Rock-sugar braised pork hock

What it is

The name lists the parts: 冰糖 is rock sugar and 元蹄 is pork hock, a cut usually called 蹄膀 in Taiwan. It is a red braise, cooked slowly in soy sauce and wine until the sauce turns dark and sticky. The dish comes from Shanghai cooking, which is known for heavy, glossy, soy-dark sauces.

Where it came from

Shanghai's local cooking, known as benbang cuisine (本幫菜), took shape after the city opened as a treaty port in 1843. It was built largely on the cooking of Suzhou and Wuxi. Its early customers were mostly manual workers, so dishes were salty and strongly flavoured, made to go with plenty of rice. The style is summed up as 濃油赤醬, roughly "thick oil, red sauce".

In Shanghai the braised hock is a New Year dish, and families read it as a sign of reunion and harmony. In Taiwan, red-braised hock (紅燒蹄膀) is also cooked as a festive centrepiece for the New Year table.

How it is made

Cooks prefer the front leg, which is more tender than the rear. The hock is blanched with ginger, scallion and wine to remove any porky smell, then rinsed. It is brushed with dark soy sauce, dried and fried skin-side down to colour it. It then braises with soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, rock sugar and spices such as star anise until tender. Taiwanese home versions may add dried bamboo shoots and boiled eggs. The sauce is reduced or thickened and poured back over.

How to eat it

A whole hock arrives on one plate for the table to share, sometimes on a bed of blanched greens. The soft meat comes away from the bone, and the sweet, salty sauce is spooned over steamed rice. It is rich, so one hock goes a long way for a group.