Chinese Pork Shoulder Recipe: Slow-Cooked Pork with Broccoli!
Pork shoulder is generally a tougher cut of meat. But if you can prepare it correctly, it will become tender and flavorful. Even though the recipe will take some time, the wait is totally worth it. The final glaze of the pork will be very alluring.
This Chinese pork shoulder recipe has a healthy amount of broccoli that nicely absorbs the flavor from the sauce. Let’s get into the detailed recipe where I will show you the exact steps and tell you about the nutritional value of the recipe.
Table of Contents
Chinese Pork Shoulder Recipe Overview
From start to finish, this recipe will take about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Find the calorie count, serving size, and other essential information about the recipe below.
| Course: Main | Cuisine: Chinese | Difficulty: Medium | ||
| Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes | ||||
| Serving | Preparation Time | Cooking Time | Calories | |
| 4 persons | 10 minutes | 1 hour | 264 kcal | |
Ingredients Needed for the Recipe
To make this dish flavorful, you need to use a variety of spices and sauces. Here is the list of ingredients.
- Pork: 2 lbs of pork shoulder
- Ginger: 2-inch block of ginger, sliced
- Scallion: 2-3 stalks, sliced
- Cooking Wine: 2 tbsp
- Light Soy Sauce: 1 tbsp
- Oyster Sauce: 1 tbsp
- Dark Soy Sauce: 1 tbsp
- Chu Hou Seasoning: 1 tbsp
- Broccoli: 200g
- Salt: ½ tsp
- Cooking Oil: ½ tsp
Chinese Pork Shoulder Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions
Follow the steps just the way I organized them below.
Step 1: Blanch the Meat
Take cold water in a pot and put the large pork shoulders in the water. Add scallions, ginger slices, and 1 tbsp of cooking wine to the water. Heat the water until it starts to boil and blanch the meat for a few minutes.
Step 2: Clean and Cut the Meat
Skim the foam off and then take the meat out. Then, clean it thoroughly and dry out excess moisture. Finally, cut the pork shoulder into small pieces.
You Can Also Try: Chinese Cabbage Roll Recipe
Step 3: Fry the Pork
Heat up a pan and add the cut pieces of pork to the pan directly. Fry them over high heat for some time until they have a slight yellow color. Then, add cooking wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and Chu Hou seasoning paste to the meat. Stir-fry the ingredients for a few minutes.
Step 4: Add Spices and Simmer
Add sliced ginger and green onions to the pan and fry until the spices are fragrant. Then, pour enough hot water into the pot to cover the meat. Close the lid and simmer it over medium-low heat for 40 minutes. After simmering, turn the heat up to thicken the sauce.
Step 5: Blanch the Broccoli
Boil water in another pot. Add a small amount of salt and oil. Cut broccoli into florets and put them in boiling water. Blanch the broccoli for 3 minutes and take them out.
Step 6: Combine the Meat and Broccoli
Put the cooked meat in a casserole and pour the sauce over the meat. Then, add the blanched broccoli to the casserole. Mix everything and cook for a few more minutes until broccoli absorbs the flavor.
Nutrition Facts of the Recipe
Adding broccoli to the dish increases its nutritional value. Each serving of this recipe contains 264 calories and the following nutrients.
- Total Carbohydrates: 11g
- Protein: 18g
- Total Fat: 17g
- Saturated Fat: 5.3g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.6g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 7.5g
- Trans Fat: 0.1g
- Total Dietary Fiber: 0.7g
- Total Sugar: 8.5g
- Cholesterol: 56mg
- Sodium: 975mg
- Potassium: 296mg
- Calcium: 42mg
- Iron: 1.4mg
- Vitamin A: 122IU
- Vitamin D: 0.9mcg
Do’s and Don’ts of the Recipe
You can improve the dish by following these tips.
Do’s
- Wash the pork with starch to remove as much impurities as possible before blanching it.
- Instead of chopped chili, you can use chili paste to make the dish spicier. It will improve the texture.
Don’ts
- As the sauces and seasonings already have salt, don’t add extra salt to the meat.
- Don’t cut the meat too small. It will make the pieces dry. Keep them about 2 inches.
Chinese Pork Shoulder Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Take cold water in a pot and put the large pork shoulders in the water. Add scallions, ginger slices, and 1 tbsp of cooking wine to the water. Heat the water until it starts to boil and blanch the meat for a few minutes.
- Skim the foam off and then take the meat out. Then, clean it thoroughly and dry out excess moisture. Finally, cut the pork shoulder into small pieces.
- Heat up a pan and add the cut pieces of pork to the pan directly. Fry them over high heat for some time until they have a slight yellow color. Then, add cooking wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and Chu Hou seasoning paste to the meat. Stir-fry the ingredients for a few minutes.
- Add sliced ginger and green onions to the pan and fry until the spices are fragrant. Then, pour enough hot water into the pot to cover the meat. Close the lid and simmer it over medium-low heat for 40 minutes. After simmering, turn the heat up to thicken the sauce.
- Boil water in another pot. Add a small amount of salt and oil. Cut broccoli into florets and put them in boiling water. Blanch the broccoli for 3 minutes and take them out.
- Put the cooked meat in a casserole and pour the sauce over the meat. Then, add the blanched broccoli to the casserole. Mix everything and cook for a few more minutes until broccoli absorbs the flavor.
FAQs
Get some additional information about the recipe from the following answers to common questions.
Can you recommend a specific cut of pork shoulder for this recipe?
You can choose the shoulder blade, which is the upper part of the shoulder. The picnic shoulder or the lower part is also great for this recipe. Don’t choose any cuts below the jowl.
How to ensure the pork shoulder is cooked thoroughly?
If you cook pork shoulder over high heat, the inside will become dry faster and the meat will be chewy. Make sure you cook the pork shoulder over medium-low heat for a long time to make the meat tender.
Can leftovers of Chinese Pork Shoulder be stored?
Of course. You can store Chinese pork shoulder in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and in the fridge for about 3-6 months. Before serving it again, take it out of the fridge and let it thaw. Then, reheat it well and serve.
What can I serve with Chinese pork shoulder?
As this dish has meat and vegetables, you can serve steamed rice, fried rice, noodles, or other carbohydrates with Chinese pork shoulder.
Conclusion
Even though this recipe isn’t a melts-in-your-mouth kind of dish, the texture of the pork shoulder after slow cooking is phenomenal. You can tear the meat apart easily but the meat will still hold the shape. The combination of sauces and seasonings gives this dish its distinct flavor that goes well with a variety of dishes.
You can experiment with the dish by adding different vegetables. In my opinion, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, etc., complement the texture of this dish. Try this Chinese pork shoulder recipe and let me know if the dish turned out as expected.
