babi ponteh

finally cooked the babi ponteh today - pork (and chicken) stewed in fermented beans. this is a peranakan dish and i had been eating it since i was a kid, something that my mum would cook during the chinese new year. there are many variants to this dish and some may include potatoes, bamboo shoots, etc. and mostly, it involved only pork as the main meat in the dish. for my family, we do not add potatoes nor bamboo. but we include chicken in addition to the pork. i had experimented with the recipe some time back and have modified the recipe to suit my liking. after cooking it, my mum commented that it reminded her of her mum's (my mama) cooking. that's so flattering! here's my recipe.

ingredients

1kg pork (twee bak) - make sure you have a nice layer of fat and skin as it provides the texture, cut into large pieces

1 medium-sized chicken cut into large pieces, you can replaced it with chicken parts like wings or drumsticks if need be

10 dried shiitake mushrooms - soaked and cut into halves

15-20 shallots & 10 garlic - blended into a smooth paste

3-4 tablespoon of fermented bean paste (tau cheo)

3-4 tablespoons of gula melaka (you can also use white castor sugar or brown sugar, but gula melaka would be more fragrant)

20ml of vegetable oil

4-6 tablespoon of dark soya sauce

10ml of sesame oil (optional)
1 stick of cinnamon (optional - i don't add this)

2-3litre of water (estimated volume)

garnish

coriander leaves (wan swee)

method

place the cut pork cubes and marinate with 1-2 tablespoon of dark sauce and a sprinkle of sugar. heat oil (mix both oil if you choose to also include sesame oil) in wok, pour in blended shallots and garlic. stir fry over slow fire till it turns translucent (should be about 2-3min) and you can smell the fragrance. add the tau cheo paste and continue to fry for another minute or so (you can smell the fragrance). add the pork and continue to stir fry for another 2-3minutes until it is totally covered with the shallot/garlic/tau cheo paste. add the water (or the stock) until the pork is totally submerge in it. add the mushroom, add salt, sugar (to taste) and the remaining dark soya sauce and bring it to boil. lower the heat and simmer for about 2hrs. add chicken parts and simmer for another hour. add garnish, serve hot with white rice (cook extra rice cos nobody eats babi ponteh with just a normal serving of rice!)

other tips

to make it easier for you to cut the pork, you can boil it in water first. you can then filter the water and use the stock later instead of water. same goes for the mushroom. you can soak the mushroom and then use the stock to cook. when you first add the stock, leave some behind and you can top it up when you add the chicken. the dish is best eaten on the second day after cooking cos the extra time would have allowed all the seasoning, and the sweetness of the meat to emerge and mix!

enjoy!