Taiwanese Braised Pork Belly Rice also known as Lu Rou Fan is a classic comfort food with tender pork belly braised in a savory sweet soy sauce. This recipe was simplified to make the cooking steps approachable and easy, while maintaining authentic Taiwanese flavor!
🔍 Quick Look: Taiwanese Braised Pork Belly Rice 🍚
- What is it? A famous Taiwanese comfort food made at home and sold in street stalls all throughout Taiwan! The dish is made with pork belly braised in soy sauce along with fragrant spices like star anise, cinnamon, garlic, bay leaves and ginger. The braised fatty pork is served with hard boiled eggs, blanched veggies (like bok choy or choy sum) on a bed of hot white rice.
- Why you’ll love this recipe: The braised pork is made all in one pot, so little dishes and minimal prep! The ingredients are fairly easy to find in Western groceries or Asian groceries, featuring staple pantry ingredients.
- 🕒 Total Cook Time: 1 hour
- 🔥 Cook Method: Braise the pork in a large pot by browning the pork, then cook on high and lastly cook on low temperature for extra tender pork.
- 👩🍳 Flavor Profile: Sweet and savory with notes of garlic and onion. Hint of Chinese Five Spice for that authentic Taiwanese flavor.
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy! All you have to do is throw all the ingredients in the pot to cook, no need for extra cooking skills.
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Ingredients For Braised Pork Belly Rice
Here’s a look at what you need to make this Taiwanese Braised Pork Belly Rice. The highlights are here but the full ingredient list and quantities of each are in the recipe card.
The star of the dish is the fatty and succulent pork belly. I recommend to keep all the ingredients here to ensure that you maintain that Taiwanese authentic flavor from the restaurant or even the streets of Taiwan! If you’re looking for more easy pork recipes with tremendous flavor, don’t miss my Korean Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal), Braised Minced Pork Sauce, Korean Boiled Pork Belly (Bossam), and Pork With Black Bean Sauce.
- Pork belly (skin-on) – Make sure you get pork with some fat to ensure that the sauce is extra tasty. It is important to get skin on pork belly because cooking the skin gives extra collagen and you will have that classic sticky and thick sauce texture.
- Rock sugar is commonly used in Chinese cooking because it is a little less sweet than granulated sugar and gives the sauce a nice glossy finish! You can still substitute with granulated sugar if that is all you have. You will find rock sugar at almost all asian grocery stores like 99 Ranch and Hmart.
- Aromatics – garlic, onion, star anise, bay leaves, ginger, cinnamon sticks, and Chinese Five spice powder are added to give the authentic Taiwanese taste as well as helps mask the gaminess of the pork flavor. If you omit and substitute one of the spices, it might not taste the same/authentic, so be careful!!
- Shaoxing cooking wine – This is required to take away the gaminess of the pork and gives lots of sweetness to the sauce. Once cooked for a long period of time (1 hour for this recipe), you will not taste the alcohol flavor. You can substitute with dry sherry or sake.
- Dark soy sauce – gives the pork a nice dark brown color. Dark soy sauce is also less salty and flavorful than your classic soy sauce, mainly used for color. Find this at the asian grocery store in the condiments section.
- Soy sauce (low sodium recommended!) – A good soy sauce creates great flavor for this Lu Rou Fan. Make sure you use low sodium so the sauce is not too salty. I like to use Kikkoman Low Sodium Soy Sauce or Kimlan Soy Sauce for authentic Taiwanese flavor.
Substitutions and Variations
- Protein swap. If you don’t have pork belly, try using ground pork, or pork shoulder. Try to find a cut with some pork fat so the pork doesn’t taste too dry when cooked.
- Up level your dish! Add more umami by throwing in diced shiitake mushrooms. This gives the braised pork a deeper flavor a soft chewy texture to the pork!
- Egg add-on. In the authentic Taiwanese Lu Rou Fan, you add in eggs and braise them along with the pork. However, I find that the eggs can get overcooked and taste rubbery so I like to serve with soft-boiled (jammy) eggs when serving.
How to Make Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice
Step 1: Chop up pork belly in 1 inch small pieces.
Step 2: Heat pot on medium-high heat. Fry pork belly for 10 minutes. While pork is cooking, chop your onion and peel your garlic. Set aside star anise, bay leaves, sliced ginger, and cinnamon (You can place them in a spice bag if you have one!).
Step 3: Next, add your rock sugar, onion, garlic, star anise, bay leaves, sliced ginger, cinnamon in the pork belly and fry for 5-10 minutes (on medium heat). Continue stirring.
