Taiwanese recipe

Lu Rou Fan

Name: Lu Rou Fan
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 1 h 45 min
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Taiwanese cuisine
Ingredients: 600 g skin-on pork belly, 1 cm dice; 80 g shallots, thinly sliced; 20 ml neutral oil; 6 dried shiitake, soaked and diced; 25 g rock sugar; 60 ml light soy sauce; 15 ml dark soy sauce; 60 ml Taiwan rice wine; 650 ml hot water, including strained mushroom liquid; 1 star anise; 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled; 800 g hot cooked short-grain rice; 250 g blanched seasonal greens

Finely diced pork belly and shiitake are slowly braised with fried shallots, soy, rice wine, and warm spices, then spooned over rice with egg and greens.

Taiwan

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 1 hr 45 min
Total: 2 hr 10 min
Servings: 4

Lu rou fan with diced braised pork, shiitake, egg, greens, and crisp shallots over rice — **Real finished-dish photograph**Photograph by JzestSource page · Original file · CC BY-SA 2.5Cropped, resized, and compressed by Recipe Nest Vault.

Ingredients

600 g
skin-on pork belly, 1 cm dice
80 g
shallots, thinly sliced
20 ml
neutral oil
6
dried shiitake, soaked and diced
25 g
rock sugar
60 ml
light soy sauce
15 ml
dark soy sauce
60 ml
Taiwan rice wine
650 ml
hot water, including strained mushroom liquid
1
star anise
4
hard-boiled eggs, peeled
800 g
hot cooked short-grain rice
250 g
blanched seasonal greens

Method

01
Fry the shallots
Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium-low. Fry shallots for 8–10 minutes, stirring constantly once they colour. Remove at deep gold; reserve both crisp shallots and oil separately.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
02
Render and brown pork
Add pork to the dry pot and cook over medium heat for 10–12 minutes, stirring, until fat renders and the edges turn pale gold. Spoon off all but 30 ml fat.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
03
Caramelize the rock sugar
Push the browned pork to one side. Add rock sugar to the rendered fat and leave it over medium-low for 2–3 minutes until melted and amber; swirl the pot instead of splashing it with water.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
04
Add mushrooms and seasonings
Stir the caramel through the pork, then add shiitake, half the fried shallots, both soy sauces, and rice wine. Boil 1 minute, scraping up the browned glaze so it dissolves into the braise.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
05
Braise with the eggs
Add 650 ml hot liquid and star anise. Nestle in eggs, cover slightly ajar, and simmer very gently for 70 minutes. Turn eggs and stir the bottom every 20 minutes; pork should be spoon-tender.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
06
Reduce to a glossy sauce
Remove the lid and simmer 8–12 minutes, stirring from the bottom, until the sauce lightly coats a spoon but still flows. Discard star anise and taste before adding any salt.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
07
Serve over rice
Divide hot rice among four bowls. Spoon pork, mushroom, and 45–60 ml sauce over each; halve the eggs and add greens. Finish with the remaining crisp shallots so they stay crunchy.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph

Practical notes

Tips

Brown aromatics and protein before adding liquid; this keeps the final sauce fragrant instead of merely salty.
Keep the braise at a bare simmer and judge tenderness with a skewer or chopstick; a hard boil dries meat and clouds broth.

Common mistakes

Do not reduce a salty braise before the meat is tender; add hot water if needed, then concentrate only at the end.
Measure soy sauce rather than pouring by colour; dark soy changes appearance much faster than salt level.

Substitutions

Use skinless pork shoulder for a leaner bowl; add 15 ml neutral oil and begin checking tenderness after 55 minutes.
Fresh shiitake can replace dried mushrooms, but use plain hot water because there is no soaking liquid.

Storage

Cool within 2 hours and refrigerate airtight for up to 3 days. Reheat once to a steady simmer and at least 74°C throughout.

Cultural context

Lu rou fan is an everyday rice bowl whose cut and name vary around Taiwan. This version uses small dice rather than ground pork so the sauce remains rich but the meat is still visible.

Sources and photo credit

This standardized method was independently rewritten after cross-checking the references below. Recipe Nest Vault does not claim that the credited photographer cooked from this exact version.

Recipe references

Lurou fan(Taiwanese cuisine) — Photograph by Jzest; CC BY-SA 2.5.

Step illustrations: Original illustrations created by Recipe Nest Vault with OpenAI image_gen.

Back to Taiwanese recipes

Lu Rou Fan

Ingredients

Method

Fry the shallots

Render and brown pork

Caramelize the rock sugar

Add mushrooms and seasonings

Braise with the eggs

Reduce to a glossy sauce

Serve over rice

Sources and photo credit

Recipe references

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