Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork Belly in Soy Sauce) 豆油肉

by wiffy on August 16, 2010

in Asian,Braising/Simmering,Chinese,Curries & Stews,Meat,Mum's Recipes,Pork,Recipes,Singapore

Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork in Soy)
True taste of home-cooked food: “Tau Yu Bak” 豆油肉

I grew up eating this dish so this is true taste of home-cooked food to me. Salty and savoury, this dish goes really well with rice and steamed buns (for kong bak bao 扣肉包). Every family has a different way of cooking this dish. My family’s version is quite no fuss – just one type of soy sauce (dark) and no need to grind garlic (or shallots). I re-created the dish from memory of the taste and I let my mum taste test the dish and she said it was good. She liked that the sauce is just the right amount – not too much so it’s still aromatic (but enough to drizzle rice and soak the meat). The recipe is also very forgiving (for example, if too much soy, add more water) and flexible (If you need to add more water, soy sauce or rock sugar to season, do so a little at a time, so that it’s easier to adjust). Do not overdose on the spices (like star anise, cinnamon) because a little goes a long way.

Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork in Soy)

Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork in Soy)
Serving suggestion (with rice)

I was secretly feeling a little pleased with myself after whipping up this dish, until my mum told me that this, to her, is considered “VERY easy cooking – I cook this for the family last time when I am feeling lazy”. Mummy is so frank :P

Ingredients
(serves 3-4)

- 500g pork belly, no need to slice (that works out to 4 slabs of meat for me)
- 3 tbsp dark soy sauce 酱油
- 1 litre water
- 4 eggs (or any amount you like)

Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork in Soy) Ingredients
Some of the ingredients

(A) Stewing Ingredients
- 8 dried Chinese mushrooms
- 1 cinnamon stick 桂皮
- 1 star anise 八角
- 4 cloves 丁香
- 4 small pieces rock sugar 冰糖 (see picture above)
- 1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder 五香粉
- 1.5 bulbs of garlic, separated into individual cloves (do not need to peel)
- dash of white pepper powder

Directions
1. Soak dry mushrooms in small bowl of hot water till puffy, then drain water. Squeeze out the water from mushrooms and trim away stems. Set aside.
2. Prepare 80% cooked hard boiled eggs. To do that, place eggs in saucepan of cold water (enough water to cover eggs one layer). Bring to a boil for about 2 minutes, off the flame and cover with lid for about 7 minutes (for 100% hard boiled eggs, it’s about 10 minutes). Rinse the eggs with cold water till they are cooled. Peel when cool enough to handle. Set aside.
3. In a pot or wok (this will be what you will be using for the braising later), brown pork belly on both sides on medium heat (about 5 minutes for me on each side – see photo below). Do not wash the pot or wok because you want the juices from browning the meat in the stew.
4. Add half of the dark soy (1.5 tbsp) directly over the meat on one side, flip over, and drizzle the remaining dark soy over the other side of the meat.
5. Add water and the ingredients in A. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer (with lid partially closed) for an hour.
6. Check the water level to ensure that the braising sauce is not dried out during the simmering.  You will need to add more water (a little at a time) when the water is drying out.
7. Add peeled hard boiled eggs prepared in step 2 to the stew. Taste and season the sauce (example – for sweeter, add rock sugar; for saltier, add more dark soy; not enough gravy, add more water etc). I usually add about 4 more cubes of rock sugar at this point because I want a bit of sweetness to balance the saltiness.  Simmer for another 15 minutes.
8. When it’s ready to serve, take out the pork belly and slice to desired length. Serve with rice or steamed buns. Garnish with spring onions or coriander.

Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork in Soy)
Browning whole stabs of pork belly for more favour in the stew (step 3)

Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork in Soy)
Putting all the ingredients together (step 5)

Cooking Note
1. I did not add oil to the wok in Step 3 because I left the fat on the pork belly (for favour). If you trim away the fats, you may need some oil.

Variations
1. You can add other ingredients such as tau kwa (fried beancurd/豆干) and tau kee (fried beancurd skin – the type for braising, not for fuchok) at step 7.
2. If you want marbled eggs (like Chinese tea leaf eggs), do not peel the eggs. Instead, gently tap the exterior of the eggs with the back of the spoon to form cracks evenly around the egg, careful to leave the entire shell still intact and covering the egg. This will create the beautiful “marbled” look and also allow the flavours to seep through the eggs.

Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork in Soy)

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{ 60 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Judy August 16, 2010 at 12:42 pm

What a coincidence! I just finished cooking this for lunch! I agree it’s a very easy dish to prepare. Mine is even fuss-free! I don’t use all the spices except for one petal of star aniseed and lots of garlic. My hubby doesn’t like the spice flavour. My recipe is my MIL’s, so naturally I have to use hers for her son. :)

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2 wiffy August 19, 2010 at 3:19 pm

yes, not everyone likes the spices. My mum always add star anise, cinnamon etc to hers so I’m really familiar with this taste :)

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3 Little Inbox August 16, 2010 at 1:14 pm

My version is a simple one, without star anise and cinnamon, hehe…

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4 mochachocolatarita August 16, 2010 at 1:16 pm

omgggg i could eat many bowls of rice with this dish! :D

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5 Angie's Recipes August 16, 2010 at 1:32 pm

Just curious…are you a Hokkien? (I always thought you were a Cantonese. :-))) )
I ate very often the “tau yu bak” when I still lived in my mum’s house. We call it “豆油肉“. I was the one who usually finished up all the black mushrooms and tendons.

Angie

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6 wiffy August 16, 2010 at 1:40 pm

Yes I am. Oh I think you’re right, it’s 豆油肉 not 酱油肉… think I translated wrongly. My mandarin cannot make it T_T gonna edit the post, thanks a lot

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7 peachkins August 16, 2010 at 2:19 pm

Oh my God! These are my favorite things put together!

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8 TasteHongKong August 16, 2010 at 2:27 pm

That sounds very similar to our 滷水 foods. The name 豆油肉 is new to me, but I think they are equally delicious. I enjoy it very much with rice.

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9 lyn August 16, 2010 at 3:11 pm

Oh my, my hubs is gonna love you for this :-) This is his absolute favourite dish. I must try out your recipe!

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10 wiffy August 19, 2010 at 3:19 pm

Hope you and your hub will enjoy this dish :)

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11 Jess @ Bakericious August 16, 2010 at 5:37 pm

I love this dish, so yummy going with rice :)

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12 maameemoomoo August 16, 2010 at 6:17 pm

This is definitely one of our family’s staple!

Seeing this making me wanna cook this again (we just had it last week actually!). Will be buying pork belly from the market tomorrow ;)

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13 wyyv August 16, 2010 at 9:56 pm

OMG! How i wish i could have this for 2morrow night dinner.. It’s just so nice and tasty^^

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14 Tastes of Home August 16, 2010 at 9:57 pm

i love this dish! I’ve never tried cooking this before hehe might have to try one day soon :)

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15 joudie's mood food August 16, 2010 at 10:08 pm

I love pork, but have never eaten it this way. Looks very interesting and full of flavour. Next on my list….

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16 Cooking Gallery August 17, 2010 at 12:31 am

Love this dish… especially with rice. The last time I ate this was around 2 years ago…!

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17 mycookinghut August 17, 2010 at 1:57 am

This is my all time favourite dish! I wish I could have some right now! It always put a smile on my face… yummy!!

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18 tigerfish August 17, 2010 at 2:58 am

I can just eat rice with the gravy :)

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19 Xiaolu August 17, 2010 at 3:07 am

One thing I remember and miss from still eating meat when I was little is the wonderful soups and braises. This looks very yummy.

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20 MaryMoh August 17, 2010 at 3:26 am

This is delicious! I remember eating this when we were young. We can eat a lot of rice with just the sauce alone. I love the eggs too, very flavourful.

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21 Chris August 17, 2010 at 9:10 am

Hi Wiffy, thank you so much for sharing this dish. I have been searching and waiting for someone to post this tau yu bak which I have been craving for a while but dont know how to cook. I tried your steam tofu with minced meat and wolfberry last week end. I tried a few of your dishes and they were very nice and easy to prepare. Shall drop by here more often to learn from you. thank you once again.

