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1
Place the pork belly cubes in a cold pan without oil. Set over medium heat and dry-fry, turning occasionally, until the surfaces are lightly coloured and excess fat has rendered out — alternatively, cover the cubes with cold water, bring to the boil, blanch for 3 minutes and drain. Blanching yields a cleaner braising liquor; dry-frying adds a caramelised register. The cubes are ready when the outer fat no longer looks raw and wet.
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2
Transfer the pork to a heavy braising pot. Add the Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rock sugar, ginger, and spring onion knot. Pour in just enough water to barely cover. Bring to the boil over high heat, then reduce to the lowest possible simmer. Cover and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. The pork is ready at this stage when a chopstick passes through the skin with almost no resistance and the skin has turned deep mahogany.
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3
Remove the lid. This is where the dish lives or dies: raise the heat to medium and reduce the braising liquor, turning the pork gently and frequently so every surface is coated as the sauce tightens. Continue until the sauce has reduced to a dense, lacquered glaze that clings to each cube and pools only shallowly in the base of the pot. A lid left on at this stage prevents reduction and the glaze will not form.
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4
Remove the ginger slices and spring onion knot. Taste the glaze: it should register as assertively sweet, deeply savoury, and wine-fragrant in balance. Adjust with a small addition of rock sugar or light soy if either element is absent. Serve immediately, or rest overnight and reheat — the dish deepens on the second and third day as the fat sets back into the sauce.