卤肉饭 Taiwanese Lu Rou Fan in Slow Cooker
My family is Teochew and we have a thing for Lo Bak (braised pork belly). But I really do love Taiwanese Lu Rou Fan. I would choose it over the Teochew version anyday! (Sorry, Ah-mm.)
This recipe is an easy way to satisfy our cravings for Taiwan braised pork rice. If you don’t have a few hours to spare, you can also prepare this in your instant pot or all-in-one pressure cooker as it’s usually referred to here. The long cooking time results in a savoury, rich, melt-in-your-mouth dish that isn’t overly greasy – thanks to the good fat-meat ratio. I can eat bowls of rice with this. I hope you try this for your family!
Serves 4-5
What you need:
500g pork belly, sliced into 0.5-1cm width
2cm ginger, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 star anise
1 stick cinnamon
2 tablespoons dried shrimps, soaked, drained and chopped
2 tablespoons fried shallots in oil (I use this type or you can fry your own)
2 tablespoons rock sugar or caster sugar
1 tablespoon cooking oil
Sufficient water to just about cover your ingredients
Seasonings (mix together):
2 tablespoons hua diao wine
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
Half teaspoon salt
Side dishes:
5 Hanjuku eggs (I swear by this recipe by Just One Cookbook!)
200g xiao bai cai, blanched
Steps:
If your slow cooker inner pot can be used directly over the stove top like mine (I use Takahi), do all the steps in the slow cooker. If not, you’ll need a sauce pan.
In your slow cooker pot or sauce pan, heat up the cooking oil and fry the ginger and dried shrimps for a few minutes till fragrant. Add in the pork belly, chopped garlic and fried shallots. Continue frying for 3-5 minutes.
Add in the seasonings and rock sugar, making sure that the meat is coated well. Add the star anise and cinnamon stick. (If using sauce pan, transfer all the contents to your slow cooker)
Fill the slow cooker with enough water to just about cover all the ingredients (about 0.5cm above the ingredients line is good). We don’t want a make a soup!
Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Add in the eggs in the last 10 minutes. (p/s- you can cook this in your all-in-one pressure cooker or instant pot too. Follow all the steps and pressure cook for 25 minutes)
Spoon on top of rice and serve alongside blanched veggies. 加饭加饭再加饭!!
