Simple Stay-home Recipes: Braised Pork Belly Rice in 30mins

Let’s face it, we barely have time to get everything done in the day, let alone prep meals for the week. We are either having our food delivered or trekking outside to tapau them home, but those bills can add up to excessive expenses.

Lu Rou Fan 3

Therefore, some home cooking needs to be involved and here’s the best opportunity to unleash the inner chef in you. If you ask me, a representative of Taiwan street food is none other than a bowl of braised pork rice, otherwise known as lu rou fan. There’s nothing quite like this dish; savoury, sweet and bursting with aroma.
We’ve covered a number of easy recipes in the past month and here’s another fortifying quick lunch idea to help you get through the day. Introducing our Braised Pork Belly Rice recipe! Better yet, if you have some leftover rice in the fridge; you can easily pull off this recipe and whip new life to your leftover rice.

Ingredients

Marinating the pork belly

Lu Rou Fan Ingredient

  • 2 tbsp of  light soy sauce

Braising the pork belly

  • 2 tbsp of light soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup of shallots
  • 3 slices of ginger
  • 2 pieces of star anise
  • 30g of brown sugar
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp of dark soy sauce
  • 1 tsp of five-spice powder
  • 1 litre of water
  • Half boiled egg (optional)
  • A handful of bak choy (optional)

Tools

  • Pan
  • Knife
  • Chopping board

Recipe Preparation

Preparation time (pork belly marinade): 10 minutes + 10 mins set aside                                                              Cooking time: 20 minutes
Feeds six

Marinating the pork belly

  • Cut the pork belly into strips, about half-inch thick.
  • Mix it with light soy sauce and set it aside for 10 minutes.

Braising the pork belly

  • Heat up your pan with some oil.
  • Add in the ginger, garlic, shallots, star anise into the pan and fry until fragrant.
  • Add the pork belly strips into the pan.
  • Once you see the pork belly getting a little burned on the bottom, add soy sauce, dark soy sauce and five-spice powder. Keep stirring.
  • Pour in your sugar and keep stirring until the sugar melts.
  • Pour in 1 litre of water.
  • Add in bak choy and eggs. (optional)
  • Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for another 10 minutes; you can let it stew for longer if you want it to be more tender.

Recipe (In Pictures)

Lu Rou Fan Cut

Step 1: Cut the pork belly into strips, about half-inch thick.

Lu Rou Fan Soy Sauce

Step 2: Mix it with light soy sauce and set it aside for 10 minutes.

Braising the pork belly

Step 3: Heat up your pan with some oil.

Lu Rou Fan Fry

Step 4: Add in the ginger, garlic, shallots, star anise into the pan and fry until fragrant.

Lu Rou Fan Fry Pork Belly

Step 5: Add the pork belly strips into the pan.

Step 6: Once you see the pork belly getting a little burned on the bottom, add soy sauce, dark soy sauce and five-spice powder. Keep stirring.

Lu Rou Fan Brown Sugar

Step 7: Pour in your sugar and keep stirring until the sugar melts.

Step 8: Pour in 1 litre of water.

Lu Rou Fan Add Vegetable

Step 9: Add in bak choy and eggs. (optional)

Step 10: Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for another 10 minutes; you can let it stew for longer if you want it to be more tender.

Lu Rou Fan

There we have it, a piping bowl of Braised Pork Belly Rice. This is heaven in a bowl if I had to put it simply. Those craving some yummy goodness of Taiwanese street food can look no further with this simple and easy recipe. Chow down some of this meltingly tender meat and forget the calories!

Lu Rou Fan 2

Braised in a savoury, rich sauce and smothered on top of rice, every mouthful exuded a savoury-sweet-umami tender juicy pork belly. This really hit the spot for me. The infusion of the warm braised pork sauce into the rice made it gorgeously delicious and absolutely appetising.

This dish is best eaten while it is still warm as it doesn’t taste that great once it turns cold. Though, if I had to add it’s no way comparable to the one I had in Taiwan, this really makes for a really good alternative version.

If you try out this Braised Pork Belly Rice recipe, let us know how it goes!

Expected Damage: S$10 – S$15 per portion (6 pax)

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