Red Braising (Hong Shao)

Red braising is the Chinese way of slow cooking in soy sauce and sugar. For hong shao rou, blanch cubes of pork belly, then melt rock sugar in a little oil until it turns amber. Toss the pork in the caramel, add Shaoxing wine, light and dark soy, ginger, scallion and star anise, and enough water to almost cover. Simmer gently for an hour and a half. Uncover at the end and boil down the liquid until it coats the pork in a sticky, dark red glaze. Serve it with plain rice.