Red-braised pork is a dish that in Hunan is inseparably bound up with the memory of Chairman Mao: many restaurants cal it “The Mao family’s red-braised pork.” Mao Zedong loved it, ate it frequently, and is said to have insisted his Huananese chefs cook it for him in Beijing. It’s a robust concoction, best eaten with a plain steamed rice and simple stir-fried vegetables, but the sweet, aromatic chunks of meat are irresistible and it’s always a favorite at my London dinner parties. In keeping with traditional Chinese gastronomy, which seeks to make a medical virtue out of every dietary predilection, the people of Mao’s home village, Shaoshan, recommend a red-braised pork as a health food: “Men eat it to build their brains,” Chairman Mao’s nephew Mao Anping assured me when I met him there a few years ago, “and ladies to make themselves more beautiful”. His friend and neighbor, the Shaoshan communist party secretary, told me he ate two bowlfuls a day to keep his intellect in shape.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

450 gram. pork belly (skin optional)

2 tbsp. peanut oil

1 tbsp. Shaoxing wine

¾ in piece fresh ginger, skin left on and sliced

1 star anise

2 dried red chiles

A small piece cassia bark or cinnamon stick

Light soy sauce, salt, and sugar

A few pieces scallion greens

Directions

1. Plunge the pork belly into a pan of boiling water and simmer for 3-4 minutes until partially cooked. Remove, and, when cool enough to handle, cut into bite-size chunks.

2. Heat the oil and sugar in a wok over a gentle flame until the sugar melts, then raise the heat and stir until the melted sugar turns a rich caramel brown. Add the pork and splash in the Shaoxing wine.

3. Add enough water to just cover the pork, along with the ginger, star anise, chilies and cassia. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 40-50 minutes

4. Toward the end of the cooking time, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce, and season with soy sauce, salt, and a little sugar to taste. Add the scallion greens just before serving.