Rice with Braised Ground Pork and Shiitake Mushrooms (香菇肉燥飯)

No kidding, I was drooling over this rice bowl, a true Taiwanese comfort food at its best. And to make it even better? It was equipped with juicy chunky shiitake mushrooms!

Rice with braised ground pork and shiitake mushrooms -

Ingredients (about 4 portions)?

• 1.1 pound/about 500 grams coarse ground pork
• 12 to 14 shiitake mushrooms
• 4 eggs
• 5 bok choy
• 4 portion steamed white rice
• 5 tablespoons chopped shallots
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 stalk scallion
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce paste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• Some olive oil
• 3 small chunks crystal sugar
• 3/4 cup hot water
• Some salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

How?

Prepare about 4 portions of steamed white rice first. I actually mixed some quinoa in basmati for my own preference, brown rice works well too.

Trim the bok choy, if too big to serve as a whole, tear into individual leaves instead. Blanch and set aside for later use.

Destem scallion and finely chop it. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Peel and finely chop the shallots. Destem and cube the shiitake caps.

Take a deep pot and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add in 5 tablespoons chopped shallots, chopped garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Bring to medium high heat and sear till the shallots turn translucent but not burning the garlic pieces.

Add in coarse ground pork and give it a quick stir. Cook till the meat gets separated instead of sticking together as big chunks. Add in cubed shiitake and cook for another 30 seconds or so.

Pour in 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons soy sauce paste, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons mirin, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, and 3/4 cup hot water. Mix and bring the whole thing to a boil, then lower the heat just a little. Not boiling but still bubbling. 

Cook till reduced by half then add in crystal sugar, it'll add some shine to the finished dish once fully incorporated into the sauce. Make sure the crystal sugar has been fully dissolved, continue to cook till only slight juice remains, but not completely dried. In a way, moist but not soupy.

Take another non-stick pan and drizzle some olive oil, turn to medium high heat and wait till the surface turns hot. Make 4 sunny-side up eggs. Try to make the edges slightly browned and crunchy, while the center yolk still runny. Sprinkle some salt on the eggs during the cooking process.

Scoop some rice to the bowl and top with braised pork and shiitake. Place bok choy around the bowl and transfer the egg to the center. Garnish with chopped scallion. Repeat for remaining portions.

Truly a comfort food that can't go wrong. But next time around, there's one thing I would like to modify - use more shiitake and cut into bigger cubes. Chunkier shiitake should absorb even more sauce, imagine all that juice squeezing out when chewing on this dish, simply irresistible.

And that yolk flowing down, slurp. 


Other Asian rice recipes:

• Rice with braised kimchi and beef (泡菜牛肉燴飯)
• Vegetable rice bowl for the family (野菜丼)
• Beef tongue rice bowl with lemon onion sauce (牛タン丼)
• Red miso ground beef rice bowl (月見味噌牛肉丼)
• Japanese comfort food - gyudon (beef and rice bowl) for two