Pork over rice

Something I learned from family this Christmas.  Warning, this makes a lot of food.  It freezes well though.  Please visit your local Asian market for some of these ingredients.

Your shopping list
-large bag of shiitake mushrooms
-fresh shallots
-pork belly or ground pork
-garlic
-fried shallots
-soy sauce
-maybe soy paste
-rock sugar
-Chinese cooking wine
-star anise pods
-Chinese 5 spice powder
-eggs
-cooked rice

Soak 1 large bag of shiitake mushrooms until they are soft. 
Finely chop them and save the liquid.
In a very large pot, put a little neutral oil in the bottom of the pan add add in 4 finely chopped shallots, cooking under medium heat about a minute.
Add in 4 pound of ground pork and finely chopped lean pork belly or a combo of each to the pan and cook over medium high heat, stirring until no longer pink.
Add in mushrooms and cook 2-3 minutes.
(here's where the measurements drift off, use what you like, tasting as you go, of course)
Add in 1 1/2 cups of shiitake mushroom liquid and cook.
Add in about the same amount of Chinese cooking wine and cook
Add in about a cup of low salt soy sauce (if using regular soy sauce, you might not need soy paste that follows later.  I'm writing as if I used low salt soy sauce because that's what I had)
Add 1-2 tbs soy paste.
Add in 7 star anise pods and 3 tsp Chinese five spice powder.
Add in about 8 ounces of fried shallots.
Turn down to medium and add in two small chucks of rock sugar, omit this if you happen to be using aged soy sauce.
Add in 6 cloves chopped garlic.
Taste and add more seasonings and spices and more shiitake water as you cook, simmering over low heat.  You'll want enough liquid to just barely cover the pork.  You want to have a stew consistency.
Cover and cook.
Meanwhile, hard boil and peel some eggs and add to the pot.
Cook about 2 hours.
Taste again and adjust seasonings.
To serve, remove the star anise pods and serve pork and a halved egg or two over hot cooked rice.
The stew can be frozen to eat again later but don't include the egg.  Boil new eggs and simmer when reheating.

To hard boil eggs, cook only as many as you'll need for dinner.
Cover eggs with cold water and let it come to a full boil.
At our altitude, we removed from heat and let sit 12 minutes, then peel.
For lower altitudes, let sit for less time.




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