Hong Shao Rou
Slow-braised pork belly with rock sugar, in an Instant Pot or on the stove, with a glossy, savoury-sweet sauce.
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Meicai Kou Rou (Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetables)
Pork belly boiled, fried to a tiger-skin blister, sliced and steamed ninety minutes under preserved mustard greens with fermented bean curd, then inverted onto a plate and glazed — the Hakka-Cantonese banquet classic. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 梅菜扣肉, report 117.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 梅菜扣肉_117.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 30 minutesCook: 1 hour 30 minutesTotal: 2 hoursServings: 3–4Difficulty: MediumRegion: GuangdongFlavour: Savoury-sweet, preserved-vegetable rich
Why this works
Meicai kou rou is a dish of reversals: the pork is boiled, then fried skin-down, then steamed skin-down, then flipped, so the skin ends up on top, blistered and glossy, after spending most of its cooking face-down in flavour. Boiling twenty-five minutes with ginger, scallion and wine cooks the belly through and removes scum; frying at 180 °C for three to four minutes blisters the dried skin into tiger skin, and ten minutes in ice water sets the blister and firms the meat for slicing. The preserved greens must be soaked fifteen minutes and squeezed until no water drips — wet greens steam the dish watery and stay harshly salty, dry greens absorb the pork fat and turn meltingly savoury. Ninety minutes of steaming, timed within five minutes either way, is what makes the belly truly soft without falling apart, and the inversion must happen within three minutes of leaving the steamer, before the fat sets and glues the pork to the bowl.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pork belly, whole piece | 8.8 oz | 250 g | — |
| Dried preserved mustard greens (meicai) | 2 oz dried | 55 g dried | Soaked 15 minutes in warm water, squeezed until no water drips. |
| Bean curd sheets, crumbled | 1 oz | 30 g | Tucked into the gaps between pork slices. |
| Fermented bean curd | 4 tsp | 20 g | Mashed into the seasoning liquid. |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp | 15 g | — |
| Light soy sauce | 4 tsp | 20 ml | — |
| Dark soy sauce | 2 tsp | 10 ml | — |
| Water, for the seasoning liquid | 3½ tbsp | 50 ml | — |
| Ginger slices, for boiling | 0.5 oz | 15 g | Report gives 15 g in the steps (its table lists 5 g); the steps figure is used here and the discrepancy is noted (adaptation). |
| Scallion segments, for boiling | 0.35 oz | 10 g | Report gives 10 g in the steps (its table lists 5 g); the steps figure is used here. |
| Cooking wine, for boiling | 4 tsp | 20 ml | — |
| Neutral oil, for frying | About 1 cup | 250 ml | For frying the belly; most is drained off. |
| Water starch, for the glaze | 2 tsp | 10 g | Mixed with a little water. |
| Chopped scallion, to garnish | 0.2 oz | 5 g | — |
Equipment
- Steamer (or a steamer box at 100 °C)
- Deep bowl for packing the pork
- Plate for inverting
- Cling film (pierced) for covering the bowl
Steps
- Boil the belly. Put the whole pork belly in cold water with the ginger slices, scallion segments and cooking wine. Bring to a boil on high heat, then cook on medium heat for 25 minutes until a chopstick passes through with no bloody juices. Remove and pat the skin completely dry.
- Fry to tiger skin and chill. Heat the oil to 180 °C and fry the belly skin-side down until golden and blistered, about 3–4 minutes. Lift out at once and plunge into ice water for 10 minutes to set the tiger-skin texture. (Take care: wet skin in hot oil spatters — dry the belly well and lower it away from you.)
- Slice, pack and season. Slice the belly into 0.8 cm slices, about 8–10 even slices. Pack them skin-side down neatly into a deep bowl, tucking crumbled bean curd sheets into the gaps. Soak the preserved greens 15 minutes in warm water, squeeze until no water drips, and press firmly on top of the pork. Mix the fermented bean curd, sugar, light and dark soy and 50 ml water, stir until smooth, and pour around the edge of the bowl.
- Steam ninety minutes. Cover with pierced cling film and steam at 100 °C for 90 minutes (within 5 minutes either way). Less than 80 minutes leaves the meat firm; more than 100 minutes and it falls apart. The centre must reach at least 75 °C / 167 °F and hold for at least 10 minutes.
- Invert and glaze. Within 3 minutes of leaving the steamer, pour the cooking liquid into a pan, place a plate over the bowl and invert it in one confident motion, then lift the bowl away. Thicken the liquid with water starch, pour the glaze over the pork, scatter chopped scallion, and serve.
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Technique: skin down twice, flip once, three minutes to invert
The tiger skin is the visual promise of the dish, and it depends on two unglamorous steps: drying the boiled belly thoroughly before frying, and the full ten minutes in ice water after. Skip the drying and the oil spatters violently; skip the ice water and the blister never sets. The inversion is the other moment of truth — do it while the fat is still liquid, within three minutes, or the pork bonds to the bowl and the shape collapses. If it sticks anyway, a brief return to the steamer loosens it.
Variations
- No bean curd sheets: omit them; the pork and greens still work (adaptation).
- Smaller portion: halve the pork and greens and steam 70 minutes (adaptation).
Frequently asked questions
What are meicai?
Sun-dried, salted mustard greens, sold dried at Asian groceries — deeply savoury, and the dish's namesake flavour.
Why did my pork fall apart?
Usually steamed longer than 100 minutes, or sliced thinner than 0.8 cm. Keep the slices even and the time at ninety minutes.
Why fry the skin at all?
For the blistered tiger-skin texture and colour; boiled-only belly looks pale and eats soft without contrast.
Storage and freezing
Best eaten fresh from the steamer. Leftovers keep 3 days refrigerated; re-steam until steaming hot throughout. The steamed (un-inverted) bowl freezes well for up to 1 month; thaw fully, re-steam and invert.
Meicai Kou Rou (Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetables) — Recipe Card
Tiger-skin pork belly steamed under preserved greens, inverted and glazed.
Prep: 30 minutesCook: 1 hour 30 minutesTotal: 2 hoursServings: 3–4
Ingredients: 250 g pork belly; 55 g dried meicai; 30 g bean curd sheets; 20 g fermented bean curd; 15 g sugar; 20 ml light soy; 10 ml dark soy; 50 ml water; 15 g ginger; 10 g scallion; 20 ml cooking wine; 250 ml frying oil; 10 g water starch; 5 g scallion to garnish.
Steps: 1) Boil belly 25 minutes, dry. 2) Fry skin-down at 180 °C for 3–4 minutes, ice water 10 minutes. 3) Slice 0.8 cm, pack skin-down, top with greens and seasoning. 4) Steam 100 °C for 90 minutes, invert within 3 minutes, glaze.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 梅菜扣肉 (data/reports/117.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. The report's table and steps disagree on the boiling ginger and scallion (5 g vs 15 g ginger, 5 g vs 10 g scallion); the steps figures are used here and the discrepancy is noted. The ice-water safety note is an adaptation and is labelled as such. Original poster image: clouchef.com (梅菜扣肉_117.jpeg).