Name: Red-Braised Pork Hock with Shiitake Mushrooms
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 4 star anise; 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) shaoxing; 15 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes, stalks removed, cut in half on the diagonal; 1 × 400–500 g (about 1 lb) whole fresh pork hock; 2 tablespoons sesame oil; 3 pieces dried tangerine peel; 1 knob of ginger, peeled and finely sliced; peanut oil, for deep-frying; 3 cinnamon sticks; 6 cloves garlic, finely sliced; 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) light soy sauce; 6 spring onions (scallions), trimmed; 100 g (3½ oz/½ cup) crushed yellow rock sugar; 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Balance and Harmony

By Neil Perry

Published 2008

About

The pork hock is deep-fried to change the texture of the skin after the first braising, but you can also just leave it to cook fully in the sauce. Make sure it’s thoroughly dry if you do deep-fry it, or it will spit in the oil. This was one of the first Chinese dishes I cooked when I was a young man and in love with Asian food. It has been on the Rockpool and XO menus for years as the gelatinous texture of the skin with the melting sweet pork flesh is superb.