lu rou fan (taiwanese braised pork)

my mom made this all the time (like many Taiwanese moms). I suddenly smelled this walking by someone's lunch yesterday, and promptly looked up a recipe and made it. every person in our fam liked it, too!

lu rou fan / taiwanese braised pork over rice

serves 4-6

1.5 lbs mix of pork belly with skin on, and pork shoulder (might try and use just ground pork next time)

1/4 cup minced shallots

8 garlic gloves, minced

4 ginger slices

2-3 star anise

1/2 tsp five spice powder

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

1 cup cold water

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

3-6 hard boiled eggs (optional)

1 green onion, thinly sliced

Brown pork in instant pot (using saute function): Add 1 tbsp peanut oil, make sure whole bottom is coated. Lightly season pork belly's skin with salt. Place skin side down and brown pork for roughly 5 mins per side. Lightly season the other side of pork with salt. Then set aside. 

Add 1.5 tbsp butter to instant pot, making sure the whole bottom is coated. Add 2 tbsp brown sugar, then stir very occasionally until caramelized or sugar has a deep brown color.

Stir in shallots to keep sugar from burning. Then add in ginger and garlic. Saute for 1 more minute. 

Pour 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine and 1 cup cold water into pot. Deglaze by scrubbing all the flavorful brown bits off the bottom of the pot. 

Add in 2-3 star anise, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar, 1/2 tsp five spice powder,  and 1/4 tsp ground white pepper. Give it a quick mix, then turn off the heat. 

Slowly cut the pork into thin strips, and add to Instant pot. Stir. 

Close lid, turn venting knob to sealing position. Pressure cook at High Pressure for 20 minutes + 10 minutes Natural Release.

Vent the Instant pot, carefully releasing the steam. Remove and discard the star anise and ginger chunks. Add in hard boiled eggs, and simmer the pot on Saute function to break down the meat and thicken the sauce. Stir occasionally. 

Taste and add any more salt or sugar to taste. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve over rice. 

Chinese red bean soup with QQ balls

Chinese people eat this sweetened bean soup as a dessert, and the Taiwanese add little chewy (QQ), sticky rice flour dumplings for extra goodness and fun.

red bean soup
makes 12 servings

2 cups red adzuki beans
3/4 cup sugar
2 pieces tangerine or orange peel (optional)

for the QQ (tong shui)
1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
3 tbsp water

Soak the red beans in cold water for 2 hours.

Discard the water, add the beans to a medium or large pot and add water until it reaches 2 in above the beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low Add the optional orange peel and then cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add additional water as necessary.

After 2 hours, the beans should be breaking, but still somewhat firm. Add sugar to the soup and stir or wait to let it dissolve.

Once dissolved, let the soup cook down for up to 30 mins until it reaches your desired consistency.

To make the QQ balls:

Mix the water and rice flour together to form a paste that holds together. If the paste is too dry and does not form a cohesive blob or mass when pressed together, add sprinkles of water a bit at a time until it does. The firmer the paste, the more QQ or chewy the balls will be.

Use your palms to form a log out of the paste, about the diameter of your fingers, or however large you want it. Break off little bits of the dough and round out each bit to form a ball.

Gently place the balls into the gently boiling soup. Once they float (within a few mins), your soup is ready to be eaten. If you overboil these, it's ok, but they will expand and absorb water, becoming less QQ.