Monday, August 26, 2013

NYONYA HONG BAK [BRAISED PORK BELLY]

Such a familiar name in the Peranakan cuisine, a dish which I have eaten very often during the time when my grandma was still around.  This dish disappeared from our home after her passing, very sad isn't it?  During the recent ancestral worship, I looked up the recipe in 'Nyonya Flavour' book and found this wonderful recipe.
My hubby's siblings confirmed it is good and suggested that I should prepare this dish for family gatherings.
The 'hong bak' meaning fragrant meat, I think is really fragrant and aromatic.  The sauce is thick and very full of flavours and aroma.  Siang, siang, siang....Phang, phang, phang...

Ingredients
[recipe adapted from Nyonya Flavours with some modifications]
Spice Paste - Ground
100 gm [10] shallots
25 gm [3 cloves] garlic
5 gm [2 pieces] cekur roots
20 gm [3 tbsp] coriander powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp fine taucheo [preserved bean paste]

450 gm pork belly - cut big chunks [can use pig trotters]
2 potatoes - peeled and cut wedges
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt to taste
1- 1 1/2 cups water
  1. Heat oil in wok, saute spice paste until aromatic.
  2. Add in the pork belly.  Stir fry until meat is firm and well coated with paste.  Add in the seasoning.
  3. Pour in water [enough to cover meat].  Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer for 20-25 minutes until meat is tender but not soft.
  4. Add in the potatoes, stir and continue to simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes and meat are soft.
  5. The dish can be served warm anytime with plain white rice and other nyonya dishes.


I'm linking this post to Cook Your Books #3 Event hosted by 

  photo 77951578-1914-4b72-8eda-9e40a91183ac_zps331eb4b4.jpg

10 comments:

  1. Looks tasty. Do you know what is cekur in mandarin?

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  2. Kimmy, I have cooked Hong Bak before from the Nyonya Flavours book. Somehow, I don't like the coriander powder in the dish. But I still enjoyed it anyway. I agree that this dish is very phang!

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  3. Hi Jozelyn, it's tasty but sorry I don't know what is 'cekur' in Mandarin. Have you seen the leaves before?

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  4. Hi Phong Hong, maybe you can reduce the coriander powder but add more taucheo and cekur. I enjoyed it very much.

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  5. Hi Kimmy,
    This looks delicious! I have the book, but have not tried this one yet, perhaps one day!
    Thanks for linking!

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  6. Hi Joyce, most of the recipes which I followed from this book turned out good. Has the 'traditional' flavours and authentic.

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  7. ivy sew http://simplybeautifulhealthyliving.blogspot.comAugust 28, 2013 at 12:00 AM

    Kimmy, this is indeed very delish. I love it :)

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  8. Hi Ivy, it's really yummy with rice. I don't fancy soy sauce gravies but for this one I scooped everything onto my rice and enjoyed it very much.

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  9. Cekur is 沙姜,you can buy from most wet market.

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  10. Hi Lim, most vegetable stalls selling 'ulam' will have this and the dried ones are available at medical shops.

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