Chinese Red Cooked Pork (Hung Shao Ti Pang)

Haggis

Ingredients

• 6 dried Chinese mushrooms roughly 1 inch in diameter	• 2 Cup cold water
• 5 lb fresh pork picnic shoulder, rind left on, bone-in	• 2 scallions, including green top, cut into 3 inch lengths
• &#189 Cup soy sauce - recommend black soy for heavier, less salty flavor	• 4-6 (Optional) hard boiled eggs, peeled
• 1 star anise (8 sections)	• 1 (Optional) medium onion, sliced
• 3 Tbs granulated sugar
• &#188 Cup Chinese rice wine or pale dry sherry

Instructions

Prepare ahead:

In a small bowl, cover the mushrooms with &#189 cup of warm water and let soak for 30 minutes. Drain. Cut off the tough stems of the mushrooms and leave the caps whole.

Hard boil eggs and peel.

Blanch the pork shoulder - easiest done on a stove. Put the pork in a heavy pot large enough to hold it snugly - add enough cold water to cover it by 2 inches and, over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Let it boil briskly for 5 minutes, then transfer the meat from the pot to a colander and run hot tap water over it. Discard the cooking water.

Place the meat in the pot to be used on the BGE (can be same pot as used for blanching.) Add the soy sauce, star anise, sugar, wine, scallions, and 2 cups cold water. Bring to a boil and cover the pot. Reduce the heat - about 250 to 275 dome - and cook the meat for at least 3 hours, adjusting the heat to keep the liquid at a simmer and turning the meat over several times during the cooking period. Add the soaked mushrooms and cook 30 minutes longer. There should be about 1 cup of liquid left when the meat has finished cooking. If there is more, cook uncovered until the liquid is reduced.

Notes

Served in a deep platter with the cooking juices poured over it. Side dish would normally be white rice.
If too much fat has melted into the sauce, skim off as desired. Sauce can also be slightly thickened with cornstarch if desired (after removing meat from the pot.
The rind and pork should be soft enough to be pulled off the bone with chopsticks or a fork. Adjust time to account for larger shoulders or to achieve the degree of &#034falling off the bone&#034 you want - its hard to overcook this dish but some prefer to slice rather then pull.
If adding hard boiled eggs, add sometime during the last hour - The hard boiled eggs take on a nice color and flavor. Serve them whole either in the serving dish or separately.
Increase ingredients appropriately if cooking a larger pork shoulder.

Number of Servings:

Time to Prepare: