Braised Pork Belly (Tau Yew Bak)

Braised Pork Belly (Tau Yew Bak)

This recipe known as Tau Yew Bak (in Hokkien) is a delectable dish. Tender and juicy pork belly pieces are slowly braised with spices and soy sauce, into a rich and intense flavour. It is a popular traditional dish among most Chinese families. My mum’s recipe of stewed pork ribs inspired me to recreate this dish with added spices like star anise, cinnamon stick and Chinese five spice powder. The pork belly pieces are slowly stewed with hard boiled eggs over low heat. Dried tofu, potatoes and mushrooms can be combined to this delicious dish.

I added spicy black bean paste to this recipe. Whole white peppercorns are an alternative option, instead of black bean paste. I was delighted with the result and it is well accompanied with steamed white jasmine rice, and a serve of homemade Malaysian chilli paste (sambal belacan). It is another pleasure of mine to share a great favourite of my childhood!

Ingredients:

·         400-500g of pork belly (cut into small pieces). I used spare ribs pieces from the butcher (the layer of pork belly fat with its meat are sliced from the ribs and cut into 1-2 cm cubes. The pork ribs are stewed with these pork pieces

·         1 piece of pork chop (optional). Cut the layer of fat at the top of the meat into thick pieces. These are fried with vegetable oil, for more pork fat

·         4 cups of water or enough water to cover most of a medium sized claypot (From the Asian groceries store)

·         6-8 cloves of garlic (lightly pounded or pressed with the surface of a cleaver or a big kitchen knife)

·         4 slices of 3 cm fresh ginger

·         A handful of chopped spring onions for garnish

·         4 or 5 hard boiled eggs (peeled and set aside to cool)

·         1 cinnamon stick and 2 star anise

·         1 teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder

·         1-2 tablespoon of spicy black bean paste or non-spicy black bean paste (Can be replaced by whole white peppercorns, slightly pounded)

·         4-5 tablespoon of light soy sauce

·         3-4 tablespoon of dark soy sauce, or until desired colour ( I use Cheong Chan Karamel Masakan, a product from Malaysia, widely sold in Asian groceries store)

·         Salt to taste

·         1 teaspoon of white pepper

·         ¾ tablespoon of raw sugar

·         1 teaspoon of palm sugar (optional)

·         A few dashes of sesame oil

·         1-2 tablespoon of Chinese rice wine

·         1 tablespoon of corn flour, mixed with 4 tablespoon of water

Method:

1. Heat a frying pan with 4 to 5 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the fat pieces from the pork chop and sear them until crispy. Set aside and place them in the claypot.

2.  Lightly sear the pork belly pieces, and set aside on a plate. Using the oil from the frying pan, add the black bean paste and lightly fry it with the garlic cloves and ginger slices.

3.  Add the pork belly pieces, fried black bean paste, garlic and ginger into the claypot. Then, add the pork ribs (2-3 small pieces are sufficient) and sprinkle the Chinese five spice powder around this mixture.

4.  Scatter the star anise and cinnamon stick. Add water and mix well under low heat.

5.  Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, white pepper, sugar (this can be replaced with 1 or 2 tablespoon of Kecap Manis – sweet soy sauce), sesame oil, Chinese rice wine and the corn flour mixture.

6. Add the hard boiled eggs and stir well. Cover the claypot and braise the pork under low heat for 30 minutes.

7. Add salt to taste. Continue to simmer on the lowest heat for a further 2 hours or more until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick and glossy. Stirring occasionally and braise the eggs evenly.

8. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve with steamed white jasmine rice. Scrumptious!