If you’ve never had lu rou fan, some will describe it as Taiwanese adobo. And that’s not too inaccurate, since the two dishes do share one premise: braised pork in a flavorful, soy-based sauce. But lu rou fan’s biggest distinction from adobo is its chunky, saucy texture—it’s less of a stew and more like a minced meat sauce.
Adobo refers to the Filipino dish and cooking technique where ingredients are braised in vinegar with salt (usually soy sauce), garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Almost anything can be adobo: meat, fish, seafood, vegetables. You’ll find endless variations on adobo across the Philippines, each with their own unique flavors, ingredients, spices, and textures.
This adobo recipe follows the Taiwanese form by using hand-minced pork belly. This cooks much quicker than your standard-issue adobo cuts, and yields a tender, well-balanced bite of meat and fat. A cornstarch slurry creates a velvety sauce. If you have Chinese dark soy sauce on hand, a dash of it gives your adobo a richer color.
This adobo works wonderfully as a rice topping. Spoon over bowls of steaming hot rice, garnish with garlic chips, and prepare to come back for seconds.
Slice pork: Using a sharp knife, slice frozen pork belly into thin, ¼-inch slices.
Cook pork: Transfer pork to a cold pan and cook over medium heat, slowly frying it in its own rendered fat. Cook pork, stirring occasionally, until all pieces are browned, about 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with white vinegar and let the acid cook off, 1 minute. Add soy sauces, water, sugar, bay leaves, and pepper. Once liquid is boiling, reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 ½ hours until pork is tender.
Thicken sauce: Whisk together water and cornstarch. Add slurry to adobo and stir until sauce has thickened.
Serve: Divide steamed rice among bowls. Top rice with adobo, then garnish with fried garlic chips. Serve hot.
Dark soy sauce is a Chinese cooking ingredient used to impart a rich, dark “red” color to the final dish. It’s thicker, darker, and less salty than light or regular soy sauce.
If you don’t have dark soy sauce on hand, leave it out. Substituting with light or regular soy sauce will introduce more salt to your dish than intended, and will not achieve the same color as dark soy sauce.
For a more Taiwanese-leaning adobo, garnish your final dish with fried shallots, thinly sliced green onions, and soft-boiled eggs.