As soon as the time is up, lift the pork out of the wok and immerse into ice cold water; this will stop the meat from cooking any further.
Cut the pork into large chunks.
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a large deep saucepan. When it is hot, add the spring onion, ginger and star anise. Stir fry for about 2 minutes on
high heat (careful they don’t burn).
Add the pork, and the rest of the ingredients for the sauce. Stir fry on
high for 2 minutes, then turn down the heat to a simmer, and simmer for 40
minutes.
If the liquid in the pan looks like its about to dry out, add some water,
but only enough to stop the meat sticking to the bottom of the pan and
leaving a mess for the poor person who’s washing the dishes.
Serve the pork, and pour the sauce from the pan over it. Decorate with
spring onion.
* * *
A little bit of research tells me that Dongpo pork is a very famous dish from
Hangzhou in China, named/insipried/something-along-those-lines from the poet Su
Dongpo, some almost-millennia ago. He was very wealthy (I’m guessing therefore
he could afford to buy meat) and made a modified version of the very famous
Chinese red-braised pork, by simmering it for a longer time in the traditional
sauce plus caramelised sugar.
The emphasis on this dish is really on the fat; the cooking method means that
the oiliness seeps out and leaves a gelatinous wobbly bit left, which no
longer makes you feel queasy when you eat too much. So you can keep on
eating!
I bet Su Dongpo died of a heart attack.
* * *
Read the full story @Pudding Pie Lane
