Lu Rou Fan – Episode 5 | Gon Cookin’

Ingredients

• 1 lbs of ground pork
• 3 tbsp of light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp of dark soy sauce
• 3 tbsp of shaoxing wine, alternatives: sake, soju, mirin, or dry white wine
• 2 tbsp of brown sugar
• 1 knob ginger, or 2 ½ tbsp of store bought minced ginger
• 1 ½ tbsp of minced garlic
• 1 medium sized yellow onion
• 1 tbsp of neutral cooking oil
• ¼ cups of Fried shallots
• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 4 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves of star anise
• 1 tsp of MSG
• 1 tsp of ground pepper
• 4 baby bok choy
• 1 length of yellow pickled radish (optional), sliced
• 1 Stainless steel tea strainer or reusable tea bag

Directions

1. Before starting anything else, soak the dried shiitake mushrooms into a small bowl of water. Room temperature water is fine, but if you have the capacity to use hot water, do that. It’ll soften up faster in hot water. Give it 10-20 minutes to soak
2. Dice one whole medium sized onion, set aside
3. Slice 1 knob of ginger into thin ¼” thick slices. If you have pre-grated ginger from the store, skip this step
4. In a preheated pot, or skillet, brown the 1 lbs of ground pork
5. Add in the diced whole onion, sliced ginger or 2 ½ tbsp of minced ginger, 1 ½ tbsp of minced garlic. Stir to incorporate to let the flavors mingle.
6. Into the pot or skillet, pour in 3 tbsp of light soy sauce, 2 tbsp of dark soy sauce, and 3 tbsp of shaoxing wine. Stir to incorporate
7. Place in and stir the 1 cinnamon stick
8. In the tea strainer or tea bag, put in the 4 cloves, 2 bay leaves, and 3 cloves of star anise. Drop it into the pot
9. Pour in the shiitake mushroom water and strain out the shiitake mushrooms
10. Dice the softened shiitake mushrooms into small bite-sized pieces, and add into the pot. Stir to incorporate
11. Add in the ¼ cups of fried shallots, 2 tbsp of brown sugar, 1 tsp of ground pepper, 1 tsp of MSG, and stir
12. Bring to a boil, then bring the heat down to a simmer.
13. Simmer the pork mixture for about 15 minutes with the lid off to let the sauce thicken. Taste to adjust for final seasoning. Turn off the heat once you’re happy with how it tastes
14. Bring another pot with water to boil to quickly blanche the baby bok choy
15. Carefully place the baby bok choy into the water. Leave it in the boiling water for about a minute. The bok choy will become even brighter green and pull them out at that moment
16. Slice the yellow pickled radish
17. Enjoy with 6 ½ minute marinated ramen eggs (search google for directions)
18. Serve the cooked lu rou fan with rice, baby bok choy, sliced pickled radish, marinated ramen eggs, and ENJOY!!