Today my kitchen smells and feels like Mom's here, right next to me. I finally learn and tried cooking one of her signature dish. The dish we grow up eating. Just the aroma itself feels so fond, warm and familiar... the glorious Tau Eeu Bak.
Didn't manage to take picture of my attempt. Here's a picture sourced from google I find resemble my dish most.
Ingredients:
1. Pork Belly Strip (Can't remember the weight but it was about 10cm length)
2. 5 whole cloves of garlic
3. 5 shallots
4. 1 small piece of ginger (slightly bruised)
5. Spring onion
6. 1/2 tsp sugar
7. 2 pc of tau kua (bean curd)
8. 4-5 pc of chinese mushroom (soaked in water and stems removed)
Marinade:
1. 2 tsp of Shao Xing wine
2. 1 tsp of soy sauce
3. 1/2 tsp sugar
4. pinch of pepper
5. A dash of sesame oil
*Marinade pork belly strip for approx 1-2 hours preferably.
Sauce:
1. 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2. 1-2 tbsp oyster sauce
3. 1/2 tbsp sugar
4. peppercorns or just pepper
Method:
1. Pan-fried beancurd and keep aside for later use.
2. Slice off the fattier part of the pork belly and pan-fried it in a non-stick pan (without oil) to extract the oil.
*This step uses less or no extra oil at all but optional. Otherwise, just use about 1/2 tsp of oil to saute.
3. With the extracted oil, saute the garlic, onion and ginger till fragrant.
4. Add 1/2 tsp sugar and let it caramelise. Make sure heat is low to avoid burning.
5. Add in the pork belly and coat each side of it with the caramalising sugar. Let the meat brown and sear all sides.
6. Add in the sauce mixture (together with the balance of the marinade) and a few tbsp of water. Let it simmer and thickens.
7. Now, add in about 1/2 bowl of water (or just enough to cover the pork). Simmer.
8. Add in mushroom, beancurd and spring onion.
9. Continue to simmer till pork is tender. Approx 30-40 minutes.
10. Slice the pork into smaller pieces just before serving.
Result:
DH - Can fight restaurant's dish!
Isabelle - Rice... more.. more..
DS and me - Just like mom's!!!
Mom, thank you for passing down such a delicious and wonderful recipe to me that I will treasure all my life. Love you!
2 comments:
Wah, quite complicated compared to the way I do mine - dump everything in pot and simmer till cooked. But, must try your authentic Penang version. The pork belly you put in as a whole piece? I usually cut first. The shallots you put in whole? I don't usually use shallots. Eh, open restaurant-la, I be your no.1 customer. Answer my questions please, thank you.
Germaine,
Thank you for your encouragement :)
1. Yes, I braise the whole piece of pork belly and only cut it into small pieces before serving. But this is optional.
2. Yes, shallots in whole. But shallots is not necessary for this recipe. Again, optional.
Actually my Mom's recipe is not much different from the dump-all-in and simmer. Just one extra step, caramalise and brown the pork belly before simmer. :)
Do try and let me know if you like it ya!
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