Babi Ponteh

Babi Ponteh

My dad gave the green light for this dish. It's slightly different from the others as it's not dark in colour and we skip the potato as well as gula melaka. Popo also used button mushrooms instead of dried shitake.



Disclaimer:1) Every family has their own preference and the recipes differ by a little. I share mine because I grew up eating my Popo's cooking and still prefer her version. (Even though I've travelled all the way to Malacca to try the different dishes)
2) If we are related or if you're my makan buddy, please divide the portion by two. For example, my recipe says for 4 pax. But if we are super close, it's only for 2 pax. Come on, you know we are big eaters...
3) There's a cheat version and Popo's authentic method. Both ways yield the same taste and I'll use Popo's traditional method when I have the time.

Cooking time: 1 hour for cheat version and 3 hours for Popo's method
Portion: 4 people

Ingredients
Pork Belly (200g)
Pork Loin (300g)
Baby shoot (1.5 pieces or half a can)
Button mushroom (10 pieces of a small can and slice it into halves)
Garlic (3 cloves)
Shallot (5)
Tau Cheo (2 tbspn)
Sugar (0.5 tspn)
Dark Soya sauce (1 tbspn)
Water (200ml)
Chinese Parsley (garnish)
Oil (3tbspn)

Method
1. Boil the bamboo shoots until it is soft and slice it.

2. Blanch the pork in hot water. Slice it and set aside.

3. Blend the garlic, shallots and tau cheo into a fine paste.

4. Fry the paste in the oil until it turns patchy.

5. Add in the pork belly and stir it for 1-2 minutes.

6. Add the mushroom, bamboo shoots and water.

7. Let it boil and simmer until it reduces to half it's original volume. It will take about 2 hours for the meat to soften. Check every 30 minutes to stir and add more water if it starts drying out.

8. Add dark soya sauce and sugar to your liking. Garnish with chinese parsley.

9. Cheat method: Transfer the Babi Ponteh stew into a pressure cooker after step 6. Use 150ml of water instead, or sufficient to cover the meat in the pressure cooker and set to 'Stew/soup' mode for 30 minutes. 

10. After releasing the pressure, set the pressure cooker to 'Bake/Saute' mode to boil off the excess water until you get the same consistency in the photo below.

Pro Tip 1: Use more oil or else your taucheo will burn. Scoop out the excess oil after the dish is done. Use medium to slow fire so that it doesn't burn and stir frequently.

Pro Tip 2: The dish is best eaten with rice.