On Baby A's birthday, the c-section surgery went as planned. I walked into the OR around 9:30am and was pushed out around 2 hours later. W was instructed to wait outside while the team was getting me prepared for anesthesia. He then got invited to come in and sat next to me while the team worked on getting Baby A out of me 😂. W was a good DJ and Baby A was born while Taylor Swift's Shake It Off was being played. So...did I feel any pain during this life-changing surgery? No, I didn't. I had a spinal block. I never felt any type of pain during the surgery. Getting the anesthesia injected - however - was the most uncomfortable part of the surgery. There was a lot of pressure. I felt my back being pulled or pushed, or something. It just felt very uncomfortable, not painful, but very uncomfortable. It was also hard to try leaning toward the source of that uncomfortableness. Learning to relax while being uncomfortable was a very hard thing to do. But it was necessary. Once it...
Earlier this month I saw pork belly going on sale at a local Asian store, so I bought 2 slabs. I used one for Lunar New Year's dinner and the other one was used for Taiwanese Braised Pork (滷肉飯). If you haven't tried it, and totally into a gooey, savory, aromatic meat dish, and if you love rice bowls, then this won't disappoint!
滷肉飯 (pronounced as lu-rou-fan) is probably one of the most popular (and iconic) dishes among the hearts of Taiwanese people. It's pretty much pork belly over rice. Pork fat is what makes it gooey (think of that melt-in-your-mouth texture)! This rice bowl is definitely associated with my childhood memory. I remember having bowls of them in night markets and at mom-and-pop shops in Taipei. In my memory, they were about 15-20 NTD per bowl. I know that's not true anymore, due to global inflation. It may cost more to devour this dish now, but that can't stop me from loving it! 😎
About two weeks ago, I made "my version" of Lu-Rou-Fan. We ate half of it and stored the other half in the freezer. We just finished that second half as lunch today. Hubby and I enjoyed every spoonful of the savory bowls! I thought to share my way of making it since it's so easy!
Lu-Rou-Fan is not difficult to make. I promise!
Ingredients:
- 1 Pork belly slab, either diced or cut into small pieces
- 1 Onion (I used yellow), peeled and sliced
- 5 Dried mushrooms (rehydrated, then sliced, water reserved)
- 3-5 Garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tablespoons of fried shallots (store-bought)
- 1-2 Chili peppers, diced (optional only for a spicy kick)
- Rice
Seasoning:
- Low sodium soy sauce, about 1/2 cup
- Rice wine, preferably Shao-Xing wine (紹興酒), about 1/2 cup
- Water, about 1 1/2 cups
- Sugar, 2-3 tablespoons
- White pepper powder, few dashes
- Five-spice powder, few dashes
Instructions:
- Traditionally the first step is to blanch the pork belly slab in a pot of boiling water before cutting them into smaller pieces. I skipped the "blanch step" because I forgot 😅
- Heat a wok over medium-low, and add garlic, fried shallots, mushrooms, reserved water from rehydrating the mushrooms, and chili peppers. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add pork belly, onion, sugar, mix well, let the meat cook over medium-high, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until all pork belly pieces have turned white (indicating the exterior of the meat is cooked).
- Add soy sauce, rice wine, and water. Make sure the liquid covers the ingredients. Stirring occasionally and bring to boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook while covered for at least 30 minutes.
- The ratio for soy sauce, rice wine, and water that I like to use is 1:1:3. This is just the ratio I find easy to remember and the result is something I like. If you prefer a saltier taste, then switch the light soy sauce with dark soy sauce. If you only have dark soy sauce on hand but want to keep the flavor not too strong, then the ratio will need to be adjusted to include more water (the new ratio might be something like 1:1:4). The only way to find out what ratio works best for you is to taste before pouring cups and cups of seasoning into the wok!
- Add white pepper powder, five-spice powder. Mix well, then taste the meat and the sauce! Adjust seasoning if needed.
- If more sauce is desired, add more water and soy sauce (with a ratio of about 1:3 or 1:4)
- For a thicker texture for the sauce, add a "thickening agent" made of cornstarch and water (1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water). Do this only after all seasonings have been added because I found seasonings didn't work well when mixed with cornstarch. Repeat adding this "thickening agent" until the desired level of thickness is reached.
- There! You did it! Now it's time to serve it over rice! 😃
The two pictures above were taken the day I made Rou-rou-fan. We paired it with some string beans and mushrooms (yes, more mushrooms!) I added extra chili peppers because why the heck not? (truth be told, we had so many chili peppers and I was just looking for ways to use them up haha!)
The three pictures below were taken today. The flavor was still there after being in the freezer for nearly two weeks. Hmmmm. Rou-rou-fan is just such a comforting dish!
💗 CM
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