Step 4: Add salt, shaoxing cooking wine, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, water and 5 spice powder. Make sure your scrape the bottom to get all the good bits.
Step 5: Turn heat to high for 10 minutes uncovered. Then, turn heat to low for 35-45 minutes covered. Skim oil and take out star anise, bay leaves, sliced ginger and cinnamon stick.
Step 6: Serve over rice, a boiled egg and greens like bok choy!
Expert Tips
- If your sauce is too watery, boil the pork belly for 5-10 minutes until your desired thickness. The collagen from the pork will help thicken the sauce.
- Choose the right cut: Use pork belly with a good balance of fat and meat—this ensures the sauce stays rich and the pork stays soft and succulent (also the fat makes a more delicious sauce).
- Render the fat: Gently sauté the pork before braising to release its fat. You can use a paper towel to soak up the fat. I also like to render the fat after braising the pork to ensure the dish is not too greasy.
- Cook on low and covered: Let it simmer gently in the delicious soy sauce base so the pork becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender and absorbs all the savory-sweet flavors. The longer you cook the dish, the softer the pork becomes and the sauce becomes thicker.
- Add in boiling water when cooking so your meat stays tender. Cold water can shock the ingredients and make your meat tough!
Recipe FAQs
Yes you can, but I don’t recommend it because you will lose that collagen thick sauce. If you still do, make sure you choose a ground pork with a good amount of fat content so your dish doesn’t become too dry. Keep in mind, the cooking time will vary with ground pork and the pork will not be as tender as pork belly!
Absolutely in an airtight container in the fridge. It stores well in the fridge for up to 4 days and actually tastes better the next day. Reheat it on the stove or in the microwave, adding some water (few tablespoons at a time) if needed to loosen the sauce.
This braised pork recipe is often served with a warm rice, braised egg (lu dan), pickled vegetables, or blanched greens. It also pairs well with lotus root cakes, steamed Chinese eggplant with garlic, or Korean braised tofu. These sides balance the rich flavors and make it a complete, satisfying meal.
More Easy Pork Recipes for Dinner:
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Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice (Lou Fan)
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork belly (skin-on)
- ½ purple onion or yellow onion finely chopped
- 25 grams rock sugar granulated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 garlic cloves peeled
- 2 star anise
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 inch ginger sliced in half
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ¼ cup shaoxing cooking wine** see sub in notes
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 3 cup water hot water preferred
- 1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder
Serve
- 3-4 cups hot cooked white rice
- soft boiled eggs optional
- steamed greens (brocolli or bok choy) optional
Instructions
- Chop up pork belly in 1 inch small pieces.
- Prepare your aromatics. Chop your onion and peel your garlic. Set aside star anise, bay leaves, sliced ginger, and cinnamon (You can place them in a spice bag if you have one!).
- Heat pot on medium-high heat. Fry pork belly for 10 minutes.
- Next, add your rock sugar, onion, garlic, star anise, bay leaves, sliced ginger, cinnamon in the pork belly and fry for 5-10 minutes (on medium heat). Continue stirring.
- Add salt, shaoxing cooking wine**, dark soy sauce, low sodium soy sauce, boiling water and 5 spice powder. Make sure you scrape the bottom to get all the good bits.
- Turn heat to high for 10 minutes uncovered. Then, turn heat to low for 35-45 minutes covered.
- Skim oil and take out star anise, bay leaves, sliced ginger and cinnamon stick. Add in your boiled eggs now(optional).
- Serve braised pork belly over rice and greens like bok choy!
Notes
-
- If your sauce is too watery, boil the pork belly for 5-10 minutes until your desired thickness. The collagen from the pork will help thicken the sauce.
- Choose the right cut: Use pork belly with a good balance of fat and meat—this ensures the sauce stays rich and the pork stays soft and succulent (also the fat makes a more delicious sauce).
-
- Render the fat: Gently sauté the pork before braising to release its fat. You can use a paper towel to soak up the fat. I also like to render the fat after braising the pork to ensure the dish is not too greasy.
-
- Cook on low and covered: Let it simmer gently in the delicious soy sauce base so the pork becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender and absorbs all the savory-sweet flavors. The longer you cook the dish, the softer the pork becomes and the sauce becomes thicker.
-
- Add in boiling water when cooking so your meat stays tender. Cold water can shock the ingredients and make your meat tough!
Sam Lee says
Recently tried this pork rice recipe and it was so good! The pork belly turns melt-in-your-mouth tender and the sauce is perfectly sweet and savory. Total comfort food and super easy to make! 😋