Name: Lu Rou Sauce Recipe {Braised Pork Belly Sauce}
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 lb Pork Belly, sliced pork belly preferred for easier prep; 2 stalks of Green Onions; 1 small piece of ginger, about 10 grams; 1 tsp canola oil; 4 tbsp Shaoxing Wine; 3 tbsp Naturally Aged Soy Sauce, see notes; 3 tbsp Light Soy Sauce; 1/ 1/2 cup water; 1/2 tsp White Pepper, freshly ground; 1/2 tsp Red Yeast Rice Powder; 1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder; 1/4 tsp Clove Powder; 1 tbsp Arrowroot Flour; 1 tbsp sugar, organic cane sugar or sugar in the raw

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Lu Rou {卤肉} Sauce features juicy, savory pork belly small pieces braised in a delicious sauce. So easy to make in advance and so versatile. With this at hand, you can quickly whip out a tasty and healthy Lu Rou Fan during the week in no time. Just mix this with any vegetables you have and add to a bed of freshly cooked rice.

Lu Rou Fan {Braised Pork Belly Rice Bowl}

What is Lu Rou?

Lu Rou refers to braised pork, usually pork belly, in soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and other spices. Lu Rou Fan or Lu Rou Rice Bowl is a very popular one-bowl meal in Taiwan. When used for Lu Rou Fan, the pork belly is almost always cut into small pieces.

What Ingredients are required to make Lu Rou Sauce {Braised Pork Belly Sauce}

Lu Rou sauce {Braised Pork Belly Sauce} Ingredients — Lu Rou Sauce {Braised Pork Belly Sauce} Ingredients

You will need pork belly, preferably pre-sliced to make the cutting easier.

For the braising sauce, you need Shaoxing wine, naturally aged soy sauce, light soy sauce, and arrowroot flour. You also need freshly ground white pepper, clove powder, cinnamon powder, and red yeast rice powder.

Naturally aged soy sauce, or Jiang You {酱油} in Chinese, is the old-fashioned traditional soy sauce. Sometimes I refer to them as regular soy sauce. Light vs. Dark Soy Sauce is the modern-day Cantonese invention. You can substitute naturally aged soy sauce with dark soy sauce.

What is Red Yeast Rice? Why they are good for you?

Red Yeast Rice and Red Yeast Rice Powder

Red Yeast Rice or Hong Qu Mi {红曲米} in Chinese, is rice that has been fermented with certain types of yeast. The fermentation process changes the color of the rice from white to red.

We use red yeast rice a lot in my hometown Suzhou in China’s Yangtze River Delta Area, as an all-natural food color to cook Pork, Beef Shank, etc.

Red Yeast Rice is a traditional ancient Chinese food item that contains powerful health benefits too. They are praised as one of the top all-natural remedies to mitigate high cholesterol levels. Experts also believe that Red Yeast Rice contains anti-inflammatory substances and may help with metabolic syndrome.

Because of the beautiful bright natural red color and the almost odorless and tasteless nature, I also use red yeast rice to bake an all-natural super yummy Red Velvet Cake.

Lu Rou Sauce Recipe {Braised Pork Belly Sauce}

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Lu Rou Sauce {卤肉} features juicy, savory pork belly small pieces braised in a delicious sauce. So easy to make in advance and so versatile. With this at hand, you can quickly whip out a tasty and healthy Lu Rou Fan during the week in no time. Just mix this with any vegetables you have and add to a bed of freshly cooked rice.

Ingredients

2 lb Pork Belly, sliced pork belly preferred for easier prep
2 stalks of Green Onions
1 small piece of ginger, about 10 grams
1 tsp canola oil

For the Sauce:

4 tbsp Shaoxing Wine
3 tbsp Naturally Aged Soy Sauce, see notes
3 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1/ 1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp White Pepper, freshly ground
1/2 tsp Red Yeast Rice Powder
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/4 tsp Clove Powder
1 tbsp Arrowroot Flour
1 tbsp sugar, organic cane sugar or sugar in the raw

Instructions

Prep:

Wash and rinse pork belly well. Pat dry with a paper towel and then cut into small pieces.
Wash green onions and ginger. Cut green onions into small pieces and then mince ginger into small pieces
Make the sauce - Add everything under "For the Sauce" into a small bowl, mix well, and set aside.
Grind red yeast rice into powder using a spice grinder. Store them in a spice jar for later use.

Pan Fry Pork Belly:

Turn the heat to medium-high and heat a wok for 2 minutes.
Spray about 1 tsp canola oil evenly into the Wok using a homemade oil sprayer. Add about 3/4 green onions, stir fry for about 1 minute or till they are fragrant
Add ginger, continue to stir fry for another 30 seconds, and then add the pork belly.
Continuously mix and fold the pork belly non-stop for about 1 minute to avoid them from sticking to the wok. After a while, the grease released from the pork belly will help lubricate the wok.
Spread out the pork belly pieces into a thin layer across the wok and let them cook for 2 minutes. When the 2 minutes is up, flip and mix the pork belly for about 30 seconds.
Repeat step #5 3 more times.

Braise the Pork:

Pour the sauce into the wok, fold and mix well with the pork and bring to a boil, about 1 minute.
Turn the heat to medium, cover the wok with a lid and cook for 15 minutes.
Flip and mix the pork thoroughly using a slotted turner or bamboo spatula and cook for another 15 minutes.
All done! Garnish with the rest of the green onions.
Add this to a freshly cooked rice along with blanched buck choy, or mix this sauce with other types of vegetable assortment for a healthy and yummy rice bowl.