Crazy Girl's Kitchen

Get ready:

• 1 5lb pork shoulder, bone-in and skin-on preferred
• 4 Tsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 10 cloves of garlic, minced
• 8 anise seeds, crushed
• 20 peppercorn, crushed
• 3 Tsp grounded ginger
• 1 cups dark Chinese soy sauce
• 2 cups light Chinese soy sauce
• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup Chinese vinegar
• 1/2 cup Chinese cooking wine
• 2 cups sugar
• salt and pepper

Now let’s play:
Mix well dark and light Chinese soy sauce, fish sauce, Chinese vinegar, and Chinese cooking wine. Heat up 2 Tsp oil in a large dutch oven. Season the pork shoulder with salt and pepper,  and then brown the entire pork shoulder when the oil is hot (skin sides first). Set the pork shoulder aside. Add remaining oil, diced onion, and saute for 3 minutes. Add minced garlic, crushed anise seed, crushed peppercorn, and grounded ginger. Saute for another 2 minutes. Add the pork shoulder back to dutch oven. Pour in mixed sauce and sugar. Add water until the pork shoulder is barely covered. Put the lid on, and bring to broil. Turn down the heat to medium low, and cook for 2.5-3 hours. To serve, pull the pork shoulder apart into chunks and drizzled with sauce (4-6 servings).

After-play thoughts:

This is a very authentic Chinese festival holiday dish. It’s totally fine to strain and then freeze the cooking liquid for future use. If you find skin too fatty, feel free to discard it when serving.