Braised pork with plums

Chinese recipe for 8 people, takes only 20 mins; recipe has pork, rice wine, light soy sauce, root ginger, garlic clove, red chilli, vegetable oil, spring onion, star anise, five-spice, cinnamon stick, sugar, tomato puree, chicken stock and plum.

Braised pork with plums

Braised pork with plums

Recipe by Chef Soomro Course: Chinese
Servings

8

servings
Prep time

25 mins

Ingredients

  • Vegetable Oil: 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • Garlic Clove: 5 garlic cloves
  • Red Chilli: 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • Spring Onion: bunch spring onions, finely sliced
  • Sugar: 2 tbsp sugar, any type
  • Tomato Puree: 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • Chicken Stock: 500ml chicken stock
  • Root Ginger: generous thumb-size piece fresh root ginger
  • Pork: about 1.6kg/3lb 8oz pork shoulder
  • Cinnamon Stick: 1 cinnamon stick
  • Star Anise: 2 star anise
  • Five Spice: 1 1/2 tsp five-spice powder
  • Light Soy Sauce: 5 tbsp light soy sauce for flavour, 1 tbsp dark for colour
  • Plum: 6 ripe plums, halved and stoned
  • Rice Wine: 5 tbsp rice wine

Directions

  1. Cut the pork into big pieces about the length of your thumb and twice as wide. Put into a bowl or food bag, and add the wine, soy sauces, half the ginger, half the garlic and half the chilli. Marinate for at least 1 hr or up to 24 hrs.
  2. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3, then heat the oil in a large casserole. Tip in half the spring onions, remaining ginger and garlic, the star anise, five-spice powder and cinnamon. Fry gently until fragrant and soft. Stir in the sugar, turn up the heat, then lift the pork from the marinade and turn in the oniony mix for about 3 mins until the meat is just sealed but not browned. Tip in the marinade, tomato puree and stock, give it a stir, cover, then braise in the oven for 2 hrs.
  3. After the first hr is up, add the plums to the pan. Take the lid off and carry on the cooking, uncovered. The meat should be completely tender, turning golden brown where it breaks the surface of the sauce. Spoon off any excess fat from the surface, then scoop the meat and plums carefully from the pan with a slotted spoon. Turn up the heat and boil the sauce for 5-10 mins until reduced and slightly syrupy. Return everything to the pan, gently warm through, then scatter the rest of the spring onions over the top to serve.