Pork · Slow cooker adaptation

Wendy's Taiwanese Braised Pork Belly (Slow Cooker)

Wendy from Souped Up Recipes braises pork belly the Taiwanese way, with caramelised sugar, fried shallots, and four jammy soy eggs sunk into the pot. Slow cooked low and slow, the meat falls apart under chopsticks and the dark, glossy braising liquid ends up doing more work than the rice it sits on.

R By Richard · Adapted from Souped Up Recipes · Published 23 June 2026
👁 1.5M source views ❤️ 13.4k source likes
⏱Prep 35 min
🍲Slow cook 6 hr (Low) / 3 hr (High)
🍽Serves 4
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Wendy at Souped Up Recipes cooks this dish, Kong Rou Fan, by pan searing a slab of pork belly, caramelising sugar in a wok, then simmering everything in a clay pot for 1.5 hours. It translates very naturally to a slow cooker: the searing and sugar caramelisation still happen on the hob to build colour and Maillard flavour, then everything goes into the slow cooker to braise low and slow. The braising liquid leans on soy, dark soy, star anise, cinnamon, bay, spring onion, fried shallot and Chinese cooking wine. Four boiled and peeled eggs go in too, picking up the soy as they sit. Served over white rice with pickled mustard green to cut the fat.

Slow cooker notes: Original is a 1.5 hour clay pot simmer on the lowest heat. Adapted to the slow cooker by keeping the wok searing and sugar caramelisation on the hob (these build the Maillard crust and the colour foundation Wendy stresses), then transferring everything to the slow cooker. Low 6 hours or High 3 hours gives the same falling-apart tenderness without the babysitting. Liquid is taken straight from the source (3.5 cups water including the mushroom soaking liquid), with no reduction needed because the slow cooker loses very little to evaporation.

Ingredients

Main
  • 900 gpork belly, patted dry, kept whole for searing then sliced into 1.5 cm thick slabs
  • 6 piecesdried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in 2.5 cups hot water for 20 minutes, soaking liquid reserved
  • 4boiled and peeled eggs, hard boiled, peeled
Aromatics
  • shallot, diced (blitzed in a small blender)
  • garlic, diced (blitzed in a small blender)
  • ginger, diced (blitzed in a small blender)
  • 2spring onions, torn apart
  • 1star anise, whole
  • 2bay leaves, whole
  • 1cinnamon stick, whole
  • 60 mlfried shallots
Braising liquid
  • cooking oil, for searing the pork
  • 1.5 tbspcooking oil, fresh oil for caramelising the sugar
  • sugar, for the caramel base
  • light soy sauce
  • dark soy sauce
  • 60 mlChinese cooking wine
  • 840 mlwater, including the reserved mushroom soaking liquid
To serve
  • white rice, cooked (add late)
  • pickled mustard green (add late)

Method

  1. Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in 2.5 cups of hot water for 20 minutes (microwave the water on full power for 4 minutes to get it hot but not boiling). Reserve the soaking liquid.

    ~20 min

  2. Pat the pork belly dry with paper towels. Heat a wok until smoking hot, add a little cooking oil and swirl to coat. Drop the heat to medium, lay the pork belly in skin side down and pan sear until the skin is golden brown, tilting the wok to catch the two ends. Partially cover with a lid to contain spitting oil.

    ~8 min

  3. Flip the belly and lightly sear the meat side, then lift out and rest for a few minutes. Don't over-sear the meat side or the lean parts will turn stringy. Slice the cooled belly into 1.5 cm (2/3 inch) thick slabs. If your belly is pre-sliced, just sear the individual slices until golden.

    ~6 min

  4. Dice the shallot, garlic and ginger together (a small blender does this quickly).

    ~3 min

  5. Discard the browned oil from the wok. Add 1.5 tablespoons of fresh oil and the sugar. Keep the heat on medium low, don't stir. When the sugar starts to melt at the edges, stir constantly. Wait for the caramel to suddenly bubble.

    ~5 min

  6. Immediately toss in the minced garlic, ginger and shallot. Stir for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add the light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, pushing the sauce to the hotter edges of the wok to caramelise it for a deeper flavour.

    ~3 min

  7. Tip everything into the slow cooker pot. Add the seared pork belly slices, star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, torn spring onions, fried shallots, rehydrated shiitake mushrooms (use the soaking liquid to rinse the last of the sauce out of the wok), Chinese cooking wine and peeled boiled eggs.

    ~5 min

  8. Add enough water (Wendy uses 3.5 cups total, including the mushroom soaking liquid already in there) so most of the ingredients sit under the liquid. Stir to combine and taste the liquid, adjusting if needed.

    ~2 min

  9. Cover and slow cook on Low for 6 hours, or on High for 3 hours, until the pork belly is fork tender and the braising liquid is dark and glossy.

    ~360 min

  10. Serve a few pieces of pork belly and an egg over white rice, spoon plenty of the braising liquid over the top, and put pickled mustard green alongside to cut the fat.

    ~5 min

Frequently asked

Do I have to sear the pork belly first?
Yes. Slow cookers steam rather than brown, so the golden crust on the skin and the Maillard reaction on the meat are where most of the flavour comes from. Wendy is firm on this in the source.
Can I skip the sugar caramel step?
It's the colour and flavour base for the whole braise, so don't skip it. Heat the fresh oil and sugar together on medium low, wait until the caramel bubbles, then add the aromatics immediately.
What if I can't find fried shallots?
Slice some fresh shallots and fry them in a little oil over low heat until golden brown, then add to the pot. Wendy notes the fried version gives a different, deeper flavour than fresh shallot.
Can I leave out the eggs or the cooking wine?
Yes to both. Skip the eggs if you don't like hard boiled. Skip the Chinese cooking wine if you can't cook with alcohol. Neither is structural to the braise.
What do I serve it with?
Steamed white rice is the traditional Taiwanese pairing (this dish is known as Lu Dan over rice). Pickled mustard green or pickled long beans alongside cut the richness. Noodles also work.
Extraction notes (transparency): Quantities not stated in transcript and left null: sugar (for caramel), cooking oil for initial sear, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, shallot, garlic, ginger. Pork belly stated as 'about two pounds' so converted to ~900 g. Default servings (4) inferred from four eggs in the braise; not stated explicitly.