Red cooking

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Red cooking (Traditional Chinese: 紅燒; pinyin: hóng shāo; or Traditional Chinese: 滷; pinyin: lǔ), sometimes called Chinese stewing, red stewing or red braising, and similar in technique to flavour potting, is a popular Chinese cooking technique associated with the eastern Chinese provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It is also attributed as originating in, or at least a speciality of, the city of Shanghai. This slow-cooking technique is a form of stewing and is characterized by the use of its key ingredients of both dark and light soy sauce, star anise or five-spice powder, cooking sherry, and sugar.

The name is derived from the dark red-brown colour of the stew.

Red-cooked stews may be meat-heavy or contain a variety of meat and vegetables. Such dishes may be served hot or cold and the sauce or stock is often re-used.