Shanghai Red-Braised Pork & Eggs

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3 cm cubes
• 4 eggs
• 25 g caster sugar
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 30 g fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 3 spring onions
• 2 star anise
• 4 tsp sunflower oil (2 for the caramel, 2 for the cabbage)
• 700 ml boiling water
• 280 g jasmine rice
• 600 g Chinese cabbage
• 2 garlic cloves
• Salt

🍴 Utensils

• Flameproof casserole dish with lid
• 2 saucepans (eggs and rice)
• Wok or large frying pan
• Slotted spoon
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. Cook the eggs for 9 minutes in a saucepan of boiling water, then plunge them into very cold water and peel them. Make 3 or 4 small slits in each with the tip of a knife so the sauce can penetrate, and set aside.
2. Put the pork cubes in the casserole dish, cover with cold water and bring to the boil over high heat. Boil for 3 minutes, skimming off the grey scum, then drain, rinse the meat in hot water and pat dry with kitchen paper. This blanching gives a clean sauce, free of impurities.
3. Wipe out the casserole dish and add 2 tsp oil and the sugar over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar melts and turns amber, 3 to 4 minutes, without letting it go brown: a caramel that is too dark would make the sauce bitter.
4. Immediately add the well-dried pork (watch out for spatters) and stir for 3 minutes over medium heat to coat each cube in caramel. Add the ginger, the white parts of the spring onions cut into lengths and the star anise, and stir for 1 more minute.
5. Pour in the soy sauce, then the boiling water: the meat should be just covered. Bring to a simmer, cover and leave to simmer gently for 1 hour over low heat, stirring every 20 minutes. Halfway through, add the eggs, pushing them down into the sauce.
6. Meanwhile, rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then cook it with 1.5 times its volume of water: bring to the boil, cover and cook for 12 minutes over very low heat. Leave to rest for 10 minutes without lifting the lid.
7. Remove the lid from the casserole dish and reduce for 15 to 20 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the sauce is syrupy and glossy and coats the meat. The pork should be tender when pierced with the tip of a knife; keep an eye on it towards the end, as the sugar catches quickly.
8. While the sauce reduces, cut the Chinese cabbage into 2 cm strips and chop the garlic. Stir-fry everything for 4 to 5 minutes over high heat in the remaining oil with a pinch of salt, until the ribs are tender but still crunchy.
9. Remove the star anise and ginger slices, then halve the eggs. Serve the pork and its sauce over the rice with the egg halves and the stir-fried cabbage on the side, and sprinkle with the finely sliced green parts of the spring onions.