''Khong bah png'' ( zh, t=炕肉飯, poj=khòng-bah-pn̄g, alternatively 焢肉飯, 爌肉飯), as known as Braised pork rice, is a

gaifan ''Gaifan'' () or ''gaijiaofan'' () is a type of dish in Chinese cuisine typically offered in low-cost establishments. It consists of a fish, meat, or vegetable topping served over rice. The dish can be either freshly cooked or previously cooked, ...

dish found in Fujianese cuisine and

Taiwanese cuisine Taiwanese cuisine (, Bopomofo:ㄊㄞˊㄨㄢˉㄌㄧㄠˋㄌㄧˇ, or , Bopomofo:ㄊㄞˊㄨㄢˉㄘㄞˋ) has several variations. The earliest known cuisines of Taiwan are that of the Taiwanese indigenous peoples. Over hundred years of histor ...

. Although subject to regional variations, dishes are typically made of

pork belly Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless and fatty cut of meat from the belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in Hispanic, Chinese, Danish, Norwegian, Korean, Thai and Filipino cuisine. Regional dishes France In Alsatian ...

cooked in a process known as lu (boiled and marinated in soy sauce and sugar) and served on top of rice.

Chinese pickles Chinese pickles or Chinese preserved vegetables consist of various vegetables or fruits that have been fermented by pickling with salt and brine (), or marinated in mixtures based on soy sauce or savory bean pastes (). The former is usually don ...

are often eaten with the dish. Braised pork belly likely originated from

Quanzhou Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and was brought to Taiwan by immigrants during the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. Along with the similar lo bah png (minced pork rice), khong bah png gradually became an integral part of Taiwanese

xiaochi ''Xiaochi'' () is an important category of Chinese street food, commonly found in Chinese populated communities around the world. ''Xiaochi'' are substantial snacks, which can be eaten together or with more substantial dishes like the Spanish tapa ...

culture, commonly found at food stalls or

bento A is the Japanese cuisine, Japanese iteration of a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch. Outside Japan, it is common in other East and Southeast Asian culinary styles, especially within Chinese cuisine, Chinese, Korean c ...

stores. Similar dishes can be found within

Hakka cuisine Hakka cuisine is the cooking style of the Hakka people, and it may also be found in parts of Taiwan and in countries with significant overseas Hakka communities. There are numerous restaurants in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, M ...

Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, India ...

, and

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

cuisine. Braised pork rice is one of the most notable Taiwanese foods.

Etymology

Although "焢" and "爌" are both variant characters, the two are more commonly used in the name of the dish than "炕". Additionally, even though all three characters each have different pronunciations in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

, the

Taiwanese Hokkien Taiwanese Hokkien () (; Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-uân-uē''), also known as Taigi/Taigu (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī/Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-gí / Tâi-gú''), Taiwanese, Taiwanese Minnan, Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively by about 70% ...

pronunciation ''khòng'' is colloquially used in place. Therefore, the dish is commonly referred to as ''kòngròufàn'' in Mandarin. In

southern Taiwan The regions of Taiwan are based on the historical administrative divisions. However, most of the definitions are not precise. Division into two regions * Eastern and Western Taiwan: the Central Mountain Range separates Taiwan into east and west. :* ...

, braised pork rice is referred to as 滷肉飯 (pinyin: lǔròufàn), which in northern and central Taiwan refers to minced pork rice. Minced pork rice is instead named "肉燥飯" in the south.

Khong bah png in Changhua

Khong bah png is one of the three essential dishes in

Changhua Changhua (Hokkien POJ: ''Chiong-hòa'' or ''Chiang-hòa''), officially known as Changhua City, is a county-administered city and the county seat of Changhua County in Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. For many centuries the site was ...

cuisine, along with

ba-wan ''Ba-wan'' () is a Taiwanese street food, consisting of a diameter disk-shaped translucent dough made of sweet potato starch filled with a savory stuffing and served with a sweet and savory sauce. The stuffing varies widely according to diff ...

and cat-mouse noodles (similar to ta-a mi). The main difference is that rear leg pork is chosen instead of pork belly. Since the fat and lean meat from this cut often separates during preparation, vendors usually connect the two with a toothpick. The dish is eaten throughout the day, even including breakfast and siu yeh. In 2011, Changhua hosted a festival for Khong bah png. Eighteen local vendors were invited to serve the dish, and the event was visited by President

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...

. In 2012, Changhua set the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the largest braised pork rice at .

References

Chinese rice dishes Chinese pork dishes Taiwanese rice dishes {{Taiwan-cuisine-stub

Etymology

Khong bah png in Changhua

See also

References