Taiwanese Cuisine · FFET10137
Lu Rou Fan (Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice)
Pork braised slowly with shallots, soy sauce and rock sugar and spooned with its sauce over rice, with names that differ between northern and southern Taiwan.
A white porcelain rice bowl holds steamed white rice topped with glossy dark-brown cubes of pork belly and diced mushroom, the thick sauce running down one side into the rice, with wooden chopsticks across the rim.
The regional cooking of Taiwan, drawing on many food traditions, with rich night-market snacks.
Lu rou fan is a Taiwanese dish of pork braised slowly in soy sauce, sugar and spices and spooned with its sauce over steamed rice. In northern Taiwan the name lu rou fan usually means chopped fatty pork; in the south rou zao fan means minced pork, and lu rou fan can mean chunks of pork belly. No dated text for the bowl was found. In 2011, a claim in a travel guide sparked a dispute over whether it came from Taiwan or Shandong, and Taipei City asked for a correction.
What
Lu rou fan is a Taiwanese dish of pork braised in soy sauce, sugar and spices and spooned with its sauce over steamed rice. In northern Taiwan the name usually means chopped fatty pork; in the south rou zao fan means minced pork, and lu rou fan can mean chunks of pork belly.1,2
When
No dated text for the Taiwanese bowl was found. Meat sauce over rice appears in old Chinese texts, and the word rousao appears in the Kangxi Dictionary, but neither establishes a date for this bowl. In Taiwan, the character lu is written with a homophone. In April 2011, the Taiwan edition of the Michelin Green Guide said the dish came from Shandong, after which Taipei City asked for a correction. This dispute over names remains unjudged here.1,2
Where
All of Taiwan and southern Fujian, with names and styles that differ by place. Changhua has a belly-chunk version called kang rou fan and held a festival for it in 2011.1,2,5
How
Pork belly or minced pork is fried with shallots, then simmered low in soy sauce, rock sugar, rice wine and spices such as star anise and five-spice. Shops stew the sauce for hours. In April 2026, a Taiwanese owner's shop in Shaxian, Fujian, spent over 4 hours on each bowl, while a Taiwanese-style tavern in Wuhan stewed its sauce for about 5 hours.3,4,6,7
Why
It is a staple of snack shops and bento shops. The available information does not explain why it is so common, and this entry does not speculate.1,2
Impact and influence
Taiwanese people have also opened lu rou fan shops in Fujian and Wuhan. In April 2026, Yi Wan Lu Rou Fan in Shaxian, Sanming, Fujian, used hand-cut pork and a red-shallot sauce. Taiwanese businessman Li Yaozong opened the shop in October 2025. A Taiwanese-style tavern opened in Wuhan in 2025 serves a bowl from the owner's mother's stall in Taipei. On December 14, 2012, Changhua made a 647 kg bowl of kang rou fan and claimed a Guinness record.5,6,7
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
In northern Taiwan the topping is chopped fatty pork, and in the south there are both minced and belly-chunk versions. This is the simpler way I make it at home: skin-on pork belly cut into small pieces and braised with shallots and mushrooms, with no eggs and no oyster sauce. The amounts and timings below are my own choices at home.
Ingredients
- Skin-on pork belly 450 g, cut into pieces of about 1.5 cm
- Red shallots 4, chopped
- Dried shiitake mushrooms 4, soaked and diced
- Cooking oil 15 ml
- Rock sugar 20 g
- Shaoxing cooking wine 45 ml
- Light soy sauce 45 ml
- Dark soy sauce 15 ml
- Star anise 2 pods
- Cinnamon stick 1 small piece
- Water 450 ml
- Hot steamed rice 4 bowls
Steps
- Soak the dried mushrooms in warm water until soft and dice them. Blanch the pork in boiling water for about 1 minute, then drain.
- Heat the oil over medium-low heat and fry the shallots until golden and fragrant. Add the pork and mushrooms and stir for a few minutes until the pork is lightly browned.
- Add the rock sugar, wine, both soy sauces, star anise, cinnamon and 450 ml of water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat very low, cover and braise for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring now and then.
- Take off the lid and let the sauce reduce over low heat for about 10 minutes, until it turns glossy and coats the back of a spoon. Test a piece: skin and meat should be soft enough to give at a press and there should be no pink.
- Taste, and add a little more light soy sauce if it needs salt. Spoon the pork and its sauce over hot rice while it is still hot.
Tips
- Skin-on belly is how a reference recipe does it, and I do the same; the skin turns soft in the braise.
- Keep the heat low enough for just small bubbles. Sugary sauce catches on the bottom, so I stir now and then, and I set the time by my own pot.
Allergens: soy, wheat