Aged Chinese Marinade (Lao Shui) with Pork
This recipe was handed down to Ivy Chan from her father, Kwok Sing Chan. Ivy grew up in Hong Kong and is now a Seattle-based chocolatier, drawing from her Asian background to create unique confections. When Ivy was growing up, there was always aged marinade (lao shui, which literally means “old water”) in the freezer ready-to-use. The older the marinade is, the more flavorful it becomes. You can flavor everything from beef tendon or brisket, to chicken wings, to a hunk of pork tenderloin with this marinade. And it can take many forms: some may caramelize the sugar first, some like to add a stick of cinnamon, and some toss in dried chilies to spice things up a bit. Of course, you don’t have to reuse the marinade if you don’t want to—it’s still delicious made from scratch each time. This method is very similar to red-cooking (hong shao)—simmering in dark soy sauce that gives meat a reddish tint—but with leftover sauce to keep.
Time: 2 hours (10 minutes active) plus standing
Makes: 4 to 6 servings as part of a multicourse family-style meal
Ingredients
- 2½ to 3 pounds skin-on pork belly or shoulder, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
- 5 star anise pods
- ¼-inch-thick coin fresh ginger (optional)
- 4 or 5 Sichuan peppercorns
Instructions
- Blanch the pork belly to remove the excess fat: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pork belly and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold running water.
- In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, bring the water, soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, star anise, ginger, and peppercorns to a boil over high heat. Carefully lower the pork into the liquid and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 2 to 2½ hours, or until the meat is melt-in-your-mouth tender. Flip the meat halfway through cooking to flavor and color it evenly.
- Turn off the heat and let the meat sit in the marinade partially covered for 6 to 8 hours. (If you prefer, let it cool to room temperature, then cover and store in the refrigerator).
- Before serving, set the pot on the stove and simmer over medium heat until the meat is heated through, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer the meat to a rimmed platter, drizzle some marinade over, and serve immediately. The pork can also be served cold.
- Pour the remaining sauce into a freezer-safe container and freeze until the next use. This is what Ivy calls the “mother sauce.” To reuse, thaw it in the refrigerator and then bring it to a boil on the stove. Add more sugar, soy sauce, or wine to taste and proceed as above. Every time you cook something new in the marinade, its flavor will deepen and become richer. After five or six uses, the sauce will have matured.
Grandpa Says: It’s important to skim off the scum and excess oils from the surface of the marinade every time you cook a new batch of meat to “refresh” it.
