Tag: main course
Lu Rou Fan (Braised Pork Belly and Rice)
Lu Rou Fan (Braised Pork Belly and Rice)
Lu Rou Fan is Taiwanese style pork belly with shiitake mushrooms, crispy fried shallots, and hard boiled eggs in a soy sauce based braising liquid; served with a blanched green veggie, pickled shallots or mustard greens, and steamed rice. This is a heavy dish, so the pickled shallots help cut through the richness. If pork belly is too fatty for your taste, you can substitute pork shoulder and still receive great results.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Meat and Marinade
- 1 lb pork belly sliced into small pieces
- 1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 1/2 tbsp mushroom dark soy sauce
Crispy Shallots
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups shallots thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced
Braising Liquid
- 2 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mushroom dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rock sugar
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
Other Ingredients and Toppings
- 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 4 hard boiled eggs
- your favorite green vegetable blanched
- pickled shallots or pickled mustard greens
- steamed rice for serving
Instructions
- Marinate the pork belly with the shaoxing cooking wine and mushroom dark soy sauce gor 30 minutes. Set aside.
- Rehydrate the dried mushrooms with 2 cups of boiling water for 20 minutes. Thinly slice the mushrooms. Save the liquid.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the shallots for 8 minutes until they start to slightly change color.
- Add in the garlic and cook for 3-4 more minutes until crispy. Drain grease on paper towel and set aside.
- In the same pan, sauté the pork belly until browned for 5-6 minutes.
- Pour in the shaoxing cooking wine and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Then add in the soy sauces, star anise, cinnamon stick, rock sugar, and crispy fried shallots. Cook for a minute.
- Pour in the saved mushroom liquid. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for an hour.
- Add in the hard boiled eggs. Place the cover back on and continue to braise for 30 more minutes.
Pickled Shallots
Pickled shallots are the candy of pickling. They add a sweet and sourness to whatever they accompany. They are great to serve with rich pork dishes such as lu rou fan; on top of banh mi sandwiches and gua bao, and many more Asian dishes. The pickled shallots will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup shallots thinly sliced
- 1/4 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add the Sichuan peppercorns to a cold small pot. Turn the heat to medium and dry toast for 1 minute.
- Pour in the rice vinegar, water, sugar, and salt. Once it starts to boil, take the pot off the heat.
- Placd the shallots in a small jar and pour the hot brine over them. Let cool at room temp, then place in the refrigerator to cool completely. They will then be ready to serve.
Taiwanese Meat Sauce over Rice
Taiwanese Meat Sauce over Rice
Lo bah png is simply a Taiwanese meat sauce that is served over steamed rice. Ground pork is sautéed with shallots and wood ear mushrooms, then simmered in a salty and sweet soy based sauce for an hour. Classic Taiwanese home cooking.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 dried woodear mushrooms rehydrated; chopped
- 5 shallots chopped
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
Garnish
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the shallots for 3 minutes.
- Add in the ground pork and the wood ear mushrooms. Sauté until the pork id cooked through; about 8 minutes.
- Pour in the water, soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, and 5 spice powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour.
Sesame Wine Chicken Soup
Sesame Wine Chicken Soup
Ma You Ji Tang is a Taiwanese style sesame wine chicken soup. This soup is most appropriate for the cold weather months, as it is great for your immune system. Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties; red dates helping regulate blood pressure, aid in digestion, and are high in vitamin C. Dark meat chicken will work the best for this soup, so I used 2 whole legs; cutting the drumsticks in half and the thighs into 4 pieces. The soup can be served over noodles or rice and is topped with lots of green onions and cilantro.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp black sesame oil
- 6 slices ginger
- 2 whole chicken legs drumsticks cut in half; thighs cut into 4
- 2 cups michiu cooking wine or shaoxing cooking wine
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 12 dried red dates
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- salt to taste
- 2 portions somen noodles prepared according to package directions
- 4 green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Heat up 2 tbsp of sesame oil in a pot over medium high heat. Sauté the ginger slices gor 3 minutes. Remove from the pot.
- Add in the chicken. Brown on all sides for 10 minutes in total.
- Pour in the chicken stock and cooking wine. Bring to a boil.
- Add in the dried red dates and the sautéed ginger slices. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Stir in the sugar and the last 2 tbsp of sesame oil. Season with salt to taste.
- Place a portion of the somen noodles in a bowl.
