Name: Pork with Potatoes and Carrots Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 lb pork butt or shoulder; 2lb potatoes; 1 lb carrots; 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine; 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce; 1/2 tbsp Zhenjiang vinegar; 1 tsp canola oil; 2 green onion stalks; 10 thin slices of ginger; 4 anises; 4 bay leaves; 5 dried cloves; 1/4 tsp red yeast rice, grounded powder; 2 tsp sugar in the raw; 1 tbsp sweet bean paste; 2 tbsp light soy sauce; 2 tbsp dark soy sauce; 3 cups of water

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Pork with potatoes and carrots one-dish meal features juicy pork chunks combined with savory potatoes and carrots, all in one pot, such a cozy & yummy meal. It is one of the well-liked, hence popular everyday family cooking in China.

Keep reading to learn all the tips & tricks to make this perfect in under 30 minutes.

What do you need to make this Pork with Potato and Carrots a yummy one-pot meal?

pork with potato and carrots braised one-pot ingredients

Pork – either pork butt or shoulder shall work out great. They have a little fat which helps the juiciness but not too much.

Potatoes – I prefer either red small round potatoes or golden round potatoes. These potatoes are tender and taste more refreshing. Nevertheless, large baking potatoes are fine too.

Carrots – Any carrots will do. Carrots in this dish is so savory. In addition, people believe eating cooked carrots with meat will help our bodies better absorb the nutrients inside carrots. If you have kids who are not a big fan of carrots, this might be the beginning for them to start enjoy carrots, LOL.

For Marinating the Pork – Aged soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and Zhenjiang vinegar. Together with light soy sauce, they are my go-to four basic essential cooking condiments. They almost appear in all my recipes for cooking meat and poultry.

For Braising – canola oil, green onion, ginger, anises, bay leaves, dried cloves, red yeast rice powder, sugar in the raw, sweet bean paste, light soy sauce, and water.

I ditched the store-bought oil sprayer and made my oil spray bottle after I jump-started healthier cooking, eating, and living journey in 2015. I have been using this oil sprayer since. It helps to spray the oil evenly across the pan and use way less oil than otherwise.

Red yeast rice, or Hong Qu Mi (红曲米) in Chinese, is rice that has been fermented with certain types of yeast. The fermentation process changes the color of the rice from white to red. It is a very traditional all-natural red color. We use it a lot in my hometown Suzhou area as an all-natural food color for centuries.

I use it to cook yummy red braised pork belly, red braised Lion’s Head, and meat cooking where I want a hint of red color. I also use it to make All-Natural Red Velvet Cake.

How to make a Pork with Potatoes and Carrots?

1. Cut pork, potatoes and carrots in similar bite-size chunks

This is for easier cooking and serving.

2. Marinating the pork before cooking

This is a very important step which is the secret to have a juicy and tasty pork.

3. Sear the pork before braising

This is the step people often overlook. Sear the meat before braising not only helps maintain the tasty juiciness of the pork, but also helps reduce the overall cooking time. Pork shall be cooked at least 50% by the end of the 10-minute searing process.

When you started searing the pork in the hot wok with ginger and green onion slices, the pork has a tendency to stick to the bottom of the wok. All you need to do is non-stop turning the pork for one minute, then the oil inside the pork will come out, which helps lubricate the meat.

From here you just need to turn the pork every two minutes to complete the 10-minute total searing process. After that, simply add the water and everything under “For Braising” in the recipe starting star anises into the wok, mix well, and then cover with a lid and let it cook for 15 minutes at medium-high heat.

pork with potato and carrots in the wok with seasonings

pork with potato and carrots mixed with seasonings

Isn’t it easy to cook this cozy, yummy one-pot meal? Enjoy!

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