角煮 (Kakuni) and 滷肉飯 (LuRouFan) both are braised pork when you say it in English. That sounds quite boring considering they are different dishes. I was wondering how they compare to each other so I made both. That was a lot of pork for a whole week.
Kakuni is Japanese braised pork, the name literally says "simmered square meat" because of its shape. Kakuni is a household stable and is commonly see in Izakaya (traditional Japanese bar) in Japan. It takes a long time for the meat to absorb the sweetness from mirin, sake, and brown sugar. The dish is cleaner and lighter in taste. Goes well with cold beer.
LuRouFan is Taiwanese braised pork over rice, the name literally says that. It's household stable in Taiwan and moms love adding additional ingredients, like hard boiled eggs, to braise together with pork to make one-pot dish. It has the sweetness and saltiness from soy sauce and spices, and slightly heavier in taste. The meat is cut to long thick slices and braised for a long period of time, but the result is completely different. It goes well with light soup or a cold drink.
Kakuni Ingredient
1 medium Daikon, peeled and cut into 1 ½ inch thickness
a couple slices of Ginger
1 stalk of Leek, only the white part, cut diagonally
2 pounds Pork Belly
1 small Onion, quartered
150 g Mushrooms (Shiitake, Oyster mushroom, or Beech.)
1 small piece Kumbu (Dried Kelp)
80 g Brown Sugar
70 ml Soy Sauce
50 ml Mirin
250 ml Sake (Cheap sake will do just fine. There is no need to use expensive wine. The bottle I got was probably $10.)
1 Liter Dashi (1 L water + 1 cup Bonito Fish Flakes: loosely packed)
Optional: 2 red chili (It's not required. I just like a little kick to it), 1 carrot (I like the sweetness).
Oven preheat to 300°F.
Instruction
Wash pork belly with running water. Use paper towel to pat dry. Place pork belly in a tray, flat. Season with generous amount of salt and put the tray in the fridge for an hour. After an hour, take tray out from fridge, use clean paper towel to remove any moisture from pork belly and clean the tray. Cut pork belly to 2 to 2 ½ inch thickness like a square. Set aside.
Boil water in a pot. Peel and cut daikon into 1 ½ inch thickness. Once water boils, add daikon to the pot and blanch for 10 minute before removing from pot. If you have carrot, blanch them too. Remove from water, set aside.
Turn stove up to med-high heat and lightly grease a Dutch oven. We are not adding too much oil because pork belly will release fat after a few minutes of searing. Add pork belly and sear all sides till brown. Place some paper towels on a tray. Once pork belly is seared and browned, put them on top of paper towel to soak up excess grease. Set aside.
In a sauce pan, boil 1 liter of water and add 1 cup of bonito fish flakes, stir for a little bit and let it boil for 3 minutes. Turn heat off. Bonito Fish Flakes can be found in most supermarkets now. They look like wood chips but actually are smoked dry tuna flakes. Cats love it too. They can have a little bit as treat. Use a strainer to remove flakes. Only keep the clear beige color broth. Toss out wet bonito flakes.
In the same Dutch oven, add daikon, carrot, kumbu, ginger, onion, dashi, brown sugar, soy sauce, mirin, sake, and pork belly (and red chili, if you are using any). Turn heat to high and cook till boil. Remove any impurity forming on top, then turn heat down to simmer. Place lid on Dutch oven and carefully move it to the center of the oven and let cook for 5 hours. 300°F.
After 5 hours, take it out from the oven and add mushroom and leek to the pot. Put it back to the oven for another hour.
LuRouFan Ingredient
1 pound Pork Belly
*2 whole Star Anise
*2 pieces Cassia (Chinese cinnamon bark. It's hard to find in the US so regular Cinnamon Stick will do.)
*1 piece Dry Licorice (available in Asian supermarkets)
*1 tsp whole Black Pepper
3 whole Scallion, washed thoroughly
1 knob Ginger, sliced
40 g Crystal Sugar (available in Asian supermarkets. If not available, brown sugar is fine.)
50 ml Shaoxing Wine (a type of cooking rice wine with 15-20% alcohol content. Available in Asian supermarkets)
300 ml Soy Sauce
1500 ml Hot Water
1 spice bag for cooking
Instruction
Boil 1500 ml water over high heat, once boils, lower heat down to simmer till needed.
Cut pork belly to about 1 inch thickness by 2 - 3 inch width. Set aside.
In a small sauce pan, toast all spices (star anise, cassia, dry licorice, black pepper) over med-high heat till fragrant, then place them in a spice bag for later. Careful not to burn them.
In a Dutch oven or a frying pan, sear pork belly slices over low heat till larger sides turn brown. Remove meat and set aside. In the same pan, add crystal sugar to pork fat from pork belly and stir till sugar melts completely. Then turn heat off, take a cup of hot water from step 1, slowly pour a little bit in to the pot and stir till mixed. Once mixed, add a little more water and repeat.
Add pork belly back to the mixture, as well as soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, spice bag, scallion, ginger, remaining of hot water.
Cover and cook over high heat till boil, then simmer for 1 ½ hour. Serve over rice.
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