Chestnut Braised Pork
As a Northerner, I had always struggled to understand how braised pork could be made without adding water—until many years later, I realized that 'no added water' actually means replacing plain water with colored liquids like yellow rice wine, beer, or red wine. My hometown grows its own chestnuts, and a relative sent me a large bag. I had no idea how to use them all, so I added them to my dish. Today, I’m sharing this recipe for Chestnut Braised Pork, made using 'no added water.'
Ingredients
Steps
Cut the pork belly into large cubes; the bigger, the better for that satisfying texture.
Prepare slices of ginger and segments of scallions.
Pan-fry the pork belly until golden and crispy, then set aside.
Take a small clay pot (or a regular frying pan), pour in enough yellow rice wine to submerge the pork belly, and bring it to a boil.
Once the yellow rice wine boils, add the fried pork belly, ginger slices, and scallions, followed by one tablespoon of dark soy sauce and three tablespoons of light soy sauce.
When it boils again, add the rock sugar, cover with a lid, and simmer over medium-low heat for about 40 minutes.
Prepare the chestnuts. If using cooked chestnuts (like mine that were sitting for two days), peel them carefully. If using fresh chestnuts, cook them for about 2–3 minutes first. Before boiling, use a knife to score the chestnut shells to make peeling easier. (Ignore my poorly peeled ones, please!)
Stir the pork after 40 minutes of simmering, then add the chestnuts. Cover and simmer over low heat for another 20 minutes.
When the liquid has mostly reduced (after about 20 minutes), transfer everything to a frying pan. Add an appropriate amount of chicken essence and salt, then turn up the heat to reduce the sauce. (If you started in a frying pan, you can simply do this step directly.) Leave a little sauce for serving—it’s best for mixing with rice. Mine got a little too dry, but it still turned out great!
And there you have it—Chestnut Braised Pork! Serve with a bowl of rice and use the sauce to mix with the rice. Enjoy big bites of meat and rice!