarters lengthways and discard any yellow leaves from the inside. In a wok heat a little oil and add chopped garlic and thinly sliced ginger, fry for a minute then add the pak choi (leaves outwards) and leave alone for a couple of minutes and then add a tblsp of light soy and two tblsp of water, cover and leave for a couple of mins.

Serve the pork still tied with string.

Hope you enjoy this amazing dish.