·5/22/2026
from
Braised Pork Belly Bundles
**Braised Pork Belly Bundles**
---
**Ingredients**
Pork belly, skin-on — cut into thick slabs
Dried cattail reed strips — for tying
Star anise · Cinnamon sticks · Dried bay leaves
Dried red chilies · Fresh ginger · Scallion
Rock sugar
Dark soy sauce · Light soy sauce
Water
---
**How it's made**
Stack the pork slabs and tie them with reed strips — three wraps, pulled tight, so everything holds together through the whole cook. Blanch the bundles in cold water, bring to a boil, skim the foam until the water runs clear.
Lay the spices at the bottom of the clay pot. Pour in the soy sauces. Lower the bundles in skin-side down, packed close. Add water until it barely covers the top, then set over low flame.
Two hours. Don't rush it. The liquid deepens from amber to dark mahogany on its own. When it's down to a thick glaze, ladle it back over the pork a few times. The skin picks up a shine that doesn't come from anything else — just time and heat and dark soy.
Lift one bundle with chopsticks. The fat layer goes translucent when it's ready. Sauce threads down from the bottom. That wobble is what you're looking for.
White rice in a bowl, bundles on top, sauce poured over. A few scallion rings. That's it.
---
**Ingredients**
Pork belly, skin-on — cut into thick slabs
Dried cattail reed strips — for tying
Star anise · Cinnamon sticks · Dried bay leaves
Dried red chilies · Fresh ginger · Scallion
Rock sugar
Dark soy sauce · Light soy sauce
Water
---
**How it's made**
Stack the pork slabs and tie them with reed strips — three wraps, pulled tight, so everything holds together through the whole cook. Blanch the bundles in cold water, bring to a boil, skim the foam until the water runs clear.
Lay the spices at the bottom of the clay pot. Pour in the soy sauces. Lower the bundles in skin-side down, packed close. Add water until it barely covers the top, then set over low flame.
Two hours. Don't rush it. The liquid deepens from amber to dark mahogany on its own. When it's down to a thick glaze, ladle it back over the pork a few times. The skin picks up a shine that doesn't come from anything else — just time and heat and dark soy.
Lift one bundle with chopsticks. The fat layer goes translucent when it's ready. Sauce threads down from the bottom. That wobble is what you're looking for.
White rice in a bowl, bundles on top, sauce poured over. A few scallion rings. That's it.