Taiwanese Braised Minced Pork with Shiitake and Egg DIY Recipe (w/ Step-by-Step instructions)

My New Year’s resolution is to eat healthier this year, starting by cooking healthier meals (think steamed food, veggies, the works). Well, that resolution was quickly put to the test when I saw this Taiwanese Braised Minced Pork recipe from Woks of Life. My healthy cooking resolution lost – I rationalized that I also wanted to cook better (and try different recipes) as part of my New Year’s Resolution too, so really – this is actually going to help me on that front.

Anyway, ZERO regrets. This dish is SO good, SO simple to make, and I am just SO happy with it. My family loved it too. Based on Woks of Life, I actually cooked enough for 10 people – but uhh, my family of 5 finished it in one sitting, so either Woks of Life assumes people eat very little or my family just loved it way too much (for the sake of my ego, I will assume the latter)

 

DELECTABLE DISH FOR THE DAY: TAIWANESE BRAISED MINCED PORK WITH SHIITAKE AND EGG

DIFFICULTY: Easy

SERVING SIZE: Good for 5 people

COOK TIME: 50 minutes

 

INGREDIENTS FOR TAIWANESE BRAISED MINCED PORK WITH SHIITAKE AND EGG

• 1 kg ground pork
• 1 can shiitake mushrooms (reserve the shiitake liquid)
• 1 tbsp ginger (minced)
• 5 green onions (white part, finely diced) + 2 green onion (leaf part, sliced diagonally)
• 2 star anise
• 6 tbsp rice wine
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp five spice powder
• 2 cups of water (includes the shiitake liquid already)
• 5 eggs

 

STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS TO MAKE TAIWANESE BRAISED MINCED PORK WITH SHIITAKE AND EGG

• As you prep the ingredients for the ground pork, prepare the hard-boil eggs in parallel. First, bring a medium pot of water to a rolling boil. Then gently ease in the eggs using a spoon. Boil rapidly for 30 seconds, then reduce the heat to low. Cover, and simmer the eggs for 10 minutes (water should still be bubbling).

• Afterwards, remove eggs to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and allow the eggs to cool. Once cool (later on, when you’re leaving the ground pork to simmer for 20 minutes), peel the eggs

• Now on to the ingredients prep:
  • Strain the shiitake liquid from the mushrooms, and set liquid aside (to be used later). Dice the shiitake into smaller pieces if needed (I didn’t though – too lazy. Anyway, I thought the size was already okay)
  • Mince the ginger
  • Mince the white part of the green onions (I used 5 stalks), while slicing 2 green onion leaves diagonally

• Time to cook. Heat oil in a medium heat wok. Once hot, put in the ginger and the white diced green onions. Cook for 2 minutes, until the green onions turn translucent or honestly, once it smells good

• Stir in the shiitake mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes

• Increase heat to high and put in the 1kg ground pork along with the 2 star anise

• Cook until the meat is opaque. I typically leave the pork for ~1 minute. Once the underside is cooked, I then flip to cook the other side (similar to how I cook patties)
• After cooking the pork, stir in the 6 tbsp rice wine (for deglazing), 2 tbsp white sugar, 4 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp five spice powder, and 2 cups of water (including the shiitake liquid). Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer (make sure it’s still bubbling), cover the wok and leave it to simmer for 20 minutes
• After 20 minutes, add the 5 peeled eggs to the mixture. The eggs should be at least 2/3 submerged in the sauce (personally, I submerged it completely). If you don’t have enough liquid, you can add a bit of water

• Cover and let it simmer for another 10 minutes
• Uncover the wok after 10 minutes and stir in the diagonally sliced green onion leaves
• Bon Appetit! Serve each plate with rice, minced pork, and an egg sliced in half. Absolutely delicious!