Lu Rou Fan (Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice Bowl)

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 2 hours

Ingredients

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)

3 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

6 cloves

3 bay leaves

2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns

2 pieces dried tangerine peel

2 slices fresh ginger

Directions

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: 698 kcal
• Total Fat: 68 g
• Saturated Fat: 24 g
• Cholesterol: 268 mg
• Sodium: 1167 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 13 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3 g
• Total Sugars: 6 g
• Protein: 20 g