Either brown the roast in a little fat or dunk it in boiling water for a minute or so [this step is optional]. Put it into a heavy kettle into which it fits fairly snugly. Add all the rest of the ingredients (ginger slices, star anise, and garlic should be at the bottom of the pot). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered, turning and basting occasionally, for 3 hours or until tender. Serve sliced, hot or cold. If cold, you may want to weight it down with a brick covered in foil or some similarly heavy item while chilling it in the fridge.

You may cook lamb or pork this way, but cut the cooking time to 2 - 2 1/2 hr. For lamb add a cinnamon stick instead of the star anise; for pork double the soy sauce and sherry, either halve or omit the stare anise, and use up to 4 oz of sugar to taste.

Adapted from Joyce Chen