Lu Rou Fan
Taiwan's braised pork rice, a beloved everyday comfort food and genuinely the island's own modern culinary identity, even though the dish's name carries a possible linguistic link to Shandong, China — a historical footnote rather than a competing origin claim, given how firmly the dish took its current, distinct form in Taiwan. It's genuinely not the same as mainland China's chunky hong shao rou, or even Taiwan's own kong rou fan: lu rou fan uses finely minced, fatty pork belly braised down into an almost meat-sauce consistency, not sliced or chunked belly. Frying shallots first and using the reserved shallot oil as the cooking base is a real technique often skipped in shortcut versions.
⚠ Contains: Soy, Egg. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 600g pork belly, finely diced or minced
- 4 shallots, sliced and fried
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rock sugar
- 3 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 2 star anise
- 4 hard-boiled eggs
- Steamed rice and blanched greens, to serve
Steps
- Fry the shallots in oil until deep golden, and reserve the shallot oil.
- Brown the pork belly in the shallot oil.
- Add the soy sauces, rock sugar, Shaoxing wine, five-spice, and star anise, with enough water to cover.
- Simmer 1-1.5 hours until the pork is tender and the sauce is glossy and reduced, adding the eggs partway through.
- Serve over rice with blanched greens.