Name: Shanghai Braised Pork Chops Recipe {Hong Shao Da Pai}
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 lbs pork chops, bone-in, about 3 or 4 pcs depending on the size and thickness of the pork chops. See notes.; 2.5 tbsp tapioca starch; 2 stalks of green onions, chopped; 1 tbsp cooking oil, such as avocado oil or olive oil; 10 thin slices of ginger, organic preferred; 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine; 2.5 tbsp aged (dark) soy sauce; 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce; 3/4 tbsp Zhenjiang vinegar; 3/4 tbsp sugar, turbinado sugar or cane sugar; 1 cup of water

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Shanghai Braised Pork Chops {Hong Shao Da Pai 红烧大排} is such a classic Huai Yang style dish, and heavenly delicious too. It features juicy and delicious bone-in pork chops wrapped with iconic velvet sauce, that has a hint of vinegary sweetness.

It is super easy to make this at home as long as you learn a few tips and tricks.

Braised Pork Chops {Hong Shao Da Pai Shanghai Style} — Shanghai Braised Pork Chops {Hong Shao Da Pai}

Shanghai Braised Pork Chops Key Ingredients:

Shanghai Braised Pork Chops (Hong Shao Da Pai) ingredients

For Pork Chops, try to find the bone-in pork chops that are not overly thick if possible. The thinner, the tastier.

You will need cooking oil to pan fry pork chops first before braising. Avocado oil and olive oil are my two go to cooking oils. I also use coconut oil sometimes, especially for making crepes and cookies.

Arrowroot flour became my go-to gluten-free, more nutritious starch since I jump started a healthy living and eating journey a while back. However, for this pre-braise coating, tapioca starch stands out as the best choice. See the notes in the recipe card to understand why.

The super delicious red braised sauce includes Shaoxing wine, Naturally Aged soy sauce, Light Soy Sauce, Zhenjiang vinegar, and sugar in the raw.

Regular or naturally aged soy sauce is the traditional old-fashioned soy sauce, known as “Jiang You 酱油}. Light vs. Dark Soy Sauce is modern time Cantonese inventions. Typically, you can use dark soy sauce to substitute Jiang You.

Key steps to cook perfect Shanghai braised pork chops:

Pound the meat first using a meat tenderizer

Rinse pork chops well and pat-fry with a paper towel. Use a meat tenderizer, pound the pork chops, both sides.

Coat the pork chops with tapioca starch before pan frying

Coat the pork chops with a very thin layer of tapioca starch by sprinkling a thin layer of arrowroot flour over pork chops, both sides, and then pat to rub into the pork chops evenly.

Pan fry the pork chops on both sides until browned

Turn the heat on medium-high and heat the frying pan for 1 minute. Add oil, ginger slices and half of the chopped green onion. Lay pork chops flat into the frying pan, gently press down and let it cook for 2 minutes. Then flip the pork chops and cook other side and cook for 2 minutes.

Braise pan fried pork chops with this delicious sauce

Pour one cup of water around the edge of the frying pan, and then pour the braising sauce evenly over pork chops in a circular motion. Turn the heat to medium-low, cover the frying pan with a lid and let it cook for about 10-20 minutes. Use the longer time If the pork chops are large and thick. Flip the pork chops half way through.

The last step is to thickening the sauce. Turn the heat back to medium-high, flip the pork chops and cook for about 5-10 minutes, or till the sauce is thickening and velvety.

You shall notice the sauce is thickening by now. Turn off the heat, flip again and wrap the pork chops with the sauce in the pan.

All done! Serve the pork chops with several spoons of sauces from the pan and garnish with the remaining green onions.

Do you like Shanghai style dishes? Make sure you check out other classical Shanghai Style food recipes too:

Shanghai Braised Pork Chops Recipe {Hong Shao Da Pai}

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Shanghai braised pork chops {Hong Shao Da Pai 红烧大排} is such a classic Huai Yang style dish, and heavenly delicious too. It features juicy and delicious bone-in pork chops wrapped with iconic velvet reddish sauce, that has a hint of vinegary sweetness.

4.8 Stars (5 Reviews)

Ingredients

2 lbs pork chops, bone-in, about 3 or 4 pcs depending on the size and thickness of the pork chops. See notes.
2.5 tbsp tapioca starch
2 stalks of green onions, chopped
1 tbsp cooking oil, such as avocado oil or olive oil
10 thin slices of ginger, organic preferred

For the Red Braising Sauce:

2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
2.5 tbsp aged (dark) soy sauce
1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
3/4 tbsp Zhenjiang vinegar
3/4 tbsp sugar, turbinado sugar or cane sugar
1 cup of water

Instructions

Preparation:

Gather ingredients. Wash and rinse the pork chops well and pat dry with a paper towel.
Use a meat tenderizer, pound each pork chop firmly, both sides.
Drizzle tapioca starch evenly over each side of the pork chop and pat gently. Do this to both sides and for all pork chops.
Prepare the sauce - add everything under "For the Red Braising Sauce" except for the water into a small bowl, mix well and set aside. .

Pan-Fry Pork Chops:

Turn the heat to medium-high, heat the nonstick frying pan for 1 minute. Drizzle about 2 tsp oil evenly into the pan in a circular fashion. Add sliced ginger and chopped green onion. Save some green onion for the final garnishing.
Lay pork chops flat onto the pan, gently press down and cook for 2 minutes, or until browned.
Flip the pork chops and cook the other side for 2 minutes.

Braise Pork Chops:

Add 1 cup of water around the edge of the pan, the water should barely cover the pork chops. Pour the sauce over the pork chops in a circular motion, turn the heat to medium, cover the lid. When it reaches a the boil, turn the heat to medium low and cook for 10-20 minutes. Use less time if the pork chops are very thin. Flip the pork chops half way through.
Turn the heat back to medium-high, flip the pork chops and cook for another 8-15 minutes, or till the sauce is thickening.
All done. Turn off the heat. use a chopstick to poke the thickest part of the pork chop. If the chopstick can easily go through the pork chops, then they are fully cooked.
To serve, add pork chops to the plate, and then add the sauce from the frying pan and garnish with the remaining green onions.

Notes

Tapioca starch wins for pre-braise coating for Shanghai braised pork chops. Tapioca starch stands up exceptionally well to acidic ingredients, like the braising sauce of this Shanghai Braised Pork Chops which uses Zhengjiang vinegar. Potato or mung bean starches would disoolve, leaving the meat bare and sauce thin. Tapioca will hold onto the meat.
Tapioca starch also provides a gelatinous seal. When we pan fry the pork chops after dusting them with starch, tapioca creates a strong, gel-like barrier. This locks in the meat juices so the pokr chops stay incredibly tender and juicy during the long braise.
Some startches such as Arrowroot flour is more wholesome and great for acidity environment, it doesn't perform well during the long braising. Tapioca, on the other hand, holds its integrity and provides a velvety, smooth texture to the surrounding sauce as it slowly breaks down.

Recommended Ingredients:

Arrowroot flour,avocado oil, canola oil, Shaoxing wine, naturally aged soy sauce {Jiang You}, light soy sauce, Zhenjiang vinegar, turbinado sugar {sugar in the raw}.

Recommended Kitchen Tools & Gadgets:

12-inch hard anodized frying-pan, meat tenderizer, slotted turner, wood cutting board.