BETTER THAN TAKEOUT - Braised Pork Belly Recipe (Taiwanese Lu Rou Fan)

By Souped Up Recipes · 90 min

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Cut the skin-on pork belly into pieces about 1/3 inch thick. The skin's gelatin will thicken and shine the sauce.
2. Heat a heavy pot (claypot, Dutch oven, cast iron or similar) until very hot.
3. Add the pork with no oil and stir over medium-high heat until you have about 1/3 cup of rendered fat. Tilt the pot to pool the fat, then pour it into a saucepan and set aside.
4. Add the garlic, ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and rock sugar to the pork and stir until fragrant.
5. Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, white pepper and five-spice powder. Stir well, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom.
6. Pour in 2 to 4 cups of hot water and simmer on low heat for 1.5 hours. Add more hot water only if needed, and keep an eye on the level.
7. Fry the sliced shallots in the reserved pork fat over medium-low heat until lightly golden. Meanwhile, mince the rehydrated dried shrimp and add it to the fat, then fry a few more minutes until the shallots are golden brown.
8. Drain the shallots through a sieve, keeping only the shallots and saving the oil for other uses.
9. Add the fried shallots to the braising pork and stir. Keep simmering for the remaining time.
10. Remove the spices and skim off excess fat. The sauce should be thick, sticky and saucy; reduce it if thin, or add a little hot water if too thick. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
11. Spoon the meat over white rice and serve with boiled eggs and blanched greens.

Summarized from Souped Up Recipes's video. Watch it for the details.

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