Taiwanese Stewed Pork Over Rice/Noodles (滷肉飯/麵 - Lu Rou Fan/Mien)

My blog has not been very omnivore-like lately so I have decided to remedy that with this D-E-LI-CIOUS post about one of the best dishes known to mankind.  Yes, it is that good!  This is a traditional Taiwanese meal with pork belly as the big star so readers beware - this is really fatty & not for the faint of arteries.  

滷肉飯/麵 - Taiwanese Stewed Pork Over Rice/Noodles

1/3 ground pork

1/3 pork belly, cubed

1 tb garlic, minced

3 stalks green onion, diced

4 eggs, boiled & shelled (optional)

1 cup small fried tofu, halved (optional)

4 tb soy sauce

1 tb rock sugar (can be substituted with regular sugar if rock sugar is not available)

1/2 tb ground pepper (I prefer white pepper)

1 tb rice wine

1/2 tb sesame oil

1/2 ts five-spice powder

1 cup broth of your choice

rice or noodles of your choice

Makes about four servings.

- Stir fry ground pork & pork belly until just barely done.

- Add fried tofu if you are including it.  Traditionally there is no tofu but I love it & tossed it in.

- Add garlic & green onion until fragrant.

- Add soy sauce, rock sugar, ground pepper, rice wine, sesame oil, & five-spice powder.  Mix until everything is evenly coated with the powder.

- Place mixture to a crockpot along with the broth & eggs & cook on low heat for a few hours.  You can also let it simmer on low heat on the stove for an hour or so if you do not have a crockpot.

- Drizzle mixture over rice or noodles & enjoy!

Look at those amazing bits of fatty pork belly!

I added some zucchini & napa cabbage as my attempt to even out the unhealthy factor of the fatty pork.

Spicy Bamboo & Tofu Chow Ho Fun (筍子豆干炒河粉)

I present to you tonight's dinner - 筍子豆干炒河粉!  I have been craving spicy bamboo & tofu so I was originally just going to make a side dish with that but I saw 炒河粉 (rice noodle) at the market & immediately bought it to make a main dish out of the spicy bamboo & tofu.  For those of you who are not familiar with 炒河粉, it is a wide & flat rice noodle.  This noodle is quite versatile & popular in both Cantonese & Mandarin cuisine.  I grew up eating it both ways which are both equally scrumptious.  

筍子豆干炒河粉 - Spicy Bamboo & Tofu Chow Ho Fun

2 cups fresh bamboo shoot, sliced

2 cups Chinese five-spice tofu, sliced

1/2 package chow ho fun (炒河粉)

2 stalks green onion, chopped into 1" in length

1 & 1/2 tb sesame oil

2 tb chili oil

3 tb light soy sauce

- Heat oils & soy sauce on medium low heat in a saute pan.

- Add tofu & bamboo shoot.  Stir until sesame & chili oils are fragrant.

- Add chow ho fun & green onion.  Mix until the noodles are cooked.  You can cook it longer if you'd like some of the noodles slightly crispy.

I love Chinese food!  I grew up eating this cuisine & most dishes are simple to make.   

Spice In My Life - Mapo Tofu

It's been raining quite a bit as of late and it makes everything appear so drab and boring.  What to do when things get boring?  Add some spice in for my taste buds!  I decided to make some mapo tofu because it contains a) tofu, b) ground pork, c) spice!!  It turned out Ah-mazing if I do say so myself.  Here's a looksie and the recipe.

Mapo Tofu

Vegetable / Canola oil

1/2 lb ground pork

4 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tb spicy bean paste (found in Asian supermarkets)  

1 package soft to medium tofu, sliced into small 1/2" to 3/4" cubes

3/4 cup broth

2 stalks green onion, chopped

1/8 cup cornstarch water

- Add oil to pan and heat on medium-low to medium heat.

- Brown ground pork, breaking it into pieces.

- Add garlic and saute until pork is completely cooked.

- Add spicy bean paste and cubed tofu and mix well.  Use 3 tb of the spicy bean paste if you want a real big kick.

- Add broth and let simmer for 7-10 minutes.

- Add green onion and cornstarch water and mix until the broth is creamy in consistency.

- Serve with rice and devour!

 

I decided to enjoy mine with a side of seaweed on the side.  D-e-licious!