Taiwanese Braised Shiitake Mushroom Minced Pork (Xiang Gu Rou Zao)
A classic Taiwanese comfort food and true soul sauce of home cooking. Dried shiitake mushrooms bring deep, earthy flavour to a mix of fatty and lean minced pork, slow-simmered with soy sauce and aromatics until rich and fragrant. Spoon it over rice or noodles, or drizzle it over steamed egg for an equally delicious result.
Ingredients
- 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 200 g 5% fat pork mince
- 300 g pork belly, diced into small cubes or use 500g pork mince if you prefer a smoother texture
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced (for the crispy shallots) about 100g
- 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
- 350 ml water
- 100 ml mushroom soaking water 500ml total
- Vegetable oil, for cooking
- A small handful of sliced spring onion, for garnishing optional
FOR THE SEASONING
- 50 ml soy sauce
- 50 ml cooking wine, added in two stages
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- ½ tsp five spice powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Soak the mushrooms: Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in water the night before, or until softened. Squeeze out the excess water and dice. Reserve the soaking water.
- Make the crispy shallots: In a cold pan, add the sliced shallots and enough vegetable oil to almost cover them. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to ensure even cooking. Fry until golden, about 12-15 minutes, then remove immediately and drain. Spread out to cool and crisp up.
- Fry the mushrooms: Heat a little oil in a pan and stir-fry the diced mushrooms until fragrant and lightly golden. Remove and set aside.
- Cook the pork: Use the same pan, without adding oil, add the diced pork belly and pork mince. Stir-fry over medium heat until the pork releases water, then continue cooking until the water evaporates and the fat runs clear.
- Add the first half of the wine: Once the fat starts to render, add half the cooking wine (25ml).
- Build the flavour: Add the garlic, sugar and soy sauce, and stir-fry until fragrant and the pork takes on a rich colour.
- Season: Add the remaining cooking wine (25ml), the five spice powder and white pepper. Stir to combine.
- Simmer: Add the water mixed with the mushroom soaking water (about 500ml total, enough to just cover the ingredients). Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms: After 15 minutes, add the fried mushrooms. Cover and simmer for a further 15 minutes.
- Finish: Remove from the heat and stir through the crispy shallots just before serving. Garnish with spring onion if you like (optional), and serve with rice or noodles.
Pull the shallots out as soon as they turn golden, not fully browned. Residual heat keeps cooking them after they're out of the oil, so waiting too long turns them dark and bitter.
As the pork cooks, it will first release a cloudy, watery liquid. Keep stir-frying until this evaporates. Once it does, you'll see the fat turn clearand glossy, and the pork will start to sizzle rather than simmer, that's your sign it's ready for the next step.
Cooking wine helps remove the gamey smell from the pork. If you don't have any, you can simply leave it out, or use dry sherry as a substitute.
Notes
if you're hand-cutting pork belly, freeze it for about an hour first, it firms up the meat and makes it much easier to cut into neat, small cubes.
