Braised Glutinous Rice Pork (Bao Fan / 八宝饭 Variation)

Ingredients

• 1 whole pig's stomach or boneless pork shoulder, pig's stomach thoroughly cleaned; pork shoulder skin-on if used
• For the rice stuffing
• 400 g glutinous rice, soaked in cold water for at least 2 hours, drained
• 30 ml soy sauce
• 15 ml sesame oil
• 100 g dried chestnuts, soaked overnight, roughly chopped
• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked until soft, stems discarded, caps diced
• 2 lap cheong (Chinese cured sausage), sliced into small rounds
• For the red-braise stock
• 100 ml dark soy sauce
• 60 ml Shaoxing rice wine
• 30 g rock sugar
• 2 spring onions, bruised
• 4 slices fresh ginger
• 1 litre master stock or water, sufficient to submerge the stuffed pork

Method

1. 1
   Partially cook the drained glutinous rice: steam over high heat for 15 minutes until the grains are just translucent at the edges but firm at the core. Transfer to a bowl and fold through the soy sauce, sesame oil, chestnuts, diced mushrooms, and lap cheong. The rice should be fragrant and evenly coloured but not yet fully cooked — each grain must hold its shape when pressed.
2. 2
   Clean the pig's stomach thoroughly under cold running water, turning it inside out and scrubbing with salt; rinse until the water runs clear and there is no residual odour. Pack the seasoned rice mixture inside, filling to no more than 60 per cent of the stomach's capacity. Glutinous rice expands significantly during braising; overfilling will rupture the casing. Secure the opening tightly with kitchen twine or a metal skewer. The stuffed stomach should feel firm but yielding — not taut.
3. 3
   Combine the dark soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, rock sugar, spring onions, ginger, and master stock in a heavy braising vessel large enough to hold the stuffed stomach. Bring to a gentle boil and lower in the stuffed stomach. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: the braise must maintain a low, steady simmer — never a rolling boil — for a minimum of 2 hours 30 minutes. The rice must have the full duration to absorb the rendered pork fat and the red-braise aromatics; cutting this time short produces rice that is dense and under-seasoned at the centre. Turn the stomach once at the midpoint. The braising liquid will thicken visibly from the rice starch leaching through the casing.
4. 4
   Lift the braised stomach from the liquid and rest on a warm board for 10 minutes before slicing. Resting allows the interior to settle; cutting too soon collapses the cross-section. Meanwhile, return the braising liquid to the heat and reduce until it coats a spoon — this becomes the sauce. Slice the stomach at the table in thick rounds to reveal the mosaic cross-section of white rice veined with pork fat. The cut surface should be cohesive, each grain distinct, the fat evenly distributed throughout.