This Instant Pot Hong Shao Rou (Red Braised Pork) delivers melt-in-your-mouth pork belly coated in a thick, sticky, and savory-sweet glaze.

By pressure cooking the pork with aromatic star anise, cinnamon, and soy sauce, you get hours of slow-braised flavor in a fraction of the time.

If you are craving restaurant-quality red braised pork but do not have hours to watch a pot simmer, this pressure cooker method is exactly what you need.

Serve this iconic Chinese comfort dish over a big bowl of steamed white rice!

What is Hong Shao Rou?

Hong Shao Rou translates to “red braised pork.” It is a legendary Chinese dish famous for its beautifully caramelized, mahogany color and incredibly tender texture.

Traditionally, achieving that signature sticky glaze and melt-in-your-mouth fat requires a long, slow braise on the stovetop.

We have adapted those traditional flavors for the Instant Pot to give you the exact same luxurious result on a weeknight schedule.

Key Ingredients for the Perfect Glaze

To get that authentic flavor profile, you need a few specific pantry staples to create the braising liquid.

• The Pork: You will need 2.2 pounds of pork belly cut into 1.5-inch cubes. This cut is essential for the alternating layers of meat and fat.
• The Sugar: We highly recommend using rock sugar. You will need 39 grams, which is approximately 3 tablespoons. Rock sugar gives the pork a brilliant shine that regular granulated sugar cannot match.
• The Soy Sauces: A combination of 4 tablespoons of light soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce provides the savory backbone and the deep color.
• The Aromatics: You need 3 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 bay leaves, and 3 scallions cut into fourths for the pressure cooking stage.
• The Wine: Shaoxing wine is used twice in this recipe. You will use 1/4 cup for blanching and another 1/4 cup for braising.

Essential Techniques for Success

Making this dish in the pressure cooker requires a few special techniques to ensure the texture and flavor are completely perfect.

• Blanch and Dry: First, you must boil the pork belly with blanching aromatics for 5 minutes to remove any scum. After draining and rinsing the pork, it is absolutely crucial to pat it dry thoroughly. If the pork is wet, it will not caramelize properly and will cause dangerous splattering in the oil.
• Stovetop Caramelization: We actually recommend melting the rock sugar and neutral oil on the stovetop for better heat control instead of using the Instant Pot’s sauté function for this step. Heat it on low to medium until melted and amber colored. Then, carefully add the dry pork to coat it in the sugar while watching for splatter.
• The Pressure Cook: Once the pork is coated, add your 3 cups of water, soy sauces, wine, and braising aromatics. You will pressure cook on high for 25 minutes. Follow this with a 10-minute natural release before doing a quick release.

The Ultimate Glaze Reduction

Just like our pork belly adobo, the reduction step is where the magic happens. After you open the lid, remove the aromatics like the scallions and star anise. Switch the Instant Pot to the Sauté (High) setting. You want to boil the liquid rapidly until the sauce turns into a thick, shiny glaze that coats the pork.

Pro-Tip: For the absolute best results, we recommend removing the meat and setting it aside while you reduce the sauce. Add the meat back in when the sauce is reduced to your desired thickness. This prevents the incredibly tender pork from shredding while the sauce boils! Finish by serving immediately over rice.

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Instant Pot Hong Shao Rou 红烧肉 (Red Braised Pork)

This Instant Pot Hong Shao Rou (Red Braised Pork) delivers melt-in-your-mouth pork belly coated in a thick, sticky, and savory-sweet glaze. By pressure cooking the pork with aromatic star anise, cinnamon, and soy sauce, you get hours of slow-braised flavor in a fraction of the time. Serve this iconic Chinese comfort dish over a big bowl of steamed white rice!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Chinese

Keyword Chinese braised pork Instant Pot, easy Hong Shao Rou, Instant Pot Hong Shao Rou, pressure cooker pork belly, red braised pork belly, sticky pork belly recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 5 servings

Calories 850kcal

Equipment

• Instant Pot Pro (8 QT) This recipe was made with an 8 QT Instant Pot in mind, but should work well with smaller Instant Pots.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 2.2 lb pork belly cut into 1.5-inch cubes

The Glaze:

• 39 g rock sugar approx. 3 tbsp
• ~2 neutral oil
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 3 cups water for braising

Aromatics (For Pressure Cooking):

• 3 scallions cut into fourths
• 3 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaf
• ¼ cup shaoxing wine

For Blanching:

• 3 scallions cut into fourths
• 1 ½ inch ginger sliced
• ¼ cup shaoxing wine
• water for blanching

Instructions

Prepare Ingredients:

• Cut pork belly into 1.5-inch cubes
  2.2 lb pork belly
• Slice ginger into thin pieces
  1 ½ inch ginger
• Cut scallions into fourths
  3 scallions

Blanch:

• Boil pork belly with blanching aromatics for 5 mins to remove scum.
  2.2 lb pork belly, 3 scallions, 1 ½ inch ginger, ¼ cup shaoxing wine, water
• Drain, rinse pork, and pat dry thoroughly (crucial!).

Caramelize:

• Note: We did this on the stovetop for better heat control.

  Heat oil and rock sugar on low/medium until melted and amber colored.
  39 g rock sugar, ~2 neutral oil

Coat:

• Carefully add the dry pork (watch for splatter!) and coat in the sugar.
  2.2 lb pork belly

Pressure Cook:

• Add water, soy sauces, wine, and braising aromatics.
  4 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 3 cups water, 3 scallions, 3 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 bay leaf, ¼ cup shaoxing wine, 3 scallions
• Pressure cook on high for 25 minutes.
• Natural release for 10 minutes, and then quick release.

Reduce:

• Open lid.
• Remove the aromatics (scallions/star anise/etc).
• Switch to Sauté (High).
• Boil rapidly until the sauce turns into a thick, shiny glaze that coats the pork.

  OPTIONAL: Remove the meat and set aside, reduce sauce and add back meat when reduced to desired thickness.

Finish:

• Serve immediately over rice.

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