卤肉饭滷肉飯
lǔ ròu fàn lou5 juk6 faan6
Taiwan’s soul food: minced pork belly braised dark with shallots and soy, ladled over hot rice. Every night market stall and every grandmother has the one true recipe — all of them different, all of them right.
The story behind it
Lu (滷) braising — soy, rice wine, spices, long and slow — is the backbone of Taiwanese home cooking. Every night market bowl comes with debates about belly vs. shoulder and whether the egg counts, and the dish is so beloved it appears in Taiwan’s tourism campaigns.
Ingredients
- 500 g pork belly, hand-minced
- 4 tbsp fried shallots
- 3 tbsp soy sauce + 1 tbsp dark soy + 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1 tsp five-spice, 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 boiled eggs (optional but traditional)
Steps
- Render the pork slowly until lightly golden.
- Add sugar to caramelize, then soys, wine, five-spice and shallots.
- Cover with water, add eggs, simmer 60–90 minutes until sticky.
- Serve over rice with pickled greens.