Melt in your mouth, and a sublime flavor is expected when you take a bite of Dong Po Rou (东坡肉), a traditional braised pork belly recipe dating back to the Song Dynasty. It is a traditional Chinese cuisine of Hangzhou (杭州), created by Su Dong Po, a famous scholar, writer, poet, calligrapher, gastronome, and court official of the Song dynasty. Over the centuries, this dish has become very popular, and once you taste it, you’ll know why!

Dong Po Rou (Chinese braised pork belly) is surprisingly simple to prepare because it only involves a few ingredients. You need a few hours of braiding before you can taste the fantastic evening combination of flavor and texture of the meat, which is worth the wait.

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Ingredients required for Dong Po Rou (braised pork belly)

Although the pork belly has plenty of fat (think of bacon before being cured and sliced), the lengthily braising over low heat results in the fat losing much of its greasiness. The flavors of the accompanying green onions and ginger help to balance the greasiness of the pork, which is so tender that it can melt in the mouth. 

• Pork belly. No other cut of pork can substitute for pork belly. Its unique structure features smooth, silky skin and alternating lean meat and fat layers. The skin transforms into a melt-in-your-mouth texture, while the fat becomes less greasy through prolonged braising.
• Green onions and ginger. They are an ultimate flavor combination that complements nearly all meat dishes. I use a generous amount of green onions; some are placed under the pork while braising to prevent it from sticking to the pot, while others are reserved as a garnish when serving.
• Soy sauce and wine. The main seasonings for Dong Po Rou are soy sauce and wine. For the soy sauce, I recommend using a combination of light and dark soy sauce, as the quality of the soy sauce significantly impacts the dish’s flavor. If your Chinese grocery store offers a soy sauce labeled as 酱油, designed explicitly for braising, you can use that instead of the light and dark combination. Always use premium-quality soy sauce. as it is the primary seasoning ingredient. Regarding the wine, you can choose either rice wine, Shaoxing wine, or a mix of both.
• Rock sugar. Rock sugar is a staple in many Chinese braising recipes because it imparts a beautiful glossy finish to the meat. Unlike regular sugar, it caramelizes more slowly, and its unique crystal structure creates a clearer, more translucent glaze when melted. Moreover, rock sugar has a milder sweetness, allowing it to enhance the savory notes of soy sauce without overpowering them.
• Spices. The basic recipe for Dong Po Rou does not include cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, or star anise. However, I include them because they create a richer, more complex flavor that I particularly appreciate when preparing the dish for special festival occasions.

How to cook Dong Po Rou

1. Heat a pan or wok without oil over medium heat.  Place the pork belly skin-side down in the pan. Allow it to sear until the skin turns a light brown. This step helps burn off any remaining hair on the skin’s surface.  

2. Remove the pork belly from the pan and use a sharp knife to scrape the skin’s surface. This further removes any burned hair and other impurities.  

Place the pork belly in a pot of cold water. Add the wine, ginger, and green onion. Turn up the heat and bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, cook for five more minutes, then remove the pork. This step helps eliminate any unwanted porky smell.

3. Cut the pork into 5cm to 7cm squares. Tie each piece of pork belly with butcher’s string. This step prevents the pork from falling apart during braising, allowing it to remain intact while becoming incredibly tender. 

4. Sauté the green onions and ginger slices in oil over medium until they become aromatic. This step takes about a minute.

5. Place the green onion sections at the bottom of the pot, then add the ginger slices on top of them. 

Lay the pork belly pieces, skin side down, on the bed of green onions. This will help prevent the pork skin from sticking to the pan.  Add the Shaoxing wine, light and dark soy sauce, rock sugar, spices, and enough water to cover the pork. 

6. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to a bare simmer. Cover the pot with a lid and braise for 90 minutes. 

After 90 minutes, turn the pork over and continue braising for another 90 minutes or longer until tender. Turn the pork pieces over once to ensure even cooking. Check the water level occasionally and add boiling water if necessary.

