Vegetarian/Vegan braised pork rice (滷肉飯)

Because I don't want to blog about any of the serious stuff going on right now (from the Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu being a racist douchebag to my concerns about International Women's Day in Taiwan to the way the Chinese state treats women as per an excellent piece in Foreign Policy)...

...please enjoy a recipe for the tasty lu rou fan I made for dinner last night, entirely out of vegan ingredients. (Well, the egg obviously is not vegan, but you can just leave that out. Other recipes exist, but I daresay mine captures the essence of this dish, just without meat.

That said, please don't think that it's impossible to tell the difference. Certainly, without all that delicious pork fat and general porkiness, there is a slight difference in taste (and a bit of a sesame undertone, but it's pleasant). I tried to make it up through adding other veggie-friendly ingredients that have meaty, hearty flavors but it's not exactly the same.

The sesame oil and preserved tofu are what give this dish some of the meatiness that the pork would otherwise lend; they are really essential for this reason.

Vegetarian/Vegan Braised Pork Rice (generously serves 3, comfortably serves 4)

Eggs, however many you want (leave these out for vegan cooking), hard boiled and shelled
1 package king oyster mushroom (杏鮑菇)
1 package brush mushroom (I don't actually know the formal name for these but they look like brushes)
1 package dry tofu (豆乾) - I like the I-mei brand which is marinated
1 package regular tofu （豆腐), pressed under a heavy object for at least half an hour
1 cup rice wine (米酒)
1 cup low-sodium soy sauce (薄鹽醬油)
1/2 cup regular soy sauce (醬油）
1 teaspoon five spice powder (五香粉）
1/2 teaspoon white pepper （白胡椒粉）
green onion （蔥）, chopped, white and green parts separated
garlic (蒜頭）- three cloves, minced
sesame oil (芝麻油／香油), maybe a quarter cup?
preserved tofu (豆腐乳), the darkest/blackest you can find, 1 tablespoon
fried shallots （炸得小蔥／青蔥), 3/4 cup
sugar （糖) - 1-2 tbsp (to taste)
water (水) - at least 1 cup, more as needed
white rice (白飯) - freshly made and hot
pickled Taiwanese veggies from a jar, if you want

Place the regular tofu on a flat plate with some sort of lip and put something heavy on it - I use a cutting board underneath a teapot full of water. Press for at least 30 minutes until water leaches out.

Bring eggs to room temperature, hard boil, then immediately dunk in icy water to remove shell. Set aside.

Wash all mushrooms.

Mince both kinds of tofu and both kinds of mushroom into tiny cubes - mix together.

In a large wok, heat up sesame oil on medium-low heat. Add the whites of the green onion and the garlic, cook until fragrant (just about a minute). Add the sugar, shallots, white pepper, five spice and preserved tofu, breaking up the tofu so that the whole thing is smooth and oily and liquidy. Add rice wine and bring to a boil. Add both kids of soy sauce and one cup of water, bring to a low simmer. Cook down for a few minutes until everything is well blended, then add your minced mushrooms and tofu, and the eggs. You could also add a few thick slices of ginger, but I don't.

Cook and cook and cook and cook - at least 30 minutes at an absolute minimum, more if you like. You'll want the sauce to be getting thick and gravy-like, the eggs to take on a deep brown color, and the tofu and mushrooms to soak up so much of the sauce that they also become deep brown and look meaty. Add water whenever the sauce gets too thick.

When you feel like it's ready, remove from heat and spoon over hot rice. Each serving should come with one egg.

I like mine to be thick and to 'cover' the rice, so I can mix it in. Some people like it soupier so it soaks into the rice. Either is fine - just add more water if it's too thick, or cook longer if it's too thin. The tofu and mushrooms should hold up to this.

Put some pickled veggies on the side if you like, and garnish with some of the green parts of the onion.

Refrigerates really well - and is actually a bit better re-heated the next day after the braising sauce has really soaked into the tofu and mushrooms, and cooked down again with more water - and probably freezes well, too.

Enjoy!