Lu Rou Fan, or Braised Pork Belly Rice, is one of Taiwan’s beloved comfort foods which
can be found in every part of Taiwan. This classic one-bowl-dish
has variations due
to regional differences. For example, in the south of Taiwan, people called it ‘Rou Zao
Fan’ 肉燥飯 rather than Lu Rou Fan; the taste is also sweeter than what I usually
had in the north. I remember when I first visited Tainan (a city in the south
of Taiwan), I was surprised they served Lu Rou Fan with meat floss (a dried,
fluffy meat product) together which I then realised it helps absorb the sauce
and gives a good mixure of rice bowl. Have to say I love the southern version of
Lu Rou Fan more as it just overwhelms my taste buds. Since I haven’t had Lu Rou
Fan for ages, I decided to make my own spin on it again. It’s so tasty to blend
the tender, fatty pork with rice, and that sticky oily sauce is a golden touch
to create extra flavour that makes Lu Rou Fan outrageously luscious. This dish
may take a little work but is not as hard as you thought. The flavour, the
sweetness and umami are amazingly comforting, and you could not get enough.
Ingredients
-400g pork belly, cut into strips
-7 shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and squeezed. (keep mushroom soaking water)
-4 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
-1 large shallot, finely chopped.
-2 cloves of garlic, smashed.
-2 tbsp finely chopped spring onion whites.
-40ml soy sauce.
-2 tbsp oyster sauce.
-25ml rice cooking wine.
-1 tsp white pepper.
-1 tsp Chinese five spice.
-3 star anises.
-3 bay leaves.
-2 hard-boiled eggs.
Method
1. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat, add pork belly and
cook until golden and rendering the fat.
2. Stir in dark muscovado sugar to brown the pork belly.
3. Add shallots, spring onions and garlic, stir fry until soften and fragrant.
4. Add shiitake mushrooms, star anises,
bay leaves, white pepper and five spices, pour in rice
cooking wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce and mushroom soaking liquid. (add extra water if needed.)
5. Add hard-boiled eggs, cook over low heat for
20 minutes.
6. Serve over steamed rice, top with meat floss
(if you have) and pair with picked radish or cucumbers.
Braised pork develops better flavour overnight so to enjoy it the next
day would have the most aromatic flavour.
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