Authentic Lu Rou Fan 滷肉飯 (Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice)
This recipe with step by step instructions will help you make your own mouthwateringly fragrant and melt-in-your-mouth delicious Taiwanese lu rou fan!
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 480kcal
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs skin-on pork belly Try to pick a piece with even layers of fat and lean meat.
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 2 slices ginger
- 1½ tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce I use Kikkoman regular soy sauce.
- 2 tablespoons vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce Wan Jia Shan brand is recommended.
- ½ cup rice cooking wine (michiu)
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 star anise
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
- ½ teaspoons white pepper powder
- 3 tablespoons crispy fried shallot homemade or store bought.
Instructions
Prepare Pork Belly
- Cut the pork belly into small cubes that's about the width of your index finger and separate the fat and lean part. This will be easier to do it when the pork belly is half frozen. If the pork belly is too large to easily handle, cut it first into more manageable segments before making a cut that roughly separates the fat part from the lean part.
Stir Fry Pork Belly
- Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add ginger slices and chopped garlic, stir and cook until aromatic, about 15 seconds.
- Add the fatty part of the pork belly cubes into the pan, stir and cook until they turn white, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in the rest of the pork belly cubes and continue to cook until the fat begins to render and excess liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes.
- Move the pork to one side of the pan and add sugar to the empty part of the pan. Slightly tilt your pan so that the fat rendered from the pork can flow to the sugar. Cook until the sugar starts to turn brown before mixing it with pork.
- Add soy sauce, vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce and continue to stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Adjust the heat if needed to maintain a moderate boil.
Braised Pork Belly
- Pour the pork mixture into a Dutch oven (I used a 2.5qt one here) or a soup pot with a thick bottom and set it aside.
- Add cooking wine and water into the frying pan and bring it to a boil. Use a spatula to scrape off the brown bits in the pan.
- Pour the liquid into the Dutch oven and add more water to cover up the pork if needed.
- Add Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, bay leaves (place them in a stainless steel mesh tea ball or a spice pouch/bag), Chinese five-spice powder, white pepper powder and crispy fried shallots into the pot. Cover and bring it to a boil before reducing the heat to low and maintaining a gentle boil for one hour.
- Remove the tea ball or spice bag and let the pork cool down completely before storing it in the fridge overnight. Just like many stews or curry dishes, braised pork belly also tastes better after resting overnight.
Finish Up and Serve
- Next day before serving, take the pot out from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
- Bring it to a boil over medium heat and continue to cook uncovered for another 15-20 minutes or until the sauce is almost reduced to half. Stir occasionally.
- Serve the braised pork belly with a bowl of warm short grain white rice, top with an over easy fried egg, and enjoy the heavenly taste of Taiwanese lu rou fan!
Instant Pot Instruction
- Put everything in your instant pot in stead of Dutch oven and set it to cook for 20 minutes on high and let the pressure release naturally after it done cooking. On the next day, use "sauté" function to cook for 10-15 minutes or until the amount of the broth is reduced to half.
Notes
- Cutting pork into small cubes is the hardest part of this recipe. Make sure you sharpen your knife and cut the pork when it's half frozen.
- I personally like my pork belly cubes to be on the bigger side, but feel free to cut it into smaller cubes based on your preference.
- Cooking off the juices that comes out from stir frying the pork helps to reduce the unpleasant pork smell. If you decided to double or triple the recipe, a longer time may be needed to cook off these juices. If so, increase the heat and stir more frequently.
- Caramelizing the sugar gives the braised pork a nice dark and glistening appearance while improving the flavor, so don't skip it!
- The braised pork belly is very flavorful, so you usually only need a small scoop for a bowl of rice.
Nutrition
Calories: 480kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 559mg | Potassium: 197mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 11IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg