Hong Shao Rou
Slow-braised pork belly in a dark, sweet-savoury glaze.
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Taro Steamed Pork Belly
Pork belly blanched, deep-fried to a tiger-skin crackle, then layered with taro and steamed until melting, in a fermented bean-curd sauce. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 香芋扣肉, report 192.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 香芋扣肉_192.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 40 minutesCook: 1 hour 30 minutesTotal: 2 hours 10 minutesServings: 3-4Difficulty: MediumRegion: Cantonese / HakkaFlavour: Savoury-sweet, fermented bean curd
Why this works
This is a dish built in three acts, and each one earns the next. Boiling the belly to about seventy percent done firms it enough to slice cleanly without falling apart, while pricking the skin lets fat escape and flavour in. Frying skin-side down at 180 °C creates the tiger-skin blistering that gives the dish its name and its texture, and the immediate plunge into cold water is what makes that skin springy rather than merely crisp. Layering pork and taro in alternating slices is not decoration: as they steam together for ninety minutes, the taro absorbs pork fat and turns powdery-soft, while the pork absorbs the taro's fragrance and the fermented bean-curd sauce. The final flip — inverting the bowl onto a plate while still hot — is the moment of truth, which is why the report insists on doing it hot: cooled, the slices stick and the neat layers collapse. It is long, but almost all of the time is unattended steaming.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pork belly, skin on | 12.3 oz | 350 g | — |
| Liputang taro (or any firm taro) | 8.8 oz | 250 g | Cut to match the pork slices; other taro varieties work (adaptation). |
| Fermented bean curd, with its liquid | 1 oz | 30 g | About 2 cubes, mashed. |
| Light soy sauce | 4 tsp | 20 ml | — |
| Sugar (rock sugar or white sugar) | 1 tbsp | 15 g | — |
| Cooking wine | 2 tsp | 10 ml | — |
| Ginger slices | 0.2 oz | 5 g | — |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | 3 g | — |
| Star anise | 1 piece | 1 piece | — |
| Dark soy sauce and a little sugar, for colouring | To taste | To taste | Report gives no quantities; brush lightly (adaptation). |
| Neutral oil, for deep-frying | About 2 cups | 500 ml | Only about 30 ml is absorbed; the rest can be strained and reused (report note). |
| Corn starch and water, for thickening | To taste | To taste | Report says thicken the reserved juices lightly; use about 1 tsp starch in 2 tsp water (adaptation). |
Equipment
- Deep pot or wok for frying, plus a steamer or pressure cooker — a large pot with a rack works (adaptation)
- Heatproof bowl for layering
- Large plate for inverting
- Toothpick or fork for pricking
Steps
- Boil the pork. Put the belly in cold water with ginger and cooking wine, bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat 30 minutes until about seventy percent cooked — a chopstick goes in with no blood. Lift out, pat very dry, prick the skin densely with a toothpick, brush with dark soy sauce and a little sugar, and rest 10 minutes.
- Fry to tiger skin. Heat oil to 180 °C. Lower the belly in skin-side down and fry 2 to 3 minutes until the skin is golden and blistered, then flip and fry 1 minute. Lift out, drain, and plunge immediately into cold or iced water for 20 minutes so the tiger-skin texture sets.
- Slice and layer. Cut the pork into 0.5 cm slices (about 15 slices) and the peeled taro into matching 0.5 cm slices. Mix the fermented bean curd, light soy sauce, sugar and a little water into a sauce. Layer pork and taro alternately in a heatproof bowl, skin-side down against the bowl wall, pour over the sauce, and add the star anise.
- Steam and invert. Steam in a pressure cooker 90 minutes, or in an ordinary steamer for 2 hours or more, until the taro is powdery and the pork is melting. While still hot, pour the juices into a pan, place a plate over the bowl and invert quickly. Thicken the reserved juices lightly with starch and pour over the top. Serve immediately. Pork must reach 74 °C / 165 °F (home safety guidance, added as an adaptation).
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Technique: tiger skin, then a long steam
The skin's texture is decided in two minutes of frying and twenty minutes of cold soaking: frying blisters it, cold water tightens it into the springy, pocked surface that defines kou rou. Everything after that is patience — a short steam leaves taro chalky and pork firm, while the full ninety minutes lets fat and taro trade places. Invert while hot or not at all.
Variations
- Pressure cooker: 90 minutes as the report directs; an ordinary steamer needs 2 hours or more (adaptation for timing only).
- Less sweet: halve the sugar in the sauce; the fermented bean curd still carries the savouriness (adaptation).
Frequently asked questions
Why soak the fried pork in cold water?
It sets the blistered tiger skin so it stays springy after the long steam, instead of going soft.
Why did my layers collapse on inverting?
The bowl had cooled, or the slices were cut too thick. Invert while hot and keep slices at 0.5 cm.
Can I skip deep-frying?
You can sear the skin in a dry hot pan, but you will not get true tiger skin; the dish will still taste good (adaptation).
Storage and freezing
Keeps 3 days refrigerated; reheat by steaming 20 minutes until steaming hot throughout. Freezes well up to 1 month before the final inversion — thaw overnight in the fridge, then steam and invert.
Taro Steamed Pork Belly — Recipe Card
Tiger-skin pork belly layered with taro and steamed in fermented bean-curd sauce.
Prep: 40 minutesCook: 1 hour 30 minutesTotal: 2 hours 10 minutesServings: 3-4
Ingredients: 350 g pork belly; 250 g taro; 30 g fermented bean curd; 20 ml light soy sauce; 15 g sugar; 10 ml cooking wine; 5 g ginger; 3 g salt; 1 star anise; dark soy and sugar for colouring (quantities not given); 500 ml frying oil (about 30 ml absorbed); starch for thickening (quantity not given).
Steps: 1) Boil 30 minutes, prick and colour skin. 2) Fry to tiger skin, soak 20 minutes. 3) Slice and layer with taro. 4) Steam 90 minutes, invert hot and glaze.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 香芋扣肉 (data/reports/192.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. The colouring and thickening quantities, not given in the report, and the safety temperature are home adaptations and are labelled as such. Original poster image: clouchef.com (香芋扣肉_192.jpeg).