Recipe : Stewed pork belly – Tauyew Bak

**Someone asked me for this recipe and it was so hard to find the post. So, let me bump this up because it is one of those delicious dishes that every Chinese homes ought to know how to cook.

Tauyew Bak or stew belly pork in soya sauce is a family tradition handed down from generation to generation. Some tauyew bak stands out while others are just ‘passable’. I must say that my mom’s tauyew bak is part of her legacy, handed down to me.

There is no two way about making tau yewbak. It has to be sinfully, cholesterol laden and full of fat belly pork or nothing. My cousin made tauyew bak with lean pork which usually ended up in our lefovers for the dog. 🙂

Usually, I will get a small slice of belly pork and fill the pot with soya bean cake and hard boiled egg.

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This is what the Hokkien calls ‘sam chan bak’ or in Cantonese, it means three layers pork belly. You can see the multi-layers fat and meat plus skin on the pork belly.

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Different family makes tauyew bak or pork belly differently. Some use five spice powder. But for me, I prefer the real thing. One piece of star anise, one little cinnamon stick, some white peppercorn, smoked garlic, dark soya sauce, light soya sauce and most important, brown sugar. Add just enough water to cover the meat and slow boil with pot.

I do not like to use pressure cooker because it doesn’t ‘force’ out the fats as much. The best tauyew bak or pork belly was cooked in a claypot over slow fire. I only add the water when the meat is tender. Usually, there are leftovers which tastes even better. You can scoop off the layer of white lard after it was stored in the fridge and you have a much healthier gravy.
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Tauyew bak with white rice and sambal belacan is heavenly. But don’t indulge often, it is sinful! You can use a pig’s trotter for the same recipe. Add in one or two dried oyster if you are using pig’s trotter. They taste delicious.

Post Author: lilian

Used to be PenangFaces, now known as Food Haven, for all oink-oink foods

14 thoughts on “Recipe : Stewed pork belly – Tauyew Bak

    simmie

    (March 27, 2006 - 2:54 pm)

    Evil pork fat!!!! LOL!!!

    alicia

    (March 27, 2006 - 3:56 pm)

    fatty but delicious.. so most of the time i remove the fats b4 eating..

    soleilina

    (March 27, 2006 - 8:22 pm)

    mmmmmmm…. *drool*… sigh

    lilian

    (March 31, 2006 - 6:09 pm)

    soleilina – Kesian…

    alicia – I do that too but I love the gelatinous skin.

    simmie – Evil, indeed.

    Malaysia Best » Photos : Spices

    (April 6, 2006 - 11:29 pm)

    […] Star anise. I also cannot endure the smell of this. So, I use only a single floret each time. With these three spices, they combine to become part of the Chinese 5-spice powder. Try using one of each and stew your meats with dark soya sauce and light soya sauce. They make great tasting soya sauce stew. (Check out my tau yew bak’s post. Non-halal, sorry) […]

    ML

    (April 11, 2006 - 7:11 am)

    Isn’t the direct translation of tau yew bak, ‘pork in soya sauce’ rather than ‘stew belly pork in soya sauce’? 😉

    Alex

    (May 4, 2006 - 1:03 pm)

    how bout this dish where trotters are normally used? they stew it or something, with lots of black vinegar. how bout a recipe on this? just craving for it suddenly heh.

    i dun reli make a lot of pork dishes here, the pork just has this funny smell. but i’d give tis tau yew bak a try after my exams 🙂

    laramommi

    (May 10, 2006 - 2:13 pm)

    Hi Lilian,
    Kesian the little one in my tummy. Each time i check out yr Food Haven, baby must be drooling! ha… I love tau yew bak. Wan to try yr recipe but may i know what is smoked garlic? Stir fry whole pips of garlic with skin in bit of oil? Thanks.

    annie

    (October 2, 2006 - 11:14 pm)

    wala..tq for recipe.i am a tau yew bak lover!!!!!

    chocolate.zzz

    (August 4, 2007 - 3:18 pm)

    Can you give me the measurement for this tau yew bak recipe as I would like to try out this recipe this coming weekend..Thanks!!

    MiauuuCat

    (April 28, 2009 - 7:08 am)

    Looks soo yummy!
    Can you give me the measurement for this tau yew bak recipe?
    I am 36 weeks pregnant and want to make it after my baby boy born…
    Thank you!

    amy

    (May 12, 2009 - 12:11 pm)

    Please let me know the measurement for the tau yew bak recipe..i really love to try.

    Thank you.

    yeople

    (August 14, 2009 - 8:04 pm)

    great! tried your receipe for a few occassions. Everybody enjoyed the ‘sinful’ food thoroughly.

    fui

    (July 19, 2010 - 2:56 pm)

    I love it! great! looks so yummy. Can you give me the measurement for this tau yew bak recipe, please???I want to try it…..

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