Lu Rou Fan
Lu Rou Fan is one of the most well known Taiwanese comfort food that you can find very commonly in street markets or restaurant stalls that's love by many people around the world. This dish combines melt-in-your mouth braised pork belly simmered in sweet and savory sauce served with freshly steamed rice and served with braised egg on the side. When you mix the soft egg yolk with the savory and aromatic braised pork, it really brings the flavor and texture of this bowl of lu rou fan to another level!
Lu Rou Fan consists of braised fatty pork, hard-boiled eggs (flavoured in the meat broth), richly seasoned, cooked to an almost gelatinous texture and coated with a layer of sticky broth. Simply irresistible!
I love this Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice or Lu Rou Fan recipe because only a few ingredients will make tender, delicious pork belly and an incredibly rich and flavorful sauce. Another pork belly recipe that you surely enjoyed is Pork Humba.
Lu Rou Fan is a super easy dish to make at home. One pot is all you need. It's a truly a simple recipe and doesn't take up much of your time. This Lu Rou Fan recipe makes a super delicious and super easy weeknight meal.
Why You Should Try This Recipe
- Don't let the long list of ingredients intimidate you. This recipe is super easy to make, it’s the perfect dish to make in a slow cooker, if that’s your kind of thing.
- It takes about one and a half hour to prepare and cook this dish (It may seem long but it’s totally worth the effort!
- As the pork slowly cooks and simmers, the meat becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender, soaked with aromatic sauce that you can taste in every bite.
Ingredients You'll Need For This Recipe
- Pork Belly - Make sure that each strip has both fat pork belly skin and lean meat. The combination of pork skin, fat, and meat creates a more tender texture, allowing it to melt in the mouth. You can also use skin-on pork butt/shoulder if you prefer, but other leaner parts are not recommended.
- Aromatic Spices - Ginger, garlic, star anise and cinnamon is the foundation of flavor for this dish that create layers of flavor.
- Seasoning Sauce - Soy sauce and Dark Soy Sauce perfectly pair to create flavor and colour to the dish.
- Dried Chili - You can turn this into a spicy dish by adding dried chili peppers. Add as much as you want, depending on your preferred level of heat.
- Shiitake Mushroom - You can use fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms. Dried shiitakes will be stronger in flavor.
- Spring Onion - Adds color and flavor to the dish.
- Boiled Eggs - Boiled eggs are one of the last ingredients to add before simmering the dish on low heat for 30 minutes.
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Lu Rou Fan is a melt-in-your mouth braised pork belly simmered in sweet and savory sauce served with freshly steamed rice and served with braised egg on the side.
- 1 pound pork belly (skin on)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon ginger (finely minced)
- 1 onion
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 dried chili
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup shiitake mushroom (diced)
- 2 spring onion
- 4 hard boiled eggs
- oil for cooking
Cut the pork belly into 1″ strips. Don’t cut it too small because the meat will shrink into smaller pieces when you braise it.
Heat about 2 tablespoon of oil in a wok or heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. Add the pork belly strips, fry until some fat has extracted and the meat turn slightly brown.
Add onion, garlic and ginger. Saute until fragrant, add star anise, cinnamon stick and dried chili. Stir-fry for another minute.
Add soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar. Stir until completely combined. Pour in water until the meat is fully covered and bring to a boil.
Simmer for 1 hour to 1.5 hours or until the pork is fork tender. Stir occasionally to prevent from sticking at the bottom of the pan.
When the sauce reduce, add shiitake mushroom, spring onion and boiled egg. Stir to combine.
Turn the heat to low, cover and let it simmer until the sauce start to caramelized and sticky.
Serve and Enjoy with hot steamed rice and egg on the side!
- When choosing pork belly, make sure to get a good quality portion with pork skin and fat on it. The pork skin and fat are what make this dish so juicy and tender.
- Once the pork cools completely, store in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to three day or two months in the freezer.
- Reheat over low heat (defrost first if frozen) until piping hot. If necessary, add a little water to help to heat the pork thoroughly.
