Taiwan Lu Rou Fan - Taiwanese Stew Pork Rice

Since I started my studies one month ago, I haven't really had so much time to explore recipes and this is actually a good time to catch up on my postings which are lagging a bit from when I made the dishes. This was done in early August for the first time, and I think it went really well with a dollap of Lao Gan Ma :). However, as this dish is quite oily, what you should/can do is to filter the top layer off, which you can do with one of those oil sieve, or sit the pot in the fridge for the top layer to form and you can take it off easily with a spoon.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, minced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

3-4 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked and diced

300g semi-fatty pork with distinct fat layer you can cut off separately, or pork belly. Diced the meat and fatty parts separately.

1 star anise

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

2-3 tablespoons light soy sauce to taste

Sugar to taste

2 whole hard-boiled eggs, peeled

Side dish

2 leaves of suancai, diced into large chunks

1 cloves of minced garlic

Sugar and salt to taste

Steps

1. Heat up a pot over medium heat and fry the fatty portion of the meat first, over medium heat until it is browned sufficiently. According to some videos I watched, this part is essentially to obtain thick gravy that is characteristic of this dish.
   
   
   
2. Add the onions, garlic to the pot first until slightly browned, then add the mushroom and the rest of the pork and stir fry the mix until the pork changes colour.
   
   
   
3. Add enough hot water to the pot to just cover the mixture and the soy sauces and bring it to a boil before turning down the heat to simmer for about an hour or until the meat turns tender. Add the eggs halfway so they are stewed at the same time.
   
   
   
4. While waiting, using a separate small pot, fry the minced garlic in a little oil until they are fragrant, then add the diced suancai and fry them until they seems a little dry, then add enough water to cover them, salt and sugar to taste and simmer over low heat until they just lose their crunch.
   
5. To serve, scoop over a bowl of rice, the pork stew, hard-boiled egg and suancai. Yums yums!