Lu Rou Fan (Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice Bowl)
Lu rou fan, a Taiwanese comfort food classic of braised pork belly over rice, is probably the best recipe to come out of our kitchen this month.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 698kcal
Ingredients
You'll need:
- 1 lb skin-on pork belly (450g, cut into 1/2” pieces)
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 0.9 oz. rock sugar (25g, or about 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar)
- 1 small onion or a couple of shallots (diced)
- 8 shiitake mushrooms (diced into 1/2” pieces)
- 1/4 cup shaoxing wine (60 ml)
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce (45 ml)
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce (30 ml)
- 2 cups water (475 ml)
- 4 hardboiled eggs (peeled, optional)
For the spices (wrap everything in cheese cloth and tie with kitchen string):
- 3 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 cloves
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns
- 2 pieces dried tangerine peel
- 2 slices fresh ginger
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil (just enough so that the pork will be fully submerged), and blanch the chopped pork belly for 1 minute. Drain, rinse clean of any scum, and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a wok over low heat, and add the sugar. Cook the sugar until it starts to melt and then add the onions. Turn up the heat to medium high and stir-fry the onions for a minute. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for another couple minutes.
- Add the blanched pork, shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and water. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, add the spices (which should be tied in cheese cloth), along with the peeled hardboiled eggs and turn the heat to the lowest setting. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
- At this point the meat should be fall-apart tender. To finish the dish, remove the spice packet and turn up the heat to medium high to thicken the sauce, stirring occasionally. This process should take about 5-minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon, but there should still be plenty of it left. Serve over steamed white rice.
Nutrition
Calories: 698kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 68g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Cholesterol: 268mg | Sodium: 1167mg | Potassium: 486mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 260IU | Vitamin C: 2.4mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2.4mg