P
Chinese · Shanghai
Braised Glutinous Rice Pork (Bao Fan / 八宝饭 Variation)
Shanghai-style steamed glutinous rice stuffed inside a whole pig's stomach or pork shoulder, braised in soy master stock — the rice absorbs all the pork fat and sauce during long braising, becoming extraordinarily rich and flavoured. A variant of the celebrated '八宝饭' (eight treasure rice) concept but savory rather than sweet. Festival and banquet preparation.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
1
whole pig's stomach or boneless pork shoulder
pig's stomach thoroughly cleaned; pork shoulder skin-on if used
Your own market
For the rice stuffing
400 g
glutinous rice
soaked in cold water for at least 2 hours, drained
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 ml
soy sauce
15 ml
sesame oil
Your own market
100 g
dried chestnuts
soaked overnight, roughly chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
6
dried shiitake mushrooms
soaked until soft, stems discarded, caps diced
Your own market
2
For the red-braise stock
100 ml
dark soy sauce
60 ml
Shaoxing rice wine
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 g
rock sugar
Origin · ChinaWismettac · Vancouver →
2
spring onions
bruised
Your own market
4
slices fresh ginger
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
1 litre
master stock or water
sufficient to submerge the stuffed pork
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
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.
From the canon — Lap cheong (腊肠, Cantonese: lap cheung, Mandarin: la chang) are the sweet, intensely flavoured, dried Chinese pork sausages that are one of the most distincti… Lap Cheong (腊肠) — Chinese Sausage: Curing and Drying Tradition →
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
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.
From the canon — Shaoxing huangjiu (绍兴黄酒, Shaoxing yellow wine) is the premier Chinese rice wine — a fermented rice wine made in Shaoxing city in Zhejiang province for at lea… Shaoxing Rice Wine (绍兴黄酒) — Production, Grades, and Culinary Use →
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.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Pig's stomach from a heritage-breed pig raised on grain; a long-established master stock carried over multiple braises and deepened with each use; lap cheong from a specialist Cantonese curer.
02
Estate — Free-range pork shoulder, skin-on; a home master stock built from a previous hong shao braise; good-quality dried shiitake and chestnuts sourced from a Chinese grocer.
03
Market — Supermarket pig's stomach carefully cleaned; standard dark soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine from an Asian supermarket; fresh chestnuts substituted for dried.
04
House — Pork shoulder used in place of pig's stomach; braise built from water rather than master stock, compensated by a more generous measure of soy sauce and rock sugar.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Braising liquid thickens and turns a deep mahogany, visibly clouded with rice starch — the stock is working into the rice.
◇Touch. The stuffed stomach, pressed gently, gives with a soft, uniform resistance throughout — no hard core at the centre indicates the rice is fully hydrated.
◇Sight. Cut cross-section shows white rice grains distinct and cohesive, evenly threaded with rendered fat and flecked with mushroom and sausage — not a collapsed or wet mass.
◇Smell. At the 2-hour mark the kitchen carries the concentrated scent of soy, rendered pork fat, and Shaoxing wine — faint rawness in the aroma signals more time is needed.
◇Where it lives or dies. The braise must hold a low, steady simmer for the full minimum 2 hours 30 minutes — only this duration allows the rice to absorb the rendered pork fat and red-braise sauce completely; abbreviated cooking leaves the rice dense and flavourless at the core.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Buffalo Trace Distillery · Kentucky Bourbon Country
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance