Lu Rou Fan is one of the staple street foods in Taiwan. It’s what I call a versatile food. You can have it on its own or enjoy it with other dishes. It’s so popular that almost every Taiwanese restaurant has it on their menu. I think the very soul of Taiwanese food is found in the triumvirate of soy, pork, and shallots. Lu Rou Fan is always served with a bowl of freshly steamed jasmine rice and at the best stands, garnished with pickled daikon.
– Iu-luen Jeng
Ingredients
3 pounds pork belly, skin on if available
2 cups soy sauce
4 green onion
6 shallots
2 slices ginger, ½ inch thick and 4 inches long
4 dried hot chili
4 large cloves garlic
4 whole star anise
½ cup rock sugar
1 cup Chinese cooking wine or sake
Rock Sugar Jpeg
Optional: 1 cup fried shallots
Optional: 3 or 4 hard-boiled eggs
For serving
Plain jasmine rice
Pickled daikon, sliced
Wedge of hard boiled egg that’s been cooked in the pot along with the pork
Instructions
Completely cover the pork belly in cold water and put it on low heat for 15 minutes. The water should be just barely at a simmer, not boiling. This gentle process removes the impurities and off-flavors in the meat. The pork should still be raw. Wash off the impurities and cool the pork belly.
Place the pork belly in the freezer for a couple of hours to make it easier to slice. Cut the meat into thin slices and then mince the slices into pieces around an inch by a half-inch. This dish can also be made with ground pork.
Put the minced pork belly in a heavy stockpot or donabe over low heat. When the fat starts to render, add the sugar. Cook until the pork belly begins to glisten.
Add soy, green onion, shallots, sliced ginger, chilis, garlic cloves, rock sugar and star anise.
Simmer for ½ hour and add 1 cup cooking wine or sake. You can add the hard-boiled eggs at this point. Some market stands let the eggs cook for days in the sauce, until they take on a deep mahogany color.
At this point, add the optional cup of fried shallots. Continue cooking over low heat.
Simmer until the pork belly is voluptuously tender, with a lip smacking goodness. It will taste quite salty on its own, but will be a perfect match with the plain jasmine rice.
Serve a small portion of the pork belly on top of jasmine rice, garnished with pickled daikon.