Braised Ground Pork with Rice (aka Lu Rou Fan)

Directions

• Put 8 eggs into a medium pot and fill with water until all eggs are covered. Turn heat to high and cook for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Place dried shiitake mushrooms in small bowl and add hot water. Cover and let mushrooms rehydrate (approximately 15 minutes). Remove mushrooms from water, cut off stems, and slice thinly. Set aside.
• Peel and thinly slice shallots and garlic. In a medium sized ceramic pot, heat 1/4 cup of vegetable oil on medium-high heat and add shallots and garlic to fry. Let garlic brown. Turn off heat and strain shallots and garlic from oil in pot and put on a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up excess oil. Set aside.
• Turn heat on medium-high back on in ceramic pot and add ginger to remaining vegetable oil. After a minute, add slice mushrooms and stir fry for one minute. Add ground pork and break up ground pork. Add Shaoxing rice wine, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, five spice powder, fried shallots and garlic, rock sugar, and water. Wait for meat sauce to boil and then cover with lid and turn heat down to simmer. Leave to simmer for 3 hours.
• After 1 hour, remove shells from hardboiled eggs and add to meat sauce.
  After 3 hours, scoop out and serve with white rice and blanched vegetables.