This Lu Rou Fan or Rou Zao Fan, Taiwanese braised pork is the ultimate Asian comfort food to enjoy by yourself or with your family. It's an easy pork recipe to make for any weeknight dinner. It's so inexpensive to make but offers an abundance of flavors. Serve it with white rice but tastes good with noodles too.
What is Lu Rou Fan
Are you craving Taiwanese food but can't find good (or any) Taiwanese restaurants in your area? Make this signature Taiwanese dish braised pork over rice, also known as Lu Rou Fan (滷肉饭), and quench the flavors you're looking for.
This Lu Rou Fan with ground pork recipe is absolutely the best dish to make on a stove, in a slow cooker or Instant Pot.
Taiwanese Braised Minced Pork Over Rice
This Taiwanese minced pork is probably one of the easiest Taiwanese recipes you can make at home. It uses simple ingredients available in your pantry.
My version of Lu Rou Fan is made of ground pork instead of pork belly. Ground pork cooks faster than pork belly. It's the perfect protein choice for fast and flavorful weeknight dinners.
The Best Braised Meat Sauce
The ground pork is braised slowly in a soy-based sauce and aromatic spices, including fried shallots. The deep-fried sliced shallots really are wonderful to the dish. So please don't skip.
The meat is flavorful and moist and the sauce has the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors.
My mom always made this recipe using pork belly and this dish really brings me back to my childhood.
Every time I go to Taiwanese restaurants, I make sure to order braised pork, hoping it will be a certain way. When it is I'm elated, but very often the dish served at restaurants let me down because either they put too much rice or use too much soy sauce and sugar in the dish.
One of the best things about making your own Taiwanese braised pork over rice or Lu Rou Fan is that you can adjust the sweet and salty levels according to your liking.
The Ingredients:
To make this braised pork recipe, you will need the following ingredients: ground pork, dried shiitake mushrooms, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, shallots, five-spice powder, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, star anise, and whole eggs.
You can buy dried shiitake mushrooms at any Asian market, Kroger, Sprout's market, or Amazon.com.
The Preparation:
The preparation is pretty basic. Here are some steps to follow:
Step 1. Soak the Dried Mushrooms
Rinse the dried mushrooms with cold water. Place them in a bowl and soak with warm water, covered, for 20 minutes. Make sure the mushrooms are fully covered by the water.
Squeeze to drain the mushrooms and reserve the liquid. Slice the mushrooms and set aside.
Step 2. Slice the Shallots
Please don't skip the shallots. You can buy pre-made fried shallots or make your own. I will show you how to fry your own shallots down below.
Step 3. Mince the Garlic
Step 4. Boil the Eggs (optional)
Step 5. Cook the white rice.
How to Make Taiwanese Braised Pork:
1. Fry the Shallots
Heat oil in a pan and cook shallots over medium heat, stirring often for about 8 minutes or longer or until shallots are golden brown. Set aside and reserve about 2-3 tablespoons of oil to cook pork.
2. Brown the Ground Pork
In a large deep skillet or pot, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat. Cook pork until brown. If there is any excess moisture, feel free to drain it with paper towels.
3. Add Spices
Add garlic and ginger. Cook and keep stirring just until fragrant then add the remaining ingredients.
4. Braise
Cook on low heat, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. Stirring occasionally so the mixture doesn't burn. Remember the longer you let it simmer, the more flavor that will come out of it.
FAQ and Cooking Tips:
Yes, you can if that's the only option available. Please keep in mind that dried shiitake mushrooms are richer in aroma and flavor than fresh mushrooms.
Just follow steps #1 #2 #3, use only 1 cup of water then add the remaining ingredients, except the eggs into the pot. Cook on manual for 5 minutes. Once the cooking cycle is completed wait 10 minutes before manually release the remaining pressure. Add the boiled eggs into the pot, select the "saute" setting and cook for 3-10 minutes.
Follow steps #1 #2 #3, use only 1 cup of water then add the remaining ingredients into a slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 6 hours. Add more water if necessary.
You can store the meat dish in an airtight container. Properly stored, it can last 3-4 days in the fridge or 2-3 months in the freezer.
Final Thoughts:
This restaurant-quality Taiwanese braised pork over rice is a simple dish that you can make at home. It requires no cooking skills.
In addition, it's also cheaper to make your own and you could feed a whole family with the same amount of money you'd spend at the restaurant on a dish for one person.
Check Out More Asian Recipes:
- Kalbi Korean BBQ Short Ribs
- Best Pork Tenderloin Stir Fry
- Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Bowls
- Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken Stir Fry
- Chinese Sausage Fried Rice
- Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
- Singapore Noodles (Xing Zhou Mi Fen)
- General Tso's Chicken
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below! I'd appreciate it.
📖 Recipe
Lu Rou Fan, Taiwanese Braised Minced Pork over Rice
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork mince or ground pork
- 1 cup sliced shallots
- 1¼ cup neutral oil
- 7 dried shiitake mushrooms , (rinse, soak in warm water for 20 minutes, drain, slice, and reserve liquid)
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cups dried shiitake mushroom liquid
- ¼ cup Shaoxing wine, (or dry sherry)
- ¼ cup light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 star anise
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar, (add more according to your liking)
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
Optional:
- 6 soft or hard boiled eggs
- salt and black pepper, (to taste)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan. Cook shallots over medium heat, stirring often for 8 minutes or until shallots are golden brown. Set aside. Reserve 3 tablespoons of oil to cook pork.
- Heat oil over high heat. Cook pork until brown. Add sliced mushrooms, garlic, ginger and stir for 1-2 minutes. Add sugar, bay leaves, star anise, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, five-spice powder, and fried shallots. Stir for about 1-2 minutes.
- Add water and reserved mushroom liquid. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a low heat. Simmer, uncovered for about 30 minutes or until a desired taste and consistency is reached. Stirring occasionally and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with rice or noodles.
Chris Collins says
I've never tried Lu Rou Fan before, but it look delicious! I'm a huge fan of pork so I'll definitely be trying this 🙂
Rika says
Thanks, Chris!
HEATHER PERINE says
This dish has so much awesome flavor going on in it!! And you're right the fried shallots are a total must 🙂
Rika says
Thanks for sharing your feedback, Heather! I am glad that you liked it.
Beth Sachs says
This braised pork was seriously delicious! The whole family loved it.
Rika says
Thanks, Beth! I am glad that you liked it.
Beth says
This looks so tasty and making my mouth water! I can't wait to give this a try! So excited!
Elaine says
Such an amazing way to make pork. Definitely the recipe I would make over the weekend. And that glaze is absolutely stunning!
Rika says
Thanks, Elaine!
Cindy Lin says
made this without the mushrooms and still tasted so good! the smell alone brought me back to taiwan --so heavenly. my 5 yr old said it was his favorite. thank you for sharing this recipe.
Rika says
Hi Cindy,
You're welcome. I am glad that you and your son loved this recipe 🙂
Best,
Rika
Angie says
Made this over noodles and added cucumbers as well. It was super delicious. Hubby loved it and said it was like restaurant quality! Thank you!
Rika says
Hi Angie,
Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. I am glad that your hubby loved it 🙂
Best,
Rika