Soy Pork (Babi Kecap) ~ My Family Recipe

Babi Kecap (Soy Pork)

Enjoy the soy pork and egg with rice and green veggie

I'm thrilled to be able to share this family recipe as it is by far one of the most popular and loved food in Indo-Chinese society. Soy pork is the ultimate comfort food, it is rich, sweet, salty and fulfilling. I have a strong memory of my grand mother (from my dad's side) cooking this dish especially for me when I visited my birth town, Medan, in North Sumatra, Indonesia. It was a happy moment every time I get to eat this dish when I came home from school as a child.

Every Asian country has a rendition of a soy pork recipe but my mom's recipe is my favourite. Her recipe is so simple, the pork is cooked with the whole garlic bulb (skin ON) and the seasonings are only sweet soy sauce and salt. Mom and dad prefer pork cut with lots of skin (collagen) and fat such as pork leg.

My Birth Town: Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia

I prefer leaner pork meat with bones (pork ribs) and no skin (less fat), and peeling my garlic instead of cooking it whole with the skin as I find biting the garlic skin unpleasant.


Soy Pork (Babi Kecap)
This recipe will feed two people or four people if there are other meat dishes 

Ingredients:

500 grams of pork ribs (skinless) or pork belly/leg (if you prefer my mom's version) cut to small pieces
1/2 cup Sweet Soy Sauce (Indonesian sauce, preferred brand is BANGAO)
1 teaspoon of salt
Water
2 Hard boiled eggs, peeled (or more if you prefer)
5 garlic cloves, peeled.

Method:
1. In a non stick casserole pot, heat a good splash of olive oil on medium heat

2. Sauté the garlic briefly. Add the pork cuts and brown all sides

3. Pour the sweet soy sauce and mix well.

4. Add the water until it just covers the meat. Turn up the heat until the water boils, then turn it to the lowest heat

5. Cook for at least on hour (the longer the meat is cooked the more tender it is), stirring occasionally and making sure that the liquid/sauce doesn't disappear. If the liquid is running low, add more waterand a splash of sweet soy sauce, stir well

6. When the meat is cooked and tender, and the sauce is thick, stir in the hard boiled egg and cook for around five minutes. Remember to Taste Test before serving: Add more sweet soy sauce if it needs more sweetness, add a bit of salt if it needs saltiness

7.  The soy pork is ready to be served. I recommend having it with sweet greens such as green beans or sautéed spinach and rice. My family loves the side sauce of soy sauce and chopped fresh chilli. If there are four people eating this dish, I would recommend cutting the eggs to half so that each person will have half of the egg.

If you try this recipe, I hope you enjoyed your meal. Selamat Makan!