Hunan La Rou He Cai Fan

La rou — Hunan's prized wind-dried and smoked pork — is braised with seasonal vegetables and layered over rice in this quintessential Hunan home-cooked one-bowl meal. Families hang their own cured pork legs each winter, and the smoky, salty meat perfumes the entire dish, creating an intensely comforting flavour that is synonymous with the Hunan countryside.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 300g (10 oz) Hunan la rou (Chinese cured smoked pork belly) or good-quality pancetta as substitute
• 400g (2 cups) jasmine rice, rinsed
• 600ml (2½ cups) water
• 200g (7 oz) fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 150g (5 oz) dried bamboo shoots, soaked and sliced, or canned bamboo shoots
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp (30ml) soy sauce
• 1 tbsp (15ml) Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 3 dried red chillies, broken
• 2 tsp light vegetable oil
• 3 spring onions, chopped
• Fresh coriander to garnish

Instructions

1. If using la rou, rinse briefly and slice thinly across the grain, about 4mm (⅙ inch) thick. Blanch in boiling water 2 minutes if very salty, then drain.
2. Heat oil in a wok or heavy pan. Add garlic and dried chillies and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add la rou and stir-fry 3–4 minutes until the fat renders slightly and edges begin to crisp.
3. Add mushrooms and bamboo shoots, stir-fry 2 minutes. Pour in soy sauce and Shaoxing wine.
4. Place rinsed rice in a heavy-bottomed pot. Spoon the la rou and vegetable mixture evenly over the rice. Pour water over carefully.
5. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to the lowest simmer, cover tightly, and cook 18–20 minutes until rice is cooked through and has absorbed the smoky cooking juices.
6. Remove from heat, rest 10 minutes. Drizzle sesame oil over, fluff gently, and serve in bowls topped with spring onions and coriander.

Cook's Notes: Hunan la rou has a distinctly intense smoked flavour from being hung over burning rice husks. If substituting pancetta, add a drop of liquid smoke to the soy sauce for a closer approximation. The crust of rice that forms at the bottom of the pot (the guoba) is considered a delicacy — scrape and serve it.