·5/8/2026
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🍖 Dongpo Pork Knuckle — Su Shi's Recipe, 9 Steps
Dongpo Pork Knuckle — A 1000-Year-Old Recipe, Made Step by Step (9 Photos)
Su Dongpo was exiled, broke, and surrounded by pork no one else wanted. He slow-braised a whole knuckle in Shaoxing wine for three hours — and created one of China's greatest dishes.
That was 1080 AD. The recipe hasn't changed. Neither has the result.
Photo 1
One whole pork knuckle. Rock sugar. Shaoxing wine. Dark soy. Star anise, cinnamon, ginger, scallion. Every ingredient has a job. They will do it slowly, over three hours, without your help.
Photo 2
Pork goes into cold water — not boiling. Bring them up together. White foam rises. Skim every bit. This removes blood and impurities before anything else begins. Skip it, and no amount of wine can fix what follows.
Photo 3
Dry the skin completely. Skin-side down into smoking-hot oil. Do not move it. That aggressive crackling is the skin forming the lacquer shell that defines this dish. Pale skin = no crust = wrong dish. Go deep caramel or go home.
Photo 4
Rock sugar into the clay pot with a thin film of oil. Low heat. White → pale gold → amber → deep copper. Pull at deep copper — one second past and it's bitter. This caramel is the backbone. Give it your full, undivided attention.
Photo 5
Spring onion and ginger line the clay pot — a natural rack. Lower the seared knuckle in, skin-side up. Always skin-side up. Fat renders downward through the meat as it braises. Gravity works for you.
Photo 6
Half a bottle of Shaoxing wine. Dark soy. A splash of light soy. Shaoxing wine only. Not cooking wine. Not water. Alcohol carries flavor deep into every layer. Water cannot. This is not a small difference.
📸 Photo 7 — The Wait
Lid on. Flame as low as it goes. Now you walk away for 2 hours. You cannot rush collagen. You cannot hurry gelatin. Come back later. The clay pot has been working harder than you have.
Photo 8
Lid off. Heat slightly raised. Baste every 2–3 minutes. Watch the skin turn: amber → mahogany → mirror-dark lacquer. When the sauce barely drips off the spoon, it's done. This 15-minute window is everything.
Photo 9
Lacquer-dark skin. Mirror gloss. Meat that collapses at a touch. The sauce: deep, sweet-savory, with the ghost of Shaoxing wine underneath.
Su Dongpo got exiled and invented a 1000-year masterpiece.
Some people make the most of what they have. This dish is proof. 🍖
Pork belly vs. pork knuckle — which one wins? Drop your verdict 👇
How long did you braise yours — 2 hours? 3? Anyone brave enough to say 4?
Tag someone who needs to make this for you this weekend. Don't let them say no. 👇
Su Dongpo was exiled, broke, and surrounded by pork no one else wanted. He slow-braised a whole knuckle in Shaoxing wine for three hours — and created one of China's greatest dishes.
That was 1080 AD. The recipe hasn't changed. Neither has the result.
Photo 1
One whole pork knuckle. Rock sugar. Shaoxing wine. Dark soy. Star anise, cinnamon, ginger, scallion. Every ingredient has a job. They will do it slowly, over three hours, without your help.
Photo 2
Pork goes into cold water — not boiling. Bring them up together. White foam rises. Skim every bit. This removes blood and impurities before anything else begins. Skip it, and no amount of wine can fix what follows.
Photo 3
Dry the skin completely. Skin-side down into smoking-hot oil. Do not move it. That aggressive crackling is the skin forming the lacquer shell that defines this dish. Pale skin = no crust = wrong dish. Go deep caramel or go home.
Photo 4
Rock sugar into the clay pot with a thin film of oil. Low heat. White → pale gold → amber → deep copper. Pull at deep copper — one second past and it's bitter. This caramel is the backbone. Give it your full, undivided attention.
Photo 5
Spring onion and ginger line the clay pot — a natural rack. Lower the seared knuckle in, skin-side up. Always skin-side up. Fat renders downward through the meat as it braises. Gravity works for you.
Photo 6
Half a bottle of Shaoxing wine. Dark soy. A splash of light soy. Shaoxing wine only. Not cooking wine. Not water. Alcohol carries flavor deep into every layer. Water cannot. This is not a small difference.
📸 Photo 7 — The Wait
Lid on. Flame as low as it goes. Now you walk away for 2 hours. You cannot rush collagen. You cannot hurry gelatin. Come back later. The clay pot has been working harder than you have.
Photo 8
Lid off. Heat slightly raised. Baste every 2–3 minutes. Watch the skin turn: amber → mahogany → mirror-dark lacquer. When the sauce barely drips off the spoon, it's done. This 15-minute window is everything.
Photo 9
Lacquer-dark skin. Mirror gloss. Meat that collapses at a touch. The sauce: deep, sweet-savory, with the ghost of Shaoxing wine underneath.
Su Dongpo got exiled and invented a 1000-year masterpiece.
Some people make the most of what they have. This dish is proof. 🍖
Pork belly vs. pork knuckle — which one wins? Drop your verdict 👇
How long did you braise yours — 2 hours? 3? Anyone brave enough to say 4?
Tag someone who needs to make this for you this weekend. Don't let them say no. 👇