Soy Sauce Braised Ground Pork Over Rice 肉燥飯

Since this is the first recipe I'm sharing with the world, I thought I would start with a classic Taiwanese dish.

肉燥飯 [Mandarin: rou zao fan / Taiwanese: bah so png] is a simple dish that is considered a comfort food by many. A Taiwanese person who is homesick would usually be missing this dish. Pretty much every Taiwanese grandmother has her own recipe that she passes down to her daughters and granddaughters. Here, I am sharing my family's recipe, given to me by my grandmother. The measurements are approximate since, like most Taiwanese home cooks, we measure ingredients with rice bowls and soup spoons.

You will need: 1 lb fatty ground pork, 6 cloves garlic, 6 shallots, 1/4 cup fried shallots, 1 tbsp cooking oil, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tbsp soy paste, 10-12 lumps rock sugar, 1/4 cup rice wine, and 1/2 cup water.

Some notes about the ingredients:

• Soy paste 醬油膏 [Mandarin: jiang you gao / Taiwanese: tau iu ko] has a thicker consistency than soy sauce. It also has a sweeter flavor than regular soy sauce and is used in this recipe for the sweetness. This is definitely not something you can find in a western grocery store. I usually buy the Kimlan 金蘭 brand soy paste. Remember to refrigerate after opening.

• Rock sugar 冰糖 [Mandarin: bing tang / Taiwanese: thng sng (old Taiwanese) / ping thng (modern Taiwanese)] is used often in Chinese/Taiwanese cooking. I am not sure what it is about rock sugar, but using granulated sugar in this dish does not give the same flavor. I've tried raw sugar and brown sugar before too. They just don't measure up to the flavor that rock sugar gives. You should be able to find rock sugar in your local Chinese grocery store.

• Fried shallots 油蔥酥 [Taiwanese: iu chhang soo] or 紅蔥酥 [Mandarin: hong cong su] is exactly what its name implies. It has a flavor akin to the french fried onion rings that are used to top green bean casseroles. You can pick this up at your local Chinese grocery store.

• Rice wine 米酒 [Mandarin: mi jiu / Taiwanese: bi chiu] is the most common cooking wine used in Taiwanese cooking. Some Taiwanese rice wine used for cooking has added salt and is not for drinking. I haven't tried substituting with grape wine, and I'm not sure if I want to try. However, sherry can be used as a substitute.

Now, let's start cooking!

First, cut the garlic and shallots into thin slices.

Heat a wok over medium-high heat. When the wok is hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the base. Don't have a wok? A large pan will do.

Add the shallots into the wok and stir-fry for about 10 seconds. Then put the garlic in too. The reason for this order is because garlic browns faster and can burn if put into the wok first.

Next, throw in the fried shallots. Your kitchen should be smelling really yummy at this point.

Now put the ground pork in too. As it cooks, break the ground pork into small pieces with your spatula.

Before the ground pork browns completely, stir in the soy sauce, soy paste, rock sugar, and rice wine.

Cover the wok. And turn the heat down to low. Let the mixture simmer for 5-10 minutes so the flavors can all meld together. Stir frequently. You don't want it to burn. 

This is the point when I usually transfer the pork mixture to another pot to free up my wok to cook something else.

Add some water. Replace the cover and continue to let it braise on low heat for 30 minutes. Stir it once in a while to prevent burning on the bottom. 

While the meat is braising, cook some rice.

When the meat is done, scoop a few spoons of the pork and sauce onto a bowl of white rice. Inhale the wonderful aroma of the meat and shallots and sugary soy sauce. Then it's time to dig in!

If you don't like rice, the meat and sauce are awesome on noodles too. Just cook some noodles (spaghetti or linguine will do). Boil some bok choy in the noodle cooking liquid while you're at it. Top the noodles and veggies with the meat and sauce and some chopped green onions. And now you have 肉燥麵 [Mandarin: rou zao mian / Taiwanese: ba so mi].

Any leftover can go in the fridge. I just put the cover on the pot and stick the whole pot in the refrigerator. To warm it up the next night, heat it up gently on low heat. If the liquid is low, just add some water.

I hope you enjoy this Taiwanese staple. Bon appetit!

Introduction

Welcome to My Taiwanese Kitchen! In this first post, I'd like to explain why I had decided to start this blog.

First of all, I want to share with the world the food that I grew up eating and to increase people's exposure (particularly Americans) to Taiwanese food. Plain and simple. This is my culture -- my food. And if I don't try to share it, then who will?

Another purpose for this blog is to distinguish Taiwanese cuisine from Chinese cuisine. The differences between Chinese food and Taiwanese food are often blurry. While there are certainly similarities between the two, Taiwanese cuisine is uniquely its own. Taiwan's food culture includes influences from southern China, Japan, and the west. At the same time, Taiwan's abundance in food sources, such as seafood, vegetables, and fruits, also informs its food culture uniquely. It is also notable that different regions of Taiwan had developed their own specialties and flavors. Taiwan may be a small island (about the size of Maine), but the foods in different regions are quite varied. This uniqueness and variety are often not appreciated, and I'd like to shine a light on them.

Third, I want to provide other Taiwanese Americans with ideas for cooking Taiwanese food using western ingredients. I live about an hour's drive away from a reliable Chinese grocery store that carries Taiwanese stuff. While that is not extremely far away, it is not as convenient as my local Kroger or Walmart. So I have found suitable substitutions for certain ingredients over the years, and I've also made note of the ingredients that really cannot be substituted with western ingredients. I hope that my discoveries will benefit some people who, like me, may not live at a convenient distance from their Chinese grocery store.

And the fourth and my personal reason for starting this blog is to compel myself to cook more often and order less take-outs. I love to cook, but I often allow myself to get so busy to the point where I have to eat out for dinner. So I hope this blog will serve as a reminder to take a break from the chaos of modern life and enjoy a home-cooked meal every once in a while.

So welcome to My Taiwanese Kitchen! I hope you enjoy your stay.

P.S. Whenever possible, I will provide both the Mandarin and Taiwanese Hokkien pronunciations of the food and ingredients in this blog. The Hanyu Pinyin phonetic system will be used for Mandarin pronunciations, and Taiwanese pronunciations will be provided in the Taiwanese Romanization System.