Lu Rou Fan (Braised Pork Rice)

Variations

• Ji rou fan: Poached shredded chicken instead of pork.
• Minced pork: Grind the pork belly for a softer texture.
• With mushrooms: Braise in soaked dried shiitake for more umami.
• Spicy: Add doubanjiang or fresh chili.

Tips

• The dice is the design, because what goes on a bowl is two or three spoonfuls. Each of those spoonfuls has to carry meat, fat, skin and sauce at once, and a piece much larger than the rice it lands on cannot. Dongpo rou is the far end of the same cut — one square per person, held in shape on purpose — and its page lists the differences from hong shao rou as "cubed against whole squares, submerged against two-thirds up". Lu rou fan goes one step past the cube. Same belly, three sizes, three jobs.
• Here the gelatin is supposed to leave the meat, which is the opposite of what the neighbours want. Hong shao rou states the mechanism: pork belly is "layers of fat separated by sheets of connective tissue, and it is those sheets converting to gelatin over an hour that give the jelly-soft texture". Dongpo rou keeps its liquid below the skin precisely so that gelatin stays inside the meat, quoting braising's warning that "fully submerged is boiling, and the flavour leaves for the liquid". In lu rou fan the liquid is the point — it is what gets spooned over the rice — so it is allowed to leave, and the sauce gains body with no starch added to it because the collagen went there. Dicing fine does that job too: more cut surface facing the pot.
• Fried shallot is an ingredient, not a blooming step, and five-spice lands in a third position. Char siu works out where a ground blend belongs: blooming spices caps ground spice at about thirty seconds in hot fat, so char siu puts its five-spice into a cold marinade for hours instead — and that page names this dish as leaning on the same blend. Lu rou fan takes a third position: hours in hot liquid, which is the time the whole star anise and cassia in the pot actually want. The shallot is a different kind of thing. Fried slowly to deep gold, what it contributes is browning rather than a volatile aroma, which is why a packet of ready-fried shallots is a real shortcut and not a compromise.
• The finer you dice the pork, the better it clings to the rice — mincing works too.
• Fry the shallots until golden for their signature aroma; fried shallots are a shortcut.
• Five-spice and star anise carry the flavor; cinnamon and clove can stand in.
• If you have time, braise longer on low heat for a richer, softer result.
• The braised eggs taste even better left to soak overnight.