Chinese Tau Yew Bak
Since my second sister came into town, we have been cooking up a storm. (Previously, we have made pineapple fried rice and salted fish bones curry.)
We have also been reminiscing our fond memories of our late parents—sharing the stories of our times with them and those days when we were growing up. Naturally, we talked about the delicious foods that my late mother used to cook for our family and the many dishes that she prepared which we missed dearly although the tastes still linger on our taste buds.
As my second sister is many years older than me, she had the opportunity to learn more about cooking from my late mother. We grew up in a big and poor family, so since she was 12 years old, she was tasked with housework and kitchen chores, including cooking for the whole family. Because of that, she has acquired and inherited most of our family recipes.
Tender Braised Pork Belly
A couple of days ago, we talked about making my mother’s braised pork belly in soy sauce, or tau yew bak (in Hokkien)—one of the many family recipes that my mother excelled in.
Her tau yew bak was legendary; the pork belly was always tender, juicy, and they are steeped in an intensely flavorful soy sauce. The taste was complex, sophisticated, addictive, and utterly delectable. There were always extras such as hard-boiled eggs, tofu, and sometimes, potatoes and mushrooms.
When my parents came to visit us in San Francisco 10 years ago in 2000, I managed to learn my mother’s tau yew bak recipe. I volunteered to make the dish, following the instructions that she had briefed me during her stay.
I added some cracked whole white peppercorn (her secret ingredient!) and slowly braised the pork belly over low heat. The result was rather satisfactory and adequate, in fact, it was delicious but it is never going to be as good as my mother’s version. My sister said that it lacked the taste of “mother,” which, unfortunately, something I could never ever recreate.
Here is my family recipe of braised pork belly in soy sauce or tau yew bak. It’s a savory dish that goes extremely well with steamed white rice, esspecially with a side of sambal belacan. I hope you like the recipe and get to try out one of the many great tastes of my childhood.
How Many Calories Per Serving?
This recipe is only 611 calories per serving.
What Dishes To Serve with this Recipe?
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Braised Pork Belly in Soy Sauce Recipe
Braised Pork Belly in Soy Sauce (Tau Yew Bak) recipe - Pork belly is steeped in an intensely flavorful soy sauce. The taste is complex, sophisticated, addictive, and utterly delectable.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. (0.4 kg) pork belly, cut into small pieces
- 4 cups water
- 1 head garlic, lightly pounded with the back of a cleaver
- 1 tablespoon white peppercorn, smashed and cracked
- 5 hard-boiled eggs
- 8 oz. (226 g) fried tofu/bean curd
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce, kecap manis
- 1-2 tablespoons dark soy sauce, or until it reaches your desired color
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat up a pot or preferably a big clay pot with 4 cups of water. Bring it to boil and then add in the garlic, pork belly, and cracked peppercorns.
- Bring the pork belly to boil before adding the hard-boiled eggs, fried tofu, soy sauce, sweet soy sauce and dark soy sauce.
- Lower the heat to medium and braise the pork for 30 minutes or so until the pork belly is is cooked through and become tender. Add salt to taste. Continue to simmer on the lowest heat for another 15-20 minutes. Dish out and serve hot with steamed white rice.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size
4 peopleAmount Per Serving Calories 611Total Fat 69gSaturated Fat 24gCholesterol 314mgSodium 1628mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 1gProtein 26g
Angeline Toh
I have followed your recipe exactly word for word.. and I love it! it’s delicious! and I love the simplicity of this recipe without having to put the Chinese 5 spice (am not so crazy about the taste).
Mandy
My late grandma always make this dish and she use only pork belly and egg. We always have it with sambal belacan and rice. Unfortunately, I did not get to learn the recipe as I was so young that time but thank you for this recipe! Will try it soon. :)
Jess
hi,
1 pulp garlic means the whole garlic or just 1 clove? :)
Rasa Malaysia
1 head.
Jess
okay thanks. I suppose that’s make up of like 10 cloves or so. As i usually make with about 10 cloves of garlic :)
Rasa Malaysia
Yeah, that’s fine. I like a lot of garlic.
Jess
Thank you so much! :)
Stephan
My grandma put star anise in the pot also! So delicious. One of my fav meals of my childhood.
Rasa Malaysia
Yes, you can put star anise but my family’s recipe doesn’t have star anise.
Cheralyn
Hi Bee,
Tks for sharing this recipe! Can I replace the peppercorns with ginger instead? If so, how much ginger should there be? Also, I intend to replace the pork belly with chicken drummettes instead so I guess total cooking time will be much shorter am I right?
Rasa Malaysia
I won’t add ginger to this dish. Ginger is not supposed to be in this dish. You can skip peppercorns.
Cheralyn
Hi Bee,
I’ve just tried out one version with peppercorns & the other with ginger & surprisingly, ginger actually tasted much better than peppercorns as it gives heat to the dish & enhances the flavour of the pork belly & sauce. In fact, my family actually prefers the ginger version than the peppercorn one so just thought of sharing with you on this :)
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Cheralyn, great that you like ginger, but I won’t add ginger personally. To me, ginger doesn’t belong in this dish.
Cheralyn
Hi Bee, it’s really more of a personal taste then coz some people do not like ginger so perfectly fine to go with peppercorns. In any case, tks again for sharing! :)
Rasa Malaysia
Sure, this recipe is my late mother’s recipe so I wouldn’t change anything for myself. :)
Jackie Soh
As you say, taste preferences are personal. However to add more cultural context, I believe the Tau Yew Bak version with dark soya sauce, garlic and white pepper is more of a Hokkien/fujian provincial style tho maybe more popular in Malaysia and Singapore. The dishes with ginger And light soya sauce are usually more in the Cantonese Style and often called Red braised pork. Strictly speaking those are 2 different dishes much like western chili or bbq has regional variants.
Bev
Is extra firm tofu used in this dish?
Rasa Malaysia
Firm will be fine.
Grace
1 tablespoon of peppercorn is it spicy? Thanks.
Rasa Malaysia
You can cut it down if you like.
j
do we need to put the pot on when braising ?
Michelle Quah
Taste is spot on. I put in sauces soya and kicap first with meat, garlic and peppercorns. Let it caramelised a little with meat oil. Only added water, dark soya, tofu and eggs. It has a smoky aroma to it.
Rasa Malaysia
Michelle, yes, that’s correct.