Lu Rou Fan 🇹🇼滷肉飯🇹🇼
Happy wife, happy life. And when my wife is sad & homesick, nothing lifts her spirits (and satisfies her belly) like a bowl of Taiwan's #1 comfort food, Lu Rou Fan!
This braised pork belly meat sauce is packed with rich flavors courtesy of a seven spice blend that gives the typical five spice powder a run for its money. The sticky, fall apart pork belly melts into the rice creating the ultimate hunger satisfying bowl of happiness. Enjoy!
Thank you to Years film 歲月影像 for the amazing wedding video!
INGREDIENTS:
1 TBSP vegetable oil
10 shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and roughly chopped
1 small onion, diced
2-2 ½ lbs skin-on pork belly, diced 2-3 cm
Kosher salt
3 cloves garlic, diced
¾ cup shaoxing wine
1 TBSP rock sugar
½ cup dark soy sauce
½ cup light soy sauce
6 soft boiled eggs, peeled
Wrap in cheese cloth & tie with butcher’s twine
3 star anise
2 bay leaves
½ TBSP Sichuan peppercorns
4 cloves
2 inch cube fresh ginger slices
½ tsp fennel seed
1 cinnamon stick
Cooked white rice
Takuan, pickled daikon radish
Fried shallots
Place the dried shiitake mushrooms into a medium bowl and pour over enough water to cover. Weigh down the mushrooms with a plate to keep them fully submerged. Once rehydrated, squeeze the mushrooms dry and reserve the liquid for later use.
Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over high heat for 1 minute. Add in the vegetable oil and sauté the shiitake mushrooms and onions for about 5 minutes. Add in the pork belly 4-6 minutes until just cooked through.
Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute stirring often. Deglaze the pan with the shaoxing wine and bring to the boil for 1 minute. Add in the rock sugar, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and the water used to rehydrate the dried shiitake mushrooms. Add in extra water as needed to reach about ½ inch above the pork belly level.
Wrap star anise, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, cloves, fresh ginger, fennel seed, and cinnamon into a sachet using cheesecloth and butcher’s twine. Drop in the spice bag and bring the mixture to the boil over high heat. Once to the boil, cover, reduce the heat to low,and simmer for 1 ½ - 2 ½ hours stirring the bottom occasionally. Periodically skim the fat off the top. See note.
Add in hard boiled eggs for the last hour of simmering to allow them to take on the flavor of the sauce. Add water as necessary if the liquid becomes too thick. The Lu Rou Fan is finished once the pork belly is tender and falling apart. Serve over a bed of rice with pickled daikon radish and fried shallots.
So there you have it folks, Lu Rou Fan! Take a trip to Taiwan with this incredibly delicious comfort food dish. Be sure to come back next time to Isobe Food where you get what you need to succeed in the kitchen. I’m your host, Jaime. I’ll catch you next time!
Note: It is best to let the Lu Rou Fan cool to room temperature and then place in the refrigerator overnight to let the flavors develop further. You can then easily remove the solidified fat from the top.
