Red braised [protein]

TIME3.5 hours (slow cooked), or 1.5 hours (pressure cooked) MAKES5-6 PORTION
0.5x 1x 2x 3x

Red braising is a braising technique used in Chinese cooking that produces a delicious caramel and savoury reddish-brown sauce. Traditionally made by caramelizing rock sugar in oil, a lot of recipes these days instead opt for dark soy sauce to lend those caramelized notes and hues.

Below is a blueprint recipe for red braised anything, as well as variations for red braised beef (hóngshāo niúròu) and red braised chicken, based on various recipes online including Chinese cooking demystified.

INGREDIENTS

Feel free to use any protein (suitable for braising) and vegetables you wish, including mushrooms, potatoes, yam, etc.

{{protein_list}}{{vegetable_list}}

  • 1 tbsp cornflour

Aromatics

  • 1 inch ginger (julienned)
  • 3 cloves garlic (sliced)
  • 1 spring onion (white part cut into 2 inch sections)

Spices

Whole spices to add can include star anise, five spice powder, dried chillies, cinnamon, cloves, sichuan peppercorns, fennel seeds, etc. Don’t add too many or too much, or you may make the braise taste medicinal!

{{spice_list}}

Braising liquid

  • 1/3 cup (80ml) Shaoxing wine
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 40g brown sugar
  • 200-400ml stock or water

Garnishes

  • Salt and MSG to taste
  • Spring onion (green part thinly sliced)
  • Coriander
  • Sesame oil

STEPS

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  1. In a pot over medium heat, add a neutral oil and stir fry the {{aromatics}} until fragrant. Then, add the {{spices}} and stir fry for 30 seconds.

{{beef_sear_step}}

  1. Stir through the Shaoxing wine, and then add the rest of the {{braising_liquid}} ingredients, adding enough stock or water to just cover the {{protein}}. Add the {{vegetables}}, and then cook until your {{protein}} is {{tender}}1.

  2. Increase the heat to high, and rapidly reduce to the sauce (to approximately half to a third of the original volume).

  3. If serving over noodles (such as lamian), no need to thicken the sauce. Simply prepare your noodles as per directions (making sure to rinse the noodles under cold water), and then spoon over a few ladles of broth, and top with the {{protein}}, {{vegetables}}, and {{garnishes}}.

  4. If serving over rice, mix the cornflour with water to form a slurry, and add half of the cornflour slurry. Reduce the sauce over medium heat until you are happy with the sauce consistency — add more cornflour slurry as needed. Serve alongside (or on top of) rice, adding the {{garnishes}} on top.

NOTES

  1. You can simmer on the stovetop, or in the oven at 150ºC. ↩︎

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