7. Once the braising is complete, remove the butcher’s string from the pork and taste the braising liquid left in the pot to determine if any adjustments are needed. Next, reduce the braising liquid until it thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Strain the gravy through a fine wire mesh strainer for a smooth, clean sauce.

8. Drizzle the gravy over the Dong Po Rou on the serving plate and serve it alongside the green vegetables.

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Dong Po Rou (東坡肉)- Braised Pork Belly Recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes

Dong Po Rou is a traditional Chinese dish of braised pork belly known for its melt-in-the-mouth texture and rich history spanning over a thousand years.

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Ingredients

• 1 piece (about 1.8 pounds) of pork belly
• 4 stalks of spring onions, cut to 4cm length
• 1.5oz of sliced ginger
• 2.5 cups of water
• 1.5oz of rock sugar
• 1/2 cup premium-grade light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 3/4 cup of Shaoxing wine
• 2 star anise (optional)
• 1 cinnamon bark (optional)
• 2 bay leaves (optional)

Instructions

1. 1Place the pork belly skin-side down in the hot wok. Allow it to sear until the skin turns a light brown.  
2. Remove the pork belly from the pan and use a sharp knife to scrape the skin's surface to remove burned hair and other impurities.  
3. Place the pork belly in a pot of cold water. Add the wine, ginger, and green onion. Turn up the heat and bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, cook for five more minutes, then remove the pork.
4. Cut the pork into 5cm to 7cm squares. Tie each piece of pork belly with butcher's string.
5. Sauté the green onions and ginger slices in oil over medium until they become aromatic. 
6. Place the green onion sections at the bottom of the pot, then add the ginger slices on top of them.  Lay the pork belly pieces, skin side down, on the bed of green onions. Add the Shaoxing wine, light and dark soy sauce, rock sugar, spices, and enough water to cover the pork. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to a bare simmer. Cover the pot with a lid and braise for 90 minutes. 
7. After 90 minutes, turn the pork over and continue braising for another 90 minutes or longer until tender).
8. Once the braising is complete, remove the butcher's string from the pork and taste the braising liquid left in the pot to determine if any adjustments are needed. 
9. Next, reduce the braising liquid until it thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Strain the gravy through a fine wire mesh strainer for a smooth, clean sauce.
10. Drizzle the gravy over the Dong Po Rou on the serving plate and serve it alongside the green vegetables.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 89Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 1609mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 3g

This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix on 1/17/2025

Question about making better Dong Po Rou (braised pork belly)

1. Do I need to steam the Dong Po Rou? Some (braised pork belly) recipes include a step to steam the meat after the initial braising. This is because if the meat pieces are continuously braised for three hours, they may fall apart during cooking. Therefore, after 90 minutes of braising, the pork pieces are transferred to a steamer along with some of the braising liquid and then steamed for two to three hours. Steaming mitigates the risk of the meat breaking apart, as it does not involve the movement caused by the braising liquid. I prefer to braise the meat for three hours in this recipe and skip the steaming step to simplify the process. To ensure that the pork pieces do not fall apart, I use butcher’s string to secure them.
2. Can I use regular sugar? Brown sugar and regular sugar can be used, but the major difference is that regular sugar may not produce pork skin as glossy as with rock sugar.
3. Can I use a pressure cooker to prepare it?  Using a pressure cooker is a convenient way to prepare Dong Po Rou. If you are using an Instant Pot or another brand of multi-cooker, you can start by using the sauté mode to fry the ginger and green onions. After that, add all the ingredients into the pot and switch to pressure cooking mode. Continue pressure cooking for one hour. Afterward, remove the pork and change to sauce thickening mode to achieve your desired sauce consistency.
4. Cut the pork to 2 to 2.5 inches square or smaller.  If the pieces of pork are too big, the interior of the pork pieces will not be tender and absorb the flavor of the simmering liquid.
5. Use low heat to simmer.  Light soy sauce can become bitter if it is simmered over high heat and will leave an unpleasant taste in the pork.