Ingredients: pork belly (~2.3 pounds), 5 garlic cloves, 2 green onions, 1 star anise, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, fried shallot (optional), 10 eggs, 2 package of fried tofu

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 4 – 4.5 hours

材料：五花肉（約2.3磅）、5 粒蒜頭、2 根蔥、1 粒八角、老抽醬油、醬油、糖、米酒、油葱酥、10 個蛋、2包油豆腐

準備時間：10分鐘 煮食時間：4- 4.5 小時

Directions:

• Pork belly washed and dried. Cut to slices of 1 to 1.5 inch thickness. Rub 3 tablespoons of dark soy sauce onto the pork thoroughly.
• 2 green onions washed and dried. Cut them into 2 inches sections.
• Evenly pour 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the pan of slow cooker. Arrange green onions, 5 garlic and 1 star anise in. Evenly spread 4 tablespoons of sugar into the pan.
• Place the pork belly in. Turn on the slow cooker in high setting. Cook for 1.5 hours. Set the timer.
• Use rice cooker to prepare hard boiled eggs. Cook for 30 minutes for longer. Please see my post of hard boiled eggs for instructions.
• After 1.5 hours of cooking, add 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of rice wine, 1 teaspoon of dried shallot in the pan. Pour in about one and half cups of hot water. The liquid should completely cover the meat. Cook for one more hour.
• At the meantime, Cut fried tofu into small cubes. When one hour is up, add tofu and hard boiled eggs in. Cook for another 1.5 to 2 hours to your desired tenderness of the pork. The meat should be easily poked through with a chopstick or fork when done. During this period, turn tofu and eggs several times for even seasoning and color.

作法：

• 五花肉洗淨擦乾，切成 1- 1.5 吋厚度的肉片。加入3大匙的老抽醬油，用手把肉和醬油仔細拌勻上色。
• 2 根葱洗淨擦乾，切成約2吋的葱段。
• 均勻地倒2大匙蔬菜油到慢鍋鍋中。加入葱段，5 粒蒜頭，1 粒八角和4大匙糖，儘量均勻排列。
• 把五花肉均勻排列入鍋中。把慢鍋打開，設在高溫，煮1個半小時。設一下鬧鐘。
• 用電鍋或電飯鍋煮白煮蛋，煮半個小時或以上。詳細說明請看我的白煮蛋食譜。
• 煮1個半小時之後，加入半杯醬泊，2 大匙米酒 ，1 小匙油葱酥。再加入大約一杯半的熱水，此時湯汁的量要蓋過五花肉。繼續煮1個小時。
• 趁這個時間，把炸豆腐切成小塊備用。1個小時到了後，把豆腐和白煮蛋加入鍋中，再煮1.5 到 2個小時，煮到你喜歡的焢肉軟硬度即可。肉煮好時，應該很容易用筷子或叉子戳透。這段期間，把豆腐和蛋翻轉數次，讓調味和上色均勻。

Note: The traditional Hong Rou has to use the cutting of pork belly with skin and fat. This portion of meat will come out tender and not dry. When you buy pork belly, you can carefully exam them and choose the one with less fat and more lean meat. For reducing my guilt of eating too much saturated fat , I also use pork shoulder in this recipe. However, if you are talking about the taste and texture of the meat, pork belly is still the winner. If you worry about consuming them too much at one time, freezing leftovers is a good way to eat them in modulation. Just heat them up in microwave and the taste is as good as the first day. You can also invite friends over for this delicious dish to share the fat and the guilt. Adding a stir fry vegetable, this will be a perfect meal.

筆記：傳統的焢肉一定要用帶皮的五花肉。這樣煮出來的肉軟嫩而不柴。你選五花肉時，可以仔細看一下，選擇肥肉較少、瘦肉較多的部分。因為吃太多肥肉會有罪惡感，我有時也用帶皮的蹄膀肉，來做這道焢肉。但是若是以肉質和味道來做選擇，五花肉仍是上選。如果擔心一次吃太多不好，可以考慮把它凍起來慢慢吃。想要吃時，用微波爐加熱，味道和剛煮好時一樣好。當然也可以請朋友過來一起吃，大家一起分享這些脂肪和罪惡感。再加上一道炒青菜，就是完美的一餐。