Our restaurant Bao turns 10 this year, and today’s two dishes capture what’s driven us from the start: heritage and innovation. As the season shifts towards autumn, we crave deeper, more grounding flavours, and lu rou fan is just that: rich, savoury and nostalgic. The daikon tots, meanwhile, are a happy kitchen accident from even before we even had a restaurant – they’re crunchy on the outside, soft within and oddly satisfying. Both dishes reflect what we have always been about: balancing the familiar and the unexpected. Honest, humble and a little indulgent, and perfect for that in-between time as summer fades.Lu rou fan (Taiwanese braised pork, pictured top)This involves a two-stage cooking process. The pork is gently poached twice, to make it tender, and it’s then braised in flavoured water, so it soaks everything up and ends up really moist.Prep 15 minCool 4 hr+Cook 3 hrServes 4For the poached pork500g pork belly
10ml michiu (rice wine), or cooking sake2cm piece fresh ginger, bashed with the flat of a knife ½ garlic clove, crushedFor the braise¼ tbsp rapeseed oil
¼ shallot, diced1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 dried red chilli
1 star anise
