Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork

From the Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. Chairman Mao's nephew told the author that the people of Mao's home village, Shaoshan, recommend red-braised pork as a health food: "Men eat it to build their brains and ladies to make themselves more beautiful" and this is Mao Anping's recipe. The recipe below gets its lovely reddish gloss from caramelized sugar, but you can also substitute dark soy sauce. Traditional variations also can include stir-frying the finished pork recipe with water chestnuts, garlic cloves, mushrooms or fried tofu.

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1  lb  lean pork (the recipe calls for pork belly but this is a lighter version)
• 1  tablespoon  peanut oil
• 2  tablespoons white sugar
• 1  tablespoon  shaoxing wine or 1  tablespoon sherry wine
• 3⁄4 inch  piece fresh ginger, skin left on and sliced
• 1  star anise
• 2  dried red chilies
• 1  cinnamon stick (or 1 piece of cassia bark)
•  light soy sauce, to taste
•  salt, to taste
•  sugar, to taste
•  scallion, to garnish (green parts only)

Directions

1. Plunge the pork into a pan of boiling water and simmer for 3-4 minutes until partially cooked; remove and, when cool enough to handle, cut in bite-sized chunks.
2. Heat the oil and sugar in a wok over low heat until the sugar melts, then raise the heat and stir until the melted sugar turns a rich caramel brown; add the pork and splash in the wine.
3. Add enough water just to cover the pork, along with the ginger, star anise, chilies and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 40-50 minutes.
4. Toward the end of the cooking time, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce, and season with soy sauce, salt and a little sugar to taste; add the scallion greens just before serving.