Red-Cooked Pork Shoulder - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
4 scallions, cut crosswise in thirds
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
ginger, thinly sliced
4 cups water (or 2 cups chicken stock and 2 cups water)
1 cup dark soy sauce
3/4 cup rice wine, Scotch or 3/4 cup sherry wine
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 star anise or 1 1/2 teaspoons anise seed
1 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
1 (7 lb) picnic pork shoulder

Preparation

Heat oil in a large, heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Add scallions, garlic, and ginger and toss in the oil until heated through, about 1 minute.
Add water (or stock and water mix), soy sauce, rice wine (or scotch or sherry), brown sugar, anise, and cinnamon stick.
Bring to boil, then add pork picnic shoulder.
Turn the meat to cover it with liquid and color it.
Reduce the heat and cover the pan.
Simmer, turning the meat every hour and basting it, until it's fork tender, 3 to 4 hours.
Remove the meat from the pan and spoon off the fat from the pan juices.
Slice the meat.
Serve with the pan juices.