Braising · FFET10501

Shao (braising; red-braising)

Ingredients are first boiled or fried, then simmered in stock and reduced; variants include red-braising and white-braising.

Shao is a cooking method in which ingredients are first boiled, pan-fried, or deep-fried, then simmered with stock over medium-low heat and the liquid reduced; variants include red-braising, white-braising, dry-braising, and scallion-braising. Red-braising uses soy sauce, wine, sugar, and spices, and red-braised pork has regional versions in Shanghai, Wuxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Taiwan.

What

Shao involves boiling or frying ingredients before cooking them in stock and reducing the liquid. Red-braising is one variant, seasoned with soy sauce among other things; other variants include white-braising, dry-braising, and scallion-braising.^1,4

When

Food accounts published in 1916 already use hongshao in dish names and describe red-braised chicken, duck, pork, and mutton as commonly called men. This establishes use of the term by that date, not when the technique began. Older recipes also use the names hongwei pork and baiwei pork; historical uses of shao cannot all be read as modern braising.^5,6,7

Where

Red-braised pork has versions in Shanghai, Wuxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Taiwan. The available accounts do not establish where red-braising originated.^2,3

How

Ingredients are first boiled or fried, then cooked with stock over medium-low heat before the liquid is reduced. Red-braising commonly uses soy sauce, wine, sugar, and spices. Older recipes for wei pork also begin over strong heat before switching to gentle heat.^1,3,5

Why

Red-braising is seasoned with soy sauce, wine, sugar, and spices, and the sauce is reduced at the end. Heat control is also emphasized in older recipes.^1,3,5

Impact and influence

Regional versions of red-braised pork differ in their additions: bean curd knots in Shanghai, wheat gluten in Wuxi, dried long beans in Hunan, and bamboo shoots in Jiangxi.²

Sources (7)