Lunch: Five-Spice Braised Pork and Cabbage

In this dish, a generous amount of five-spice powder adds a lot of exotic flavor with very little effort. The powder, found in supermarkets, usually consists of equal parts of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, star anise, and Szechuan peppercorns.

Ingredients

4 lb. boneless pork shoulder
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. Chinese five-spice powder
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. grated fresh orange peel
3/4 tsp. salt
1 medium head green cabbage
1 large onion
1 piece peeled fresh ginger
1 can chicken broth
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar or cider vinegar
Long-grain white rice (optional)
1/4 c. cornstarch
3 tbsp. water

Instructions

Pat pork dry with paper towels. In large bowl, toss pork with brown sugar, five-spice powder, oil, orange peel, and salt until evenly coated. Set aside.
Remove tough outer leaves from cabbage. Cut cabbage into 4 wedges; remove and discard core. Cut cabbage into 2-inch pieces. Set aside.
Heat 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven over mediumhigh heat until hot. Add pork, in batches, and cook until well browned, 4 to 7 minutes, adding more oil if necessary, and transferring pork with slotted spoon to medium bowl as it is browned. (You may need to reduce heat to medium if oil begins to smoke.) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Reduce heat to medium. To fat remaining in Dutch oven, add onion and ginger, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add cabbage and cook, stirring frequently, until cabbage wilts, 6 to 8 minutes. Add broth, soy sauce, and vinegar, and stir until browned bits are loosened from bottom of Dutch oven. Return pork with its juices to Dutch oven; heat to boiling.
Cover and bake until meat is fork-tender, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
About 30 minutes before serving, prepare rice, if you like.
Skim and discard fat from stew. In cup, combine cornstarch and water. Heat stew to boiling over medium heat. Stir in cornstarch mixture; heat to boiling. Boil until stew thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Serve with rice, if you like. Makes about 11 cups or 8 main-dish servings. Nutritional information is based on one serving.

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