Lu Rou Fan (滷肉飯) - Braised Pork on Rice

Lu Rou Fan (滷肉飯) - Braised Pork on Rice - is a popular Taiwanese comfort food.  My Taiwanese grocer told me that this dish is a national favourite and "every household in Taiwan will know how to make this dish".We became aware of this dish when it was sold in a food court in Brisbane city. We loved it so much that we ordered this dish at least once a week. Lu Rou Fan (滷肉飯) is fragrant with a thick tasty sauce and the pork meat is very tender and flavoursome. Unfortunately, the stall closed down some years back and we now have to resort to making our own. I learnt this recipe from my Taiwanese grocer. After tinkling with the proportion of the various ingredients, I am now happy to share this recipe.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/AOly-3nfjqY

INGREDIENTS

• 500 gm pork shoulder (cut the skin and meat separately into cubes)

• 2 hard boiled eggs

• 4 thick slices of ginger

• 2 cloves garlic (minced)

• 2 tablespoons fried onion

• 1 tablespoon dark soya sauce

• 3 tablespoons light soya sauce

• 2 slices liquorice root

• 2 star anise

• Pinch of 5 spice powder

• Pinch of white pepper

• 2 tablespoons rock sugar

• 5 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine

• Boiling water

METHOD

1. Fry pork skin cubes in the pan, Then add the meat cubes; no oil is needed. Drain the fat that is exuded from the frying.

2. Add ginger and garlic and fry till fragrant. Add fried onion and stir fry for a minute or so.

3. Add spices and seasoning and fry for a couple of minutes to ensure that the pork is evenly coated.

4. Transfer the mixture to a clay pot, if one is available. If not, just use the same pan for the next step.

5. Add enough boiling water to cover the pork. Bring it to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer.

6. After 1/2 hour, add hard boiled eggs and hard bean curd and continue to simmer for the next 1 hour. The sauce should be quite thick. If it is not, add a teaspoon of cornflour mixed with some water to thicken the sauce.

7. Serve pork with eggs, hard bean curd and some green vegetables. Ladle some sauce over steamed rice. Enjoy!

Recipe has been revised to include pork skin, if available.