Authentic Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice (Instant Pot & EASY)
I am CONFIDENT to say that my Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice is 100x better than any bubble tea shop out there. Whenever I host dinner, I always make my Taiwanese Pork Rice. It is my proudest recipe and a dish that all my friends and family rave about! Savory bites of pork belly simmered until it completely melts in your mouth, you can definitely finish a ton of rice with this Instant Pot recipe.
Instant Pot Braised Pork Rice
Classic Taiwanese Minced Pork Rice in Instant Pot
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 魯肉飯, that will blow your mind. When I immigrated from Taiwan, the number one dish I missed the most was Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice. 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!
Ingredients For Braised Pork Rice
- 2 lb Pork Belly
- 1 cup Fried Shallots
- ¼ cup Soy Sauce
- ¼ cup Dark Soy Sauce
- 1.5 tbsp Five-Spice Powder
- 2.5 tbsp Sugar
- ½ cup Chinese Cooking Wine OPTIONAL
- 3 cup Water
Hand Cut Pork Belly
Most restaurants in Canada will simply use minced pork. Don’t 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 consuming, but trust me, it is SO worth it. Every bite has a little bit of skin, fat, and meat, the perfect combination! You know your braised pork belly is made right if your lips are stuck together after taking a bite. The stickiness comes from all that collagen in the pork skin. So yes, Pork rice is good for your skin!!
Tips For Hand Cutting 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
Sauteing pork belly
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.
Bonus: Add Eggs
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.
What To Eat with Braised Pork Rice
I like to pair my pork rice with Taiwanese Refreshing Cucumber Salad or some Homemade Taiwanese Pickled Cabbage. These are both vinegary side dishes that helps cut down the pork belly’s fattiness for the perfect balance. Sometimes, I also make a side plate of Braised Cold DIshes like seaweed and tofu to make it super authentic!
Step By Step Instructions For Instant Pot Pork Rice
- 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)
By Tiffy Cooks
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lb Pork Belly
- 1 cup Fried Shallots
- ¼ cup Soy Sauce
- ¼ cup Dark Soy Sauce
- 1.5 tbsp Five-Spice Powder
- 2.5 tbsp Sugar
- ½ cup Chinese Cooking Wine OPTIONAL
- 3 cup 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.
- Serve over hot rice.
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
Hi, is it 3 cups water or 2 cups water? The ingredients list 3 cups, but your instructions then say add 2 cups of water. Recipe looks delicious!
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
I made this tonight and followed the instructions very carefully but was wondering if 1.5 Tablespoon of five spice powder is correct. It felt like it overpowered the dish.
Hi SC! Five spice is a pretty dominant flavor for this dish, but if it’s a bit overpowering for you, feel free to dial back the amount you add!
Tiffy
Your recipe says 3 cups water but directions says 2 cups. Which one should I do?
The amount of water can vary a little based on your ingredients, but the general rule of thumb is that you need enough water to cover everything in the pot. That can be anywhere between 2-3 cups, so judge based on your ingredients!
Tiffy
Ingredients say 3 cups of water. Instructions say 2 cups of water. What happened to the last cup of water?
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!!
Hi there your recipe says 3 cups water then the directions later calls for 2 cups only. Which one is it? Thank u!
Hi! Is it supposed to be 2 or 3 cups of water for this recipe? It’s says 3 in ingredient list but only 2 in the steps. Thank you!
Is it 2 cups or 3 cups of water? Ingredients say 3 by instructions say 2. Can’t wait to try this!
Hi Tiffy, it says 3 cups in the recipe but 2 cups water in the directions?
Hi!
Love ALL your recipes, but this one is king because it’s so easy and so delicious. Just one question, in the ingredient list you weote “3 cups water” but in the instructions you said 2 cups of water. Which one should we use?
Thanks!
Hi Trish! So the amount of water can vary, because I usually base the amount of water on how much covers all the ingredients in the pot. While the measurements remain the same, sometimes it can still vary. So sometimes, it takes 2 cups to cover it all, and sometimes 3. If you’re unsure, I’d always just to make sure the water covers the ingredients.
Hi! Is it ok to use frenchs fried onions for this? Thank you!
Hi Emily,
If you really can’t find fried shallots, you could try French’s fried onions. I’ve never tried it, so let me know how it goes!
Tiffy
Hi ! Love all of your recipes! Thank you from a very novice home cook 🙂 we tried this amazing and easy recipe today! Best Lu Rou Fan we had!! We made missed Taiwanese food so this really made us very happy! 😊
Made this last night following your recipe but on the stovetop instead. The flavors were fantastic, very authentic said my Taiwanese husband. I let it cook for 6hrs though and followed your 5 cups of water recommendation but I think it was too much water. And the sauce never really thickened up even though the skin, fat and meat all became deliciously soft. I think I’d do it with less water next time. Can’t wait to try another one of your recipes!
Great recipe! The ingredients say 3 cups of water, but the instructions only mention 2 cups. How much water should be added? Thank you!
The key to the water is it should cover most of the ingredients, and sometimes that amount varies. Start with 2 cups, and if that isn’t enough liquid, or if it’s too salty, add another cup.
What’s the difference between your taiwanese braised pork rice (this one) and your taiwanese braised pork belly recipe? 🙂 thanks!
Hi Amy! The “Taiwanese braised pork rice” recipe is a standalone street food dish, so the pork is chopped up finely so it’s easy to eat in a spoonful with rice. The braised fatty pork is treated almost more as a meat sauce in a way.
The Taiwanese braised pork belly is served in larger chunks and meant to be eaten as a dish – still with rice, but often part of a larger family style meal, or as protein in a lunch box.
We do love our braised pork, it’s similar styles, served differently!
Tiffy
Just made this and I loved it! Perfect simple recipe. I didn’t know it was going to be more on the sweet side, it also had great flavor.
I’ve made this recipe several times, and my family loves it! Thank you for making it so easy.
Have you tried this with chicken (thighs maybe)? I would love to make this for my son’s food festival, but we have a good number of kids who can’t eat pork.
Hi Jayel, this recipe does work great with hand chopped chicken thighs. All you have to do is simply cut the chicken thigh by hand in a similar fashion. Because you’re switching to chicken, you may have to adjust the amount of time in the instant pot, because chicken can come out a lot drier when braised. The texture could be a little different, but if you can’t use pork, it’s a pretty good alternative!
Tiffy
Hii! Can I use quail eggs over regular chicken eggs? Would I need to put it in later than recipe calls for?
Thanks 😀
Hi Vicky, yes you can use quail eggs. You can follow the recipe in terms of timing, because it still needs that same time to soak the flavors in!
Tiffy
Thank you! Im trying it this weekend, can’t wait!!!!