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22 wiffy August 19, 2010 at 3:22 pm

thanks for trying out the dishes. Glad they turn out well :) And hope you’ll like this dish when you try it also :)

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23 Christina August 17, 2010 at 2:11 pm

Looks yummy. Will try this out. Thanks for sharing.

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24 Clare @ Mrs Multitasker August 18, 2010 at 12:21 am

Looks gorgeous wiffy =) I have to do a step by step comparison with the recipe I use to see what’s the difference and try yours out sometime! I like mine but I always feel there’s just a little something missing… I love my mum-in-law’s but she doesn’t have a fixed recipe!

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25 Ivy @ My Simple Food August 18, 2010 at 2:00 am

This is my family favourite too. Though we don’t really add the satr anise and cinnamon but I think the flavour is much richer when you add them. Love to eat the egg and the gravy.

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26 pigpigscorner August 18, 2010 at 2:57 am

I love this! Now I have to cook some really soon!

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27 lisaiscooking August 18, 2010 at 4:57 am

The sauce must be so flavorful. Looks delicious with the eggs!

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28 baobabs August 18, 2010 at 6:04 pm

awwww i really miss this. My mother used to make this often. funny it’s the same recipe, but in place of rock sugar, she uses the red dates sweet sauce that also gives it the colouring. :)

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29 wiffy August 19, 2010 at 3:28 pm

that’s interesting! I’ve never heard of red dates sweet sauce but I’ll like it. Would love to try this version one day :)

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30 Lia Chen August 18, 2010 at 6:48 pm

Great dish! Run well with rice … no need to add other dish. So hungry now :)

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31 HungryC August 18, 2010 at 7:26 pm

I like tau yu bak with sambal belacan, but what I love most is the fatty pork that melts in the mouth.

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32 wiffy August 24, 2010 at 4:52 pm

the fatty part is definitely my favourite too :p

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33 Fable December 14, 2011 at 11:48 am

oh yes! this is definitely my fav dish too! and no..don’t be guilt trip by the fats .. they might do just good for you.. in fact it’s probably rice we need to go easy on instead ;)

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRe9z32NZHY

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34 jo August 18, 2010 at 10:16 pm

Wiffy, this looks absolutely delicious. Love the flavours and colour of this dish. I too made some braised pork belly a couple of weeks back .. yum! Love this sauce with steaming white rice.

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35 3hungrytummies August 19, 2010 at 7:11 am

This has to be the best tao yu bak I have ever seen! I can imagine how many bowl of rice I will need.

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36 gertrude August 19, 2010 at 9:53 am

This is a must have dish in our family during festive season. So Hokkien :) I actually like eating this the second day as I think it taste much better.

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37 wiffy August 19, 2010 at 3:17 pm

yes! somehow it tastes better the second day. I like to cook extras, keep leftovers in a claypot, reheat the next day. It’s really yummy :)

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38 Shell August 19, 2010 at 10:47 am

This looks delicious! I bought some pork belly in one slab today (1.3kg) but it has the skin on. Do you remove the skin? And how big should each piece of meat be if I cut it up (I will only use 500gm and save the rest for twice cooked pork belly – yum!) Last question, is the dark soy just plain dark soy or a sweet dark soy like kecap manis?
Thanks!
Can’t wait to make it,
Shell

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39 wiffy August 19, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Hi Shell, I left the skin (and fats) on. To me, it’s the good part… makes the stew very flavourful and I know it’s unhealthy but after stewing, the fatty part just melts in your mouth, very delicious to me.

regarding the size of each piece of meat, it’s up to you. For mine, each stab of meat (when I begin cooking) is 12cm. After stewing, I cut them to the sizes I want (either thinly sliced or 5cm length).

and I use normal dark soy sauce, not kecap manis. Happy cooking!

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40 Swee San August 19, 2010 at 11:46 am

my mum makes this all the time too but she doesn’t use so many spice and she uses kicap manis / thick soy sauce so the sauce is thicker.. Maybe it’s a different version of tau yu bak haha ..

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41 wiffy August 19, 2010 at 3:17 pm

That sounds good! yes I think every family has its own recipe for tau yu bak :)

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42 BubblyPig August 19, 2010 at 2:15 pm

I tried this, had the pork simmering for an hour an a half. But how do you get the pork meltingly soft and tender?

