Servings
Font
Back
Lu Rou Fan (Taiwanese Pork Rice Bowl, 卤肉饭)
5 from 274 votes

Lu Rou Fan (Taiwanese Pork Rice Bowl, 卤肉饭)

Lu Rou Fan is a Taiwanese pork rice bowl featuring braised pork belly cooked with garlic, soy sauces, Shaoxing rice wine, and five-spice powder, simmered until tender. Crispy fried shallots and shiitake mushrooms enrich the mixture, served over steamed rice with hard-boiled eggs and blanched greens, creating a hearty and flavorful meal with savory and aromatic layers.

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 20 mins
Total Time
1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 4 bowls
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients

For the crispy shallots (skip if using shop-bought version)
  • 250 ml cooking oil about 1 cup, neutral
  • 140 g red onion about 5oz, or shallots, thinly sliced
For the pork
  • 450 g pork belly skin on
  • 5 cloves garlic minced
  • 20 g rock sugar or 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 2 tablespoon soy sauce light
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
  • ½ teaspoon five-spice powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
  • 5 shiitake mushrooms rehydrated and diced
  • 4 egg hard-boiled
You also need
  • 4 portions rice plain steamed
  • green vegetable see note 1, blanched

Instructions

Fry the shallots
    Cup of Yum
  1. Heat up oil over medium heat. Add sliced shallots. Fry until they become golden and crispy.
  2. Drain through a sieve. Set the shallots aside for later use. The oil can be used in other dishes (see note 2 to learn how).
Fry the pork
  1. Cut pork belly into strips. Put into an empty wok (without oil) over medium-high heat. Fry until some fat has been extracted and the meat browns slightly.
  2. Stir in garlic and rock sugar. Fry until fragrant and the sugar has melted.
Braise the pork
  1. Add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, five-spice powder, white pepper, diced shiitake mushroom, fried shallots (leave some for topping) and hard-boiled eggs.
  2. Pour in the water in which the mushrooms were soaked. Top up with more water to immerse the meat completely.
  3. Bring it to a full boil. Turn the heat down to the lowest. Cover with the lid and leave to simmer for at least 1 hour until the pork becomes very tender (check the water level halfway through and top up if it seems too dry). This step can be done in a stovetop pressure cooker or an instant pot. Adjust time accordingly.
  4. If there is still quite a bit of liquid left, turn the heat to high and cook uncovered to reduce its volume and thicken (Do not dry it out though as you’d need some liquid to serve with the meat).
Assemble the dish
  1. Put freshly cooked rice in serving bowls. Top with blanched vegetable and halved eggs. Then spoon the pork, along with some thickened broth, over the rice. Add the rest of the fried shallots. Serve immediately.
Make in advance
  1. 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.
  2. Reheat over low heat (defrost first if frozen) until piping hot. If necessary, add a little water to help to heat the pork thoroughly.

Notes

  • Choose vegetables such as bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, broccoli, or asparagus for accompanying the rice bowl.
  • Save the shallot-frying oil in a clean jar after cooling to use as a flavorful cooking oil in other dishes.
  • For gluten-free preparation, use gluten-free soy sauce and omit Shaoxing rice wine.