Lu Rou Fan (Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice)
Skin-on pork belly cut into little strips, braised glossy with fried shallots, soy and five-spice, and spooned over steamed rice: Taiwan's favourite home bowl.
Method
Put the eggs in a 16 cm pot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Turn down to medium heat and simmer for , then cool them in cold water and peel. They will braise with the pork later and turn into savoury soy eggs.
Add in this stepEggs 2
medium heatCut the pork belly, skin on, into slices 0.5–1 cm thick, then into sticks 0.5–1 cm wide. It is much easier if you freeze the meat for 15 minutes first. Keep the skin: its gelatine is what makes the sauce sticky and glossy. Slice the shallots 2 mm thin and finely chop the garlic.
Put the oil and shallots into a cold, heavy-based 20 cm pot and switch on to medium-low heat; starting cold makes them colour evenly. Stir constantly for until the shallots are light golden, then lift them out right away. They keep darkening off the heat, and dark brown shallots taste bitter. Pat the shallots dry first so the oil doesn't spit.
Add in this stepNeutral oil 40 mlShallots (or a small onion) 50 g
medium-low heatLeave the shallot oil in the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high heat and add the pork. Stir often for , until the fat starts to render and the edges are golden. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add in this stepSkin-on pork belly 300 gGarlic cloves 3
medium-high heatLower the heat to medium heat and add the rice wine, light soy, dark soy, rock sugar, five-spice and white pepper. Stir for so every piece is coated in colour and the sugar melts.
Add in this stepTaiwanese rice wine or Shaoxing wine 25 mlLight soy sauce 40 mlDark soy sauce 10 mlRock sugar (or brown sugar) 15 gFive-spice powder ½ tspGround white pepper 2 pinch
medium heatPour in the water, add the fried shallots and peeled eggs and bring to the boil. Turn down to low heat, set the lid ajar and simmer for . Stir to the bottom every 15 minutes so nothing catches, and roll the eggs so they colour evenly. It is ready when the skin splits easily with a chopstick and the liquid has reduced to about a third, thick enough to coat a spoon. If it reduces too fast, add a splash of water.
Add in this stepWater 450 ml
low heatBlanch the bok choy in boiling water on high heat for and drain. Fill bowls with hot rice, spoon over plenty of pork and sauce, and add a halved egg and the bok choy.
Add in this stepBok choy 140 gHot steamed rice (cooked) 400 g
high heat
Cook's tip
Cut the pork by hand rather than mincing it, so it keeps a pleasant chew. It tastes even better reheated the next day, so make extra: it keeps 3 days in the fridge or a month frozen. Without dark soy, use a little more light soy; the colour will just be paler.
Cooking it at camp
Easiest is to braise it at home, pack it in a sealed tub in the cooler and simply reheat it over the burner to spoon over rice. Cooking from scratch at camp works in a heavy pot on the lowest flame, stirring often, but budget plenty of fuel for the long simmer.