serves
6
prep
10 minutes
cook
1 hour
difficulty
Easy
serves
6
people
preparation
10
minutes
cooking
1
hour
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- 2½ tbsp neutral oil
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) pork belly or pork shoulder, skin on, cut into 5 cm (2 inch) cubes
- 2 tsp caster (superfine) sugar
- 2 cups (500 ml) chicken stock or water
- Thinly sliced spring onions and sambal belacan (see Note), to serve
Spice paste
- 100 g (3½ oz) shallots (eschalots), or 1 onion
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled 2.5 cm (1 inch) piece
- Frozen aromatic ginger or 1 tsp ground aromatic ginger (see Note)
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds, dry-roasted and ground
- 1–1½ tbsp salted or preserved soybeans (taucheo) (see Note)
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
Instructions
- For the spice paste, blend all the ingredients in a food processor to a fine paste.
- Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat, add the spice paste and fry, stirring, until fragrant. Add the pork and stir-fry, tossing, until seared, then add a teaspoon of sugar and stir-fry for another minute.
- Add the stock and the remaining sugar and season with salt to taste. Simmer, stirring now and then, until the meat is tender and the sauce nicely syrupy (about 45 minutes to1 hour). If the liquid is reducing too quickly, add a little water. Top with spring onions and serve with your favourite sambal belacan (see Note).
Note
- Some preserved soybeans are very salty and it is best to give them a quick rinse under cold water before blending with the other ingredients.
- Aromatic ginger (Kaempferia galanga) ginger is a distinctive fragrant rhizome called sar keong in Cantonese, and it is often used by that community in chicken dishes. Aromatic ginger is often sold in dried form in Western countries, although I have bought it frozen at times.
- To make sambal belacan, wrap 20 g (¾ oz) belacan (shrimp paste), in foil and bake at 120°C (250°F) for 20-30 minutes. Grind 6-7 long red chillies, seeds removed and chopped, with the roasted belacan, a pinch of caster (superfine) sugar and a pinch of salt (or to taste) to a fine paste with a mortar and pestle.
Recipe and image from by Tony Tan, photography by Mark Roper (Murdoch Books, $59.99).
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
