China's signature braising method: proteins simmered for hours in a dark, glossy sauce of soy sauce, rock sugar, Shaoxing wine, and aromatic spices. The sauce — called a master stock or lu — develops deeper flavour with each use and can be perpetuated indefinitely. Some restaurants in China claim master stocks that have been in continuous use for decades. The technique produces fall-apart tender meat with a rich, mahogany-red colour and intensely savoury-sweet glaze.
Proteins are blanched first to remove blood and impurities, then browned. The braising liquid combines light and dark soy sauce (dark for colour, light for salt), Shaoxing wine, rock sugar (preferred over granulated for its clean sweetness), and aromatics: star anise, cinnamon bark (cassia), dried tangerine peel, Sichuan peppercorn, ginger, spring onion. Liquid barely covers the meat. Gentle simmer for 1-3 hours depending on the cut. The sauce reduces into a thick glaze. Rock sugar caramelises more cleanly than granulated.
Shanghai's hong shao rou (red-braised pork belly) is the benchmark: belly cut into 3cm cubes, blanched, caramelised in rock sugar, then braised. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon when done. Save and strain the master sauce after every use — it gets better each time. Store frozen between uses. A 10-year-old master stock has a depth of flavour that nothing else can replicate.
Skipping the blanching — impurities cloud the sauce. Boiling instead of simmering. Using regular sugar instead of rock sugar. Too much dark soy — it becomes bitter. Not reducing the sauce at the end to a glaze. Using Western cinnamon (Ceylon) instead of cassia bark — different flavour profile entirely.