Braising · FFET10254
Hongshao paigu (red-braised pork ribs)
Pork ribs are blanched and braised in soy sauce, wine and sugar until the sauce is dark and glossy.
A round white porcelain plate holds pork spare ribs coated in a dark glossy brown sauce, with green scallions, cassia bark, dried chili and bay leaves alongside, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
Cooking in a moderate amount of liquid: red, white and dry braising and covered braising.
Hongshao paigu is pork ribs blanched, braised in soy sauce, wine and sugar, and then cooked down to a thick sauce. The Zhuji, Zhejiang, style cooks ribs in whole slabs, while the Sichuan version uses doubanjiang and braises daikon with the ribs. These are regional styles; the available recipes do not establish where the dish began. Red cooking may have originated in Jiangsu, but no date is given, and no dated record of red-braised ribs themselves was found.
What
Hongshao paigu is a dish of pork ribs that are blanched, braised in soy sauce, wine and sugar, and then cooked down until the sauce is dark and glossy.2,3,4
When
Red cooking may have originated in Jiangsu, but the available account gives no date and mentions red-braised ribs only in an image caption; no dated record of the dish itself was found.1
Where
The Zhuji, Zhejiang, style braises ribs in whole slabs for about 90 minutes. The Sichuan version uses doubanjiang and braises daikon with the ribs. These are cooking styles; the available recipes do not establish the dish’s place of origin.2,3,4
How
The 3 versions share a method: blanch the ribs for 2 to 5 minutes, then braise with soy sauce, wine, sugar and spices, reducing the sauce at the end. Braising times vary widely: the Zhuji, Zhejiang, style takes about 90 minutes on the stove; the Sichuan version takes 1.5 to 2 hours on the stove or about 40 minutes in a pressure cooker; the third version takes about 35 minutes in a pressure cooker.2,3,4
Why
Shanghai-style braised pork chops and hong shao rou share a base of soy sauce and rock sugar, but pork chops are a related dish, not ribs; the available material does not explain why red-braised ribs are made this way.5
Impact and influence
Red-braised ribs have regional versions from Zhuji in Zhejiang and Sichuan, alongside a version with no region specified.2,3,4
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is my home version of red-braised ribs, following a signed recipe in the style of Zhuji, Zhejiang: the ribs are blanched, marinated briefly, set on a bed of scallions, braised slowly in soy sauce, wine and sugar, and the sauce is reduced before serving. The amounts of soy sauce, wine and rock sugar follow that recipe, and so does the 500 g of ribs. The marinade, the number of spices, the starch glaze and the heat for reducing are my own choices at home. That recipe braises the ribs in whole slabs, and I cut them into pieces for easier serving. I did not follow the Sichuan version with doubanjiang and daikon, or the other recipe that uses a pressure cooker.
Ingredients
- Pork spare ribs 500 g, chopped into pieces 4 to 5 cm long
- Shaoxing wine, for blanching and marinating 30 ml (my own amount)
- Light soy sauce, for the marinade 10 ml (my own amount)
- Salt, for the marinade 1/4 teaspoon
- Scallions 3, cut into lengths, laid on the bottom of the pot
- Shaoxing wine, for braising 100 ml
- Light soy sauce, for braising 30 ml
- Dark soy sauce 10 ml
- Rock sugar 30 g
- Cassia bark 1 small piece
- Dried chili 1
- Bay leaves 2
- Boiling water enough to just cover the ribs
- Cornstarch 1 teaspoon, stirred into 1 tablespoon of water
Steps
- Put the ribs in a pot of cold water with 15 ml of the wine, bring it to a boil and keep boiling for a few minutes, until no more scum rises. Lift the ribs out and rinse them. The recipes give anywhere from two to five minutes for blanching, and I go by the scum.
- Drain the ribs and mix them with the other 15 ml of wine, the 10 ml of light soy sauce and the salt. Leave them for 30 minutes.
- Lay the scallions on the bottom of a heavy pot and set the ribs on top, with the cassia, chili and bay leaves. Add 100 ml of wine, 30 ml of light soy sauce and 10 ml of dark soy sauce, drop in the rock sugar, and pour in boiling water to just cover the ribs.
- Bring it to a boil over high heat, turn the heat down and cover the pot to braise slowly. The Zhuji-style recipe uses about 90 minutes, and the Sichuan recipe gives 1.5 to 2 hours on the stove. Around the 90-minute mark I poke the meat with a chopstick: it is ready when the chopstick goes in easily and the meat is about to come off the bone. The pork must be cooked all the way through.
- Take off the lid and turn the heat to high to reduce the sauce for about 3 to 5 minutes, turning the ribs often. When the sauce thickens, stir in the starch mixture, toss until the sauce coats the ribs and turns glossy, then turn off the heat and serve.
Tips
- Laying the scallions underneath follows that recipe, and in my own experience it also keeps the ribs from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Sugar scorches easily while the sauce reduces, so I stay by the pot and keep turning the ribs, and I turn off the heat as soon as the sauce thickens. That is my own habit.
Allergens: soy, wheat