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43 wiffy August 19, 2010 at 3:16 pm

The longer you cook, the more tender it is. Maybe you can even transfer to a slow cooker and simmer away on low heat all day long.

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44 Lee T L August 20, 2010 at 9:48 am

I do only used 八角 without 丁香,桂皮,五香粉。I also added dry octopus(尤鱼干). The soup has a natural taste of the 海鲜。

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45 wiffy August 24, 2010 at 12:51 pm

The 海鲜 version with the 尤鱼干 sounds interesting & unique. Like the sound of it :)

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46 Belly Good Cooking August 24, 2010 at 2:00 pm

Cooked the tau yu bak dish today and love it. My whole kitchen was filled with the aromatic smell during the simmering process. Thanks for sharing.

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47 wiffy August 24, 2010 at 4:51 pm

yes, my kind of aromatherapy too :)

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48 Janet @Gourmet Traveller 88 August 25, 2010 at 1:27 am

I would love to try this Singaporean dish, nice that I have all spices ready at home.

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49 Paolo October 7, 2010 at 10:18 pm

Just curious, before serving, do you take out the garlic or do you leave as is with skin? I want to give this a try.

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50 wiffy December 31, 2010 at 11:06 am

I’m sorry for missing this. If you don’t intend to eat the garlic cloves, you don’t have to peel them. But my mum loves to eat them, so I do peel the garlic :)

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51 Ribena December 21, 2010 at 1:01 am

Thanks for sharing this recipe! I chanced upon your blog and tried it yesterday. It was not too difficult and the end product looked and tasted great :) I skipped most of the spices and only used the star anise. I also added in carrots (I love them and had some leftover from making soup) and it added a tinge of sweetness to the simmering goodness!

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52 wiffy December 31, 2010 at 11:07 am

sounds good to me! thanks :)

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53 Madam Pu December 31, 2010 at 11:02 am

Hello! I have tried your 豆油肉 , but it isn’t salty at all. I used Tiger Brand Dark
soy souce(Top quality). What brand of dark soy souce did you use ?
Thanks. Happy New Year.

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54 wiffy December 31, 2010 at 11:05 am

I used Tai Hua superior dark soy sauce. Adjust the soy to your liking because everyone has different preferences. Happy New Year!

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55 April January 27, 2011 at 4:46 pm

Looks very appetizing!!! I also make something similar to this only difference is I use pork leg and no cinnamon stick. Same melt in your mouth goodness! Will cook this with pork belly for CNY. =)

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56 Daryl June 9, 2011 at 2:33 am

Hi,
This is a great recipe! One of my favourites! Just wondering though about the dark soya sauce. Do you use Sweet Dark Soya Sauce (super thick kind) or just Dark Soya Sauce (one i have isn;t really salty, just creates dark colour, which i use when i;m making bah kut teh! lol) ???

Thanks!

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57 Daryl June 9, 2011 at 2:37 am

Whoops.. just saw posts below about the dark soya sauce! Thanks anyways, can’t wait to try it tomorrow night!

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58 wiffy June 9, 2011 at 1:29 pm

yep, just normal dark soy sauce. I use that in all my recipes. have fun cooking and hope you like the results!

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59 lilballerina September 5, 2011 at 12:59 am

i just tried your recipie yesterday night and its awesome! thanks!

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60 Noel March 9, 2012 at 7:39 pm

Just tried this recipe. 3 adults and one 3-year old gobbled up everything. Meat was so tender and not 腻. Added 4 more sugar cubes also.
One thing i did different was the simmering for one hour. Gravy was still too liquid for family’s liking. So after 50 mins of simmering, added Step 7 stuff and then brought it to a boil for the last 10 mins to reduce to a thicker gravy. Gravy was great with rice.

Noobcook is my goto website when i miss Singapore food since I’m based in Beijing for so long now. Another Singaporean friend of mine in Beijing also tried the Yu Sheng (CNY Raw Fish Salad) after i introduced to him the website.

Thank you for reconnecting us Singaporeans abroad to our childhood foods.

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