MUZIChinese Matrix
Hunan Cuisine · FFET10099
A Hunan way of red-braising pork: belly cubes colored with caramelized sugar, cooked slowly with dried chili and spices until tender.
A shallow white porcelain bowl is heaped with deep red-brown pork-belly chunks in a glossy caramel glaze, mixed with dried red chilies, star anise and a short piece of cinnamon bark.
The regional cooking of Hunan, leaning to sour and hot flavours, skilled with cured meats, simmering and stewing.
Mao-style red-braised pork is a Hunan way of red-braising pork: belly is cut into cubes, colored with deep red caramelized sugar and cooked slowly with dried chili, cinnamon, star anise and other spices; traditionally, soy sauce is omitted, though home recipes often add a little. It is a signature food of Shaoshan, with a name tied to a Mao family restaurant there; this link is a local account without a documented record, and no dated text mentioning the dish has been found. A 2026 report records its preparation with Ningxiang flower pig pork at Ningxiang banquets.
Mao-style red-braised pork is a Hunan dish: belly is cut into cubes, colored with deep red caramelized sugar, and cooked slowly with dried chili, cinnamon, star anise and other spices. Traditionally, the color comes from caramel alone, with no soy sauce, though home recipes often add a little.1,3,6,7
No dated text mentioning this dish has been found; its name's link to a Mao family restaurant in Shaoshan is a local account with no year given in the available material.1
Hunan. Articles from 2022 and 2026 identify it as a Hunan dish and a signature food of Shaoshan; this reflects a local account, not a documented record.1,2,4
One method is to sear the skin side, cut the pork into cubes of about 3 centimeters, blanch them, fry them to set their shape, stir them with sugar syrup and spices, and simmer them in beer and stock without soy sauce. Home recipes simmer for about 1 hour, then reduce the sauce for 20 to 30 minutes. The traditional method uses belly from local pig breeds such as Shaziling, Luodai black and Ningxiang pig.1,5,6,7
The name comes from the dish's popularity and a Shaoshan restaurant that made it a house dish; coloring with caramel rather than soy sauce is a commonly cited feature of the Hunan style.1
A March 2026 report records a cooking class on this dish in Shanghai and sales of ready-to-heat versions. A May 2026 report confirms that Ningxiang flower pig is on the national list for conserving livestock genetic resources and that Ningxiang banquets use its pork for dishes including this one.2,4
Legend has it that this Hunan red-braised pork came to be called Mao-style because a Mao family restaurant across from an old residence in Shaoshan made it a house dish, and visitors carried the name away with them.
Told in: A telling from the Shaoshan area, found in a March 2022 article on Our China Story, which calls the reason given for leaving out soy sauce unconfirmed.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
Cooks make Mao-style red-braised pork in different ways. This is the simpler way I make it at home: one heavy pot is enough, the color comes from caramelized sugar, and I use no soy sauce, as in the usual Hunan telling. The two home recipes I read both add a little soy sauce, so leaving it out is just my choice. The amounts and timings below are my own choices at home, and the pork must be braised until tender and cooked all the way through before it is served.
Allergens: wheat
