I am CONFIDENT to say that my Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice is 100x better than any bubble tea shop out there.
Welcome to Day 9 of Cooking 15 Street Foods for 15 Days, and today I am making my super EASY and delicious Instant Pot Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice, Lu Rou Fan, that will blow your mind. Savory, rich, and flavorful braised pork belly on top of a hot bowl of rice is what you need this weekend! Make sure to make extra rice because I promise you will have more than one bowl for sure!
Whenever I host dinner, I always make my Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice. It is my most proud recipe and a dish that all my friends and family rave about!
You know your braised pork belly is made right after eating; your lips are stuck together from all that collagen! Yes, Pork rice is good for your skin!!
When I immigrated from Taiwan, the number one dish I missed the most was Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice.
I find that most restaurants here use minced pork, which do not get me wrong, it is still delicious, but it is NOT even close to being the same. The secret to making the best pork rice is HAND CUT pork belly. Yes, I know it is time confusing, but trust me, it is SO worth it. Every bite has a little bit of skin, fat, and meat, the perfect combination!
Here are a few tips to help prepare the pork belly:
- Freeze the meat for 15 minutes before cutting. Slice the pork belly in sections and leave the meat you are not working on in the freezer, so it is easier to cut.
- Sharpen your knife before cutting the pork belly
- Have the skin facing down, so it is easier to cut
I am using packaged fried shallots today. Of course, you can fry your shallots, but I find this method saves ALOT of time and provides the most authentic flavor. Here are a few brands of dried fried shallots that I recommend, JFC Fried Shallots, Lee Brands, or Hanh Phi.
Suppose you also want to make marinated eggs to level up your Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice.
All you have to do is boil eggs and peel ahead of time. And at the end, set the instant pot to “simmer” add in the hard-boiled eggs and cook for another 30 minutes. I like to pair my pork rice with Taiwanese Refreshing Cucumber Salad as it helps cut down the pork belly’s fattiness for the perfect balance.
If you like Taiwanese Food, here are some more EASY & Authentic Taiwanese Recipes you can make at home:
- Two Types of Asian Cucumber Salad (Spicy Garlic, Sweet and Sour)
- EXTRA CRISPY Taiwanese Fried Chicken
- Instant Pot Authentic Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
- Taiwanese Scallion Oil Noodles (Easy & Vegetarian)
- Taiwanese Scallion Pancake (Extra Crispy & Flakey!)
Ingredients
- 2lb of Pork Belly
- 1 cup of Fried Shallots
- ¼ cup of Soy Sauce
- ¼ cup of Dark Soy Sauce
- 1.5 tbsp of Five Spice Powder
- 2.5 tbsp of Sugar
- ½ cup of Chinese Cooking Wine (OPTIONAL)
- 3 cup of Water
- Hand chop pork belly into small stripes, YES, hand-chopped pork belly, a lot of manual work, but trust me, it is worth it! You want to have a little bit of skin, fat, and meat in each slice (Refer to the video tutorial for more information)
- Saute in the Instant Pot for 2-3 minute or until it is no longer pink
- Add in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, five-spice powder, sugar, and mix
- Pour in 2 cups of water and set the instant pot to “pressure cook” for 20 minutes
- After 20 minutes, quick release and add in 1 cup of fried dried shallots. Mix well to ensure everything is combined
- Pressure cook for another 15 minutes and let it natural release
- OPTIONAL: if you want to make marinated eggs, instead of natural release, do a quick release and add in 8 peels of hard-boiled eggs and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.
Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice (Instant Pot)
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 lb of Pork Belly
- 1 cup of Fried Shallots
- ¼ cup of Soy Sauce
- ¼ cup of Dark Soy Sauce
- 1.5 tbsp of Five Spice Powder
- 2.5 tbsp of Sugar
- ½ cup of Chinese Cooking Wine OPTIONAL
- 3 cup of Water
Instructions
- Hand chop pork belly into small stripes, YES, hand-chopped pork belly, a lot of manual work, but trust me, it is worth it! You want to have a little bit of skin, fat, and meat in each slice (Refer to the video tutorial for more information)
- Saute in the Instant Pot for 2-3 minute or until it is no longer pink
- Add in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, five-spice powder, sugar, and mix
- Pour in 2 cups of water and set the instant pot to “pressure cook” for 20 minutes
- After 20 minutes, quick release and add in 1 cup of fried dried shallots. Mix well to ensure everything is combined
- Pressure cook for another 15 minutes and let it natural release
- OPTIONAL: if you want to make marinated eggs, instead of natural release, do a quick release and add in 8 peels of hard-boiled eggs and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Freeze the meat for 15 minutes before cutting. Slice the pork belly in sections and leave the meat you are not working on in the freezer, so it is easier to cut.
- Sharpen your knife before cutting the pork belly
- Have the skin facing down, so it is easier to cut
Hi! I am not a big fan of the chunks of fat in pork belly, if I was to do a mixture of minced pork and pork belly, would you keep the ingredients and cooking time the same?
hi 🙂
i would recommend using half pork shoulder! it would be super delicious. just cut into around the same size and keep same cooking time.
tiffy <3
Thank you!
Hi Tiff! What if I dont Have an instapot? How would I adjust the water? Thanks! April
hi 🙂
cook for 1 hour the first time around @ medium-low heat with the lid on. and cook for another 30min – 1 hour after you add in the shallots @ medium-low heat with the lid on. make sure to keep stirring and check on it so it doesn’t burn.
also adjust to 5 cups of water instead 🙂
tiffy
Looks great! Could you explain step 7? When you want to marinate the eggs, do you shut off the IP and let the eggs just sit in the pork? Also, what are “peels of hard boiled eggs”?
Hi!
make sure you peel the eggs before putting it in the instant pot.
set it to “saute” and simmer for 30 minutes 🙂 or you can just leave it in and let it sit overnight as well.
tiffy <3
Hi Tiffy!
Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes. They’ve been instrumental in remedying my recent homesickness and nostalgia for Taiwan 🙂
Lu Rou Fan is my all time fav! I was wondering if you can provide the cooking directions if we don’t have an instant pot at home? Thank you!
Hi!!
Here is the instruciton if you are using a pot to cook on the stove
cook for 1 hour the first time at medium-low heat with the lid on. check on it constantly to prevent it from burning and stir to prevent it from sticking.
add in the fried shallots and cook for another 30 min – 1 hour at medium-low heat with the lid on.
use 5 cups of water instead as well.
hope this helps <3
tiffy
Just tried it tonite, it’s very good!!! I tried other Braised pork belly recipe using Instant pot but this is tastier! Well done 🙂
Sooo good and the pork belly literally melt in your mouth. Thanks for sharing your no fuss recipes and also your tips!!