Babi kecap or slow braised pork (see my older post) typically requires hours of preparation. It involves hours of cooking on low heat. The result is really rewarding, a well flavoured soy glazed aromatic pieces of pork which will melt in your mouth.
This dish however only requires a small fraction of originally required preparation time, that is why I called it the easy babi kecap. Instead of using the regular pork belly, I use other parts such as boneless ribs which is better for quicker preparation. You could enjoy it with a bowl of steamed rice or noodles if you prefer.
Ingredients (for 2-3 persons)
300 gr of pork (boneless rib meat or any part with good marble of fat), cut into 2x3cm
A handful of smallish button mushrooms or shitake mushrooms
2 medium white onions or shallots, quartered
2 big red chillies, cut into 2 cm, deseed it if you must
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped.
1 tablespoon maizena flour to coat the pork (it will prevent the pork from drying out during the cooking)
1 teaspoon of Chinese five-spice
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
Vegetable oil to fry
5 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
½ cup Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
salt and white pepper to taste
Methods:
Heat a non stick cooking pan, add a glug of vegetable oil.
Coat the pork evenly with maizena flour and pan fry the pork in the pan in several batches until nicely brown but not overcooked, and set aside.
Add more oil to the pan, fry the garlic, onions and chillis until they are fragrant. Take care not to burn the garlic.
Lower the heat. Add both soy sauces stir well until they are bubbly, quickly add the cooking wine and the spices. Check the seasoning.
Return the pork to the pan, add the mushroom, simmer for another 5-7 minutes until the mushroom is cooked through (The mushrooms will produce some liquid that would thin down the sauce, however do add a bit of water if it is too dry).
Serve immediately with a bowl of steamed rice and garnish with coriander leaves or spring onions.
Tip: You could also add some hard boiled (peeled) quail eggs to the dish. Add them to the pan in the last phase of the cooking.
