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Mao Zedong 20th Century dinner medium

Mao Zedong's Red Braised Pork (Hong Shao Rou)

The Chairman's favorite dish - meltingly tender pork belly braised in Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and aromatics, finished with a glossy reduction

Mao Zedong's Red Braised Pork (Hong Shao Rou)
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 90 min
Serves: 4
#chinese #pork #braise #hunan #comfort food #hong shao rou

The Chairman’s Comfort Food

Red braised pork, or hong shao rou, was Mao Zedong’s favorite dish from his native Hunan province. This peasant comfort food remained his culinary obsession throughout his life — and for good reason. The pork belly becomes so tender it barely needs chewing, and the braising liquid transforms into a deep, glossy sauce with complex savory notes from the Shaoxing wine and aromatics.

This isn’t the sticky-sweet version you might expect. The Shaoxing wine cuts through the sugar, leaving something more savory and aromatic than cloying. The dark soy does the heavy lifting on color, giving the meat that iconic lacquered finish.

Instructions

Blanch the Pork

  1. Cut the pork: Cut the pork belly into chunks roughly 2 to 3 centimeters square.

  2. Blanch: Place the pork chunks in a pot with cold water and bring to a boil. As it heats, grey froth will rise to the surface — this is just impurities from the meat.

  3. Skim and rinse: Skim off the froth, then drain the pork and rinse it under cold water. This step is the difference between a clean, clear braise and something that tastes unfinished.

Braise the Pork

  1. Build the braise: Clean the pot and return the pork to it. Add the Shaoxing rice wine, hot water (just enough to barely cover the meat), light and dark soy sauces, ginger slices, bay leaves, and star anise.

  2. Bring to a boil: Bring the pot to a boil over high heat.

  3. Low and slow: Once boiling, cover the pot with a lid and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours until the meat is fork tender and giving up completely. This is patient cooking — go read, touch grass, contemplate your legacy relative to Mao’s.

Reduce the Sauce

  1. Add sugar and reduce: Once the pork is tender, remove the lid and add the rock sugar. Crank the heat as high as it will go.

  2. Watch the transformation: Stir occasionally as the braising liquid reduces from a thin broth to a thick, glossy sauce that barely coats the bottom of the pot. This takes about 5 minutes and is when it starts to smell genuinely incredible.

Serve

  1. Plate and garnish: Transfer the pork to a serving dish. Optionally garnish with sliced green onions for color and freshness.

  2. Serve: Serve with steamed rice to soak up that deeply flavored sauce.

Tips for Success

  • Don’t skip blanching: This removes impurities and ensures a clean-tasting braise
  • Use quality Shaoxing wine: It’s the backbone of the dish’s flavor profile
  • Dark soy for color: This gives the characteristic deep red-brown lacquered finish
  • Be patient: The long, slow braise is what makes the pork meltingly tender
  • Watch the reduction: Don’t walk away during the final reduction — it can go from perfect to burned quickly
  • The balance is savory: This dish is more aromatic and savory than sweet, thanks to the wine cutting through the sugar

Historical Note

This was genuinely Mao’s favorite dish, and he never stopped requesting it even as Chairman. It connects him to his Hunan roots and represents the kind of peasant cooking that sustained generations before being elevated to revolutionary icon status — much like the man himself.