Lu Rou Fan (Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice)

Snack or a proper meal

Ingredients

• Pork belly is KEY here. A good braised pork rice is very much dependent on the cut of meat you use. Pork belly has the perfect amount of fat to meat ratio and the skin will provide that delicious, gelatinous consistency to the overall sauce. You can substitute for leaner cuts of meats such as pork shoulder/neck, however, bear in mind, the end result will very much miss the mark. Not enough fat!
• Shallots are preferred over onions here as they're milder in flavour and have a delightful sweetness to them. I also find shallots more aromatic and thus perfect for this recipe.
• White pepper is a common spice used in Chinese cooking. You can use black pepper if that's what you've got. A high level difference between white pepper and black pepper is that white pepper has a more earthy flavour whereas black pepper is sharper and has more of a spice kick.
• Brown sugar can be substituted for rock sugar, palm sugar or even white sugar. I like using brown sugar as it's easily available (no speciality store trip required) and the added molasses provides a richer flavour profile (than that of white sugar).
• Shaoxing wine can be substituted for other rice wine varieties or dry sherry.

Make a little spice bag

If you don't have a spice bag, here are a couple of options:

• Add the whole spices straight into the pot for braising with the exception of the fennel seeds. Substitute the seeds with powder. Once the cooking is done, conduct a little treasure hunt, pick out the whole spices and discard. This will only take a minute. Just a tiny bit inconvenient.
• Use Chinese five spice powder instead. It is the most convenient method. Simply replace with 1 teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder. However as mentioned above, I just find you get more from using whole spices. Especially when braising for hours on end!

Once the pot starts to boil and the white foam has appeared, tip the water out and wash the pork belly under tap water thoroughly.

Now, pat the pork dry with paper towels and dice to small pieces.

There is a little art behind dicing the pork belly here. First, you want to thinly slice (with a sharp) knife to about 1cm or just under ½ inch thick. Then, slice vertically (at the same thickness) like so in image #4 above. That's it. Do not cut the pork any further. Rather than cubes, the pork should be in small rectangular shapes.

This way, every piece of meat will have one part meat and one part fat. This ensures a good meat, fat, sauce and rice ratio at every mouthful. 😉

Time to braise the pork

Moving onto the fragrant part. First, fry thinly sliced shallots till golden over medium-low heat. This will take about 3 minutes. Remove half of the shallots for later.

Hint: it'll be used as an aromatic booster to the finished dish.

Add finely minced garlic and ginger (I use a small cheese grater to mince ginger) to the pan. Fry for a minute or so till aromatic then brown pork on high heat. This browning step will great more depth to the overall dish.

Deglaze the pan with rice wine then transfer to a heavy-based pot with a lid such as a Dutch oven like I did in these pictures.

Now, add soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, white pepper, chicken stock or water. Mix well then add the spice bag that's filled with star anise, fennel seeds, cinnamon bark and bay leaves.

Once at boiling point, reduce heat down to the lowest your stove can go. Simmer for 2.5 hours with the lid on.

Add boiled eggs

Whilst the pork is braising away, boil and peel eggs. I used 10 eggs, you can use more or less depending on your preference.

Once 2.5 hours of braising is up, add the boiled eggs and simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on. Turn the eggs once with 10 minutes left and add the reserved fried shallots.

The fragrant fried shallots will help 'wake up' the braise.

How to serve lu rou fan

To serve the authentic way, fill a bowl with freshly steamed rice, top with a ladle of the braised pork with sauce, a braised egg cut in half and thin slices of yellow pickled radish.

Add some simply blanched Asian greens for good measure.

The yellow pickled radish ('Takuan' in Japanese) is optional here but is typically served in Taiwan. I suspect the use of Japanese pickled radish stems from Japan's 50-year rule of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945. The sweet and acidic pickles will cut through the richness of the fatty pork perfectly.

You can find these pickled radishes at most Asian supermarkets in the fridge section.

Other serving suggestions

This braised pork with sauce recipe is extremely versatile. There is no reason to limit serving this delicious masterpiece with only rice.

Some suggestions include:

• Serve with freshly cooked plain noodles (similar to my 20-minute Pork Mince Noodles),
• drizzle over some freshly steamed Asian greens such as Chinese broccoli (a meaty twist to this Chinese broccoli with Oyster Sauce)
• or even on top of some fresh silken tofu!

Tips for making the best lu rou fan

• Cook long and slow. This is not a dish that can be rushed. You've got to give the 3 hours of braising time over low heat or longer. At the very minimum, 2.5 hours is needed. The braising process will soften the pork and turn the fat to melt-in-your-mouth perfection. Not to mention this will allow plenty of time for the spices to really work their magic and infuse into the meats and sauce.
• Use a spice bag. It just makes your life easier.
• Keep the lid on whilst braising. This will keep the heat stay insulated in the pot and properly soften the pork all the whilst reducing the sauce at a slow pace.
• Use a heavy-based pot. This is important for even heat distribution. Particularly useful when braising for hours. Zero worries about any sticky bottoms. I use a Dutch oven (cast iron pot) and it does the job perfectly.

See that line around the pot below? That's where the sauce started at the beginning of the braising process. This is what you want. Sauce reduced but not too much.

If for any reason your sauce becomes too thick, add a little water to dilute it.

Good to know (FAQs)