Don’t Think Fat, Think Pork Belly: Dongpo Pork

Medically reviewed by Christiana George Updated Date: January 2, 2026

Though my sister and I were never picky eaters, my mom had to apply her persuasion skills every now and then to get us to eat the food she’d prepared. Every parent must have to figure out an angle, some way of coaxing their child into eating the undesirable, or else dinner quickly descends into an unpleasant affair.

My mom appealed to our vanity. Everything was “good for the skin”—tomatoes gave you a rosy blush, tofu made it silky. And pork belly, well, apparently the fat operated as some kind of lubricant, turning your skin soft and plush. She also insisted that what we were eating wasn’t fat, just the extremely thick epidermis of the pig.

C’mon.

I wasn’t stupid, even at the grand age of ten. But it wasn’t like I needed the prodding anyway. I loved meat, especially pork belly. Although I never registered that what I was eating was pork belly. You don’t think about such things when you’re a kid. It was only later, now, that I realize what cut of meat my mom constantly cooked.

I’m not going to lie, dongpo pork is really fatty. But that’s what makes it so good! Pork belly is used a lot in Chinese cooking: twice-cooked pork (my dad’s favorite), red-braised pork (my sister’s favorite), and dongpo pork. I was reminded of the prevalence of pork used in Chinese cooking while going through all these recipes—the Chinese character for meat usually signifies pork unless otherwise noted.

I never knew the origin story of this dish, but it’s actually named after the Chinese poet Su Dongpo, who apparently was banished to Hangzhou, then considered the boondocks I guess, to lead a life of poverty. He was a great chef, and actually invented dongpo pork as he was trying to improve on red-braised pork.

As the meat braised, it filled the apartment with the fragrant smell of Shaoxing wine… and made me feel slightly homesick. So I called my mom to tell her what I was doing, and you know what her response was? “Don’t eat too much of it! It will raise your cholesterol!”

C’mon, Mom. It’s good for my skin, remember?

DONGPO PORK, a.k.a. BRAISED PORK BELLY

Adapted from Maameemoomoo
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1.5 lb. pork belly
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 scallions, chopped into 1-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, peeled
3 Tbsp rock sugar or brown sugar
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3.5 cups lukewarm water
3 cups boiling water
1.5 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 cup shaoxing wine
1 Tbsp cornstarch

Directions:

In a wok on medium heat, add oil. Saute scallions, ginger and garlic for 2-3 mins until fragrant. Add sugar and further saute until sugar starts to melt. Add soy sauce, dark soy and wine. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off heat and add lukewarm water. Set aside.

While sauce is coming to a boil, slice pork belly into pieces about 2 inches thick. Place pork belly pieces on a chopping board or a baking pan and scald them on all sides with boiling water.

Place the pork pieces skin side down in a pan large enough to fit all the pieces together and add the earlier sauce mixture. Bring to boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat to a low simmer and braise the pork for 30 mins, covered. After 30 minutes, flip the pork belly pieces over and continue braising, covered, for a minimum of 3 hours, basting the skin occasionally.

When ready, remove pork belly pieces gently and set aside. Strain remaining sauce into a saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup water and gently pour it into the sauce. Stir well until sauce becomes a shiny, sticky glaze. Turn off heat. To serve, gently place the pork belly onto a plate and spoon the sauce over. Serve with rice or noodles (my favorite!).

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Cherry Cordial Brownie Cookies

Recipes

Christiana George

Updated Date:
December 18, 2022

Yet another rainy day. Kinda dreary. I don’t really feel like doing anything. I may just sit in front of the TV and eat the rest of these cookies I made yesterday. I used the Cherry Cordial M&M’s that were out during the Christmas season. They taste exactly like the Cherry M&M’s I used last year to make my Dark Chocolate Cherry M&M Cookies. Although I haven’t look for the Cherry ones this year, I know they are usually out for Valentine’s day. So either one you use is good. But you gotta have the cherry flavor in there.

When I was scouring the web for a soft, chewy chocolate cookie recipe to use with these Cherry Cordial M&M’s, I came upon this recipe for Soft and Chewy Brownie Cookies from Averie Cooks. Averie has some fabulous cookie recipes and her food photography always leaves me drooling.

Now I know she says not to use chocolate chips in this recipe because they do not melt well in the microwave, but I used Ghirardelli Baking Chips which I already know melt very well in the microwave. And they taste amazing. Since I needed 12 oz. of chocolate and the baking chips come in a 10 oz. bag, I added some mini chocolate chips to make up the difference and bridge the way between the dark chocolate baking chips and the milk chocolate M&M’s. What intrigued me about this recipe besides the minimal amount of flour, was the fact that you need to leave the batter out at room temperature for 1-2 hours prior to baking. I though this was odd. Usually you put it in the fridge. But, hey, I am always up for something new. I left the covered batter out for about 1 1/2 hours to set.

The result is a batter that has the consistency of a very thick mousse. If it hadn’t been for the raw eggs, I would have stuck me head in the bowl and devoured the batter raw. It’s unlike any batter I have worked with before. I did take a tiny taste and it was INCREDIBLE! I couldn’t wait to bake it. You can just scoop it onto a cookie sheet and gently press in the M&M’s. I choose to make them into heart shapes. I drop an almost full large scoop of the dough into each cavity of my Wilton Heart Shaped Whoopie Pie Pan. The same one I used for my Sugar Cookie Rice Krispie Treats. The round shaped whoopie pie pan works just as well. I just flattened out the dough with a spatula to fit the shape and gently pressed in the Cherry Cordial M&M’s

You have to let the cookies cool completely before trying to remove them from the pan or they will fall apart on you (and you will have to eat them). I think I may have overfilled my pan a bit, but they still came out heart shaped. I tasted one while is was still warm and the gooey chocolate was to die for.

Once cooled, the cookies have a slightly crispy outside with a soft, chewy inside just like a brownie. Since I used the baking chips which are larger than regular chocolate chips, you also get some nice chunks of dark chocolate when you bite into the cookie. The Cherry Cordial M&M’s just heighten the chocolate experience. I may try just mixing them right in the batter next time to add even more cherry flavor.

I have never made brownies from scratch before, never mind brownie cookies. I am so excited they came out right. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Cherry Cordial Brownie Cookies

by The Sweet Chick

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert snack dark chocolate Cherry Cordial M&M’s brownies cookie American

Ingredients (15 cookies)

1 bag (10 oz.) Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate baking chips, divided
3 tablespoons butter
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1 bag (9.90 oz.) Cherry Cordial or Cherry M&M’s

Instructions

Place 5 oz. of the Ghirardelli baking chips in a small microwave safe bowl or measuring cup with the butter. Microwave at 30 second intervals until completely melted and smooth when stirred. Set aside to cool.

In a stand mixer add eggs, sugar and vanilla. Mix on medium for about 8 minutes or until mixture is a pale, creamy texture.

Add the flour, baking powder, melted chocolate, remaining 5 oz. of baking chips, and the mini chocolate chips to the egg mixture. Mix on medium for about 1 minute until fully combined.

Remove bowl from mixer, cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for about 1 hour until set. (The consistency should be that of a very thick mousse after set.)

Once mixture is set, preheat oven to 350°F.

With a large scoop (a little less than full), fill each cavity of the whoopie pie pan. With a spatula, spread the batter out to fill the shape of the cavity.

Gently press 3-5 M&M’s into each shape.

Bake for 10 minutes each batch. Do not remove from pan. Leave in pan until completely cooled, then gently remove with a clean spatula.

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or milk and sit down with your cookie. You are going to want to savor each minute of this dark chocolate and cherry bliss!

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