Tau Ewe Bak – Braised Pork in Soy Sauce

We had this dish frequently during our childhood and we loved it. I cook this frequently for my children. It is a wholesome comfort food. I have added potato as my daughter loves potatoes.

As a child, we sometimes buy this dish from the nearby coffee-shop when my mum was too busy to cook all the dishes for lunch. There were only 1 or 2 coffee shops that sold prepared food and buying take-away food was a novelty. The taste was somewhat different than our home-cooked version, but it was a change, nevertheless.

Note: if you were to add potatoes, choose the ones that do not break easily. You will also need to add in more light soy or some salt to balance the taste.

Quick Info:

Serves:       4 to 6
Difficulty: Moderate

Ingredients:

500g         Pork, diced, you can use pork loin, shoulder or belly
1 head       Garlic
6 tbsp        Light soy sauce
4 tbsp        Dark soy sauce
1tsp            White pepper corns –lightly crushed

4 Eggs        Hard boiled and shelled
8 pieces     Soy puff- cut into 2 – 3 pieces each
Salt              to taste
1000 ml    Water( approximate, you will need about 900 to 1000 ml)
4 Medium Potato –peeled and cut into chunks.(Optional)

Method

1. In a pot put in the pork and add some boiling water and bring it to the boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Discard the water and rinse the pork to remove the scum. Rinse out the pot, put the pork back into the pot and put over medium fire.
2.  Add the garlic and let the pork dry out a bit before adding in the soy sauces and pepper corns.
3.  Let it  boil to reduce the sauce a bit, then add in around 850 to 900ml of  water.
4.  Simmer for 45 minutes. Add in the potatoes and eggs , bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
5.  Add in the hard boiled eggs and the soy puffs and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes until the puffs have soaked in sauce and the eggs has a light brown in colour. Adjust the taste.

Note: some people like the dish to be darker. Some prefer a more soupy sauce. Adjust according to your taste.