Rou Zao Fan (Taiwanese Braised Minced Pork) is a traditional Chinese recipe for a classic dish of minced pork and shiitake mushrooms braised in soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar before being served garnished with hard-boiled eggs on a bed of rice. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Taiwanese version of: Taiwanese Braised Minced Pork (Rou Zao Fan).
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If you love Hong Shao Rou (Red Braised Pork Belly) and Lu Rou Fan (Braised Pork over Rice), you will love Rou Zao Fan (肉燥饭) even more. It has the same great flavours, but uses minced pork instead of pork belly.
Ingredients:
45g dried shiitake mushrooms
500g minced pork (finely hand-chopped pork shoulder or pork butt is ideal)
3 tbsp oil (any neutral flavoured oil)
1 tbsp ginger (minced)
80g shallots (finely diced)
2 star anise
3 tbsp Shaoxing wine
15g rock sugar (or 1 tablespoon granulated sugar)
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp five-spice powder
500-750ml water (including shiitake mushroom soaking water)
6 eggs
4 tbsp spring onions (chopped, white and green parts)
salt to taste (optional, most likely not needed)
Method:
Begin by rehydrating the dried shiitake mushrooms. Rinse them to wash off any dust then place in a bowl and soak in hot water for at least 2 hours (but best over night). At the end of this time, squeeze out any excess liquid (reserve the liquid) then dice the mushrooms into 12mm pieces.
If desired, finely chop the pork by hand, which will yield the best texture, though minced pork is also fine.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok over medium heat. Stir-fry the ginger and shallots for 1-2 minutes, or until the shallots turn translucent. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook for 2 minutes more.
Increase the heat to high. Add 1 additional tablespoon of oil, along with the minced pork and star anise. Cook until the meat is opaque.
When the pork is cooked, stir in the Shaoxing wine to deglaze the wok. Add the rock sugar (or sugar), light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, five spice powder, and 2 cups of water (including the mushroom soaking water. Just be sure to leave behind any sediment from soaking the mushrooms).
Bring to a boil and once boiling, cover, reduce the heat to medium/medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, hard-boil the eggs. Bring a medium pot of water to a rolling boil. Gently lower the eggs into the water using a large slotted spoon, taking care not to break the shells. Boil rapidly for 30 seconds, and then reduce the heat to low. Cover, and simmer the eggs for 10 minutes. Once cooked, transfer to a bowl of ice water. When the eggs are cool to the touch, peel them and rinse them under running water.
After the pork has simmered for 20 minutes, add the eggs to the mixture, making sure they’re submerged in the sauce. At this point, you may need to add another 120 to 250ml of water to ensure there’s enough liquid to submerge the eggs. Cover and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
Uncover the wok. If the sauce is too thin, increase the heat to medium high, and cook to reduce the liquid level, stirring carefully so as not to break the eggs.
Stir in the spring onions and season with salt to taste. To serve, give each person one egg (cut in half if desired) and ladle the pork over a bed of rice.
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