Hand-Cut Lu Rou Fan with Shiitake and Caramel Braise

Method

1. Soak the dried shiitake in half the water, warm, for 30 min. Squeeze them out, remove the stems and dice into 5 mm pieces. Keep the soaking liquid; it carries most of the savoury depth.

   Add in this stepDried shiitake mushrooms 3Water (part for soaking the mushrooms) 190 ml

2. Put the whole pork belly and ginger in a 20 cm pot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil on high heat. Boil for 4 min more to release the scum, then rinse under cold water and pat dry. Blanching removes porky odours and firms the meat so it cuts neatly. Discard the ginger and the water.

   Add in this stepSkin-on pork belly, in one piece 320 gFresh ginger, sliced 8 g

   high heat

3. Meanwhile, start the eggs in cold water; once boiling, cook on medium heat for 8 min, cool in cold water and peel. Scrape any stray bristles off the pork skin with a knife, then cut the belly, skin on, into sticks 0.7 cm thick and 3 cm long. Cutting by hand rather than mincing keeps the bite and the shape.

   Add in this stepEggs 2

   medium heat

4. Melt the lard in the heavy 20 cm pot you will braise in, add the thinly sliced shallots and fry on medium-low heat for 8 min, stirring, until pale amber. Lift them out straight away and spread on kitchen paper; they crisp up as they cool into homemade fried shallots. Keep a spoonful for garnish.

   Add in this stepLard 40 gShallots 70 g

   medium-low heat

5. Add the rock sugar to the fat left in the pot and melt it on low heat for 2 min into a light brown caramel. As soon as it colours, add the dried pork carefully, keeping your face back as the caramel may spit. Turn up to medium-high heat and stir for 5 min until every piece is glazed a deep mahogany, then add the chopped garlic for 30 seconds. Work quickly: caramel that goes past dark brown turns bitter.

   Add in this stepRock sugar 18 gGarlic cloves 3

   low heat→medium-high heat

6. Pour the wine around the edge of the pot to sizzle, then add the light and dark soy, star anise, cassia and white pepper. Add the shiitake with their soaking liquid, the rest of the water, the fried shallots and the peeled eggs. Bring to the boil, turn down to low heat, set the lid ajar and braise for 1 h 20 min, stirring to the bottom every 15 minutes. It is done when the skin looks translucent like jelly and breaks easily with a chopstick.

   Add in this stepShaoxing or Taiwanese rice wine 35 mlLight soy sauce 40 mlDark soy sauce 10 mlStar anise 1Cassia bark (Chinese cinnamon) 2 gGround white pepper 2 pinchWater (part for soaking the mushrooms) 190 ml

   low heat

7. Turn off the heat and leave it uncovered for 30 min. As it rests, the gelatine from the skin melts into the sauce, making it sticky, and the flavour soaks into the meat. Fish out the star anise and cassia, then reheat on low heat until bubbling at the edges. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon thickly.

   low heat

8. Fill bowls with rice, spoon over plenty of pork and sauce, top with a halved egg and scatter over the reserved fried shallots.

   Add in this stepHot steamed rice 400 g