When my mum made this, she did not have a specific name…so we kids called it ‘ho chiak bak’ which means ‘delicious meat’. The one thing which is a must for us with this dish are the hard boiled eggs. Pour the lush, thick gravy over the eggs and eat it with white rice, that makes all the difference.
I like making this dish because it’s pretty unfussy – and the best part is…leftovers. The meat can be used for fried rice, the gravy as a base for a kolo mee dish, I even like to add it to my maggi instant noodle.
Before I learnt how to make it, mum would always make some when I would be in Kuching and she’s pack it in those rectangular plastic containers for me to bring home. But the oil would leak out halfway and make the container all greasy. Her secret to this dish is using ketchup. The ketchup is basically for the sugar to balance out the saltiness and also when you cook it down, it gives a glossy shine to the meat.
Braised Pork and Potatoes
This will go down as something to pass down to the generation after me.
- 400 gms of pork shoulder (cut into cubes)
- 1 big onion (cut into wedges)
- 4 garlic cloves (whole and crushed)
- 2 waxy potatoes (peeled and chopped)
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoon ketchup/ tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- White pepper
- Water
- Hard boiled eggs
- Heat a wok with oil. Add the cut onions.
- Lightly fry till translucent. Add pork. Fry till colour.
- Add pork cubes and garlic, fry with onions till browned.
- Add the shaoxing wine, let it simmer for minute.
- Add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil and ketchup.
- Stir-fry and add water just almost covering. Add white pepper.
- Let it come to a boil. Cover with lid. Simmer for about 1 hour stirring occasionally.
- For the last 30 mins, add the chopped potatoes, put lid back on and cook till potatoes becomes fork tender and gravy becomes thick.
- Add hard boiled eggs with the heat off.
- Serve with white rice.
Enjoy!
