Recipes

Pork Belly with Kecap Manis Sauce (Babi Kecap)

March 23, 2021 /

Can we all just agree that pork belly is underrated? It’s actually quite economical, at least where I live and it’s packed with flavor. When I was a little girl living in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population on Earth, you don’t find pork readily available, so I truly didn’t know what I was missing. Enter, my years in Singapore and Vienna and my tastebuds sang!

Anyway, I like this recipe a lot because of its flavors, moreover it comes together so quickly. My kind of recipe! 😉 Like a lot of recipes out there, there are a lot of versions to this one, every household will have their own twist and whatnot. This is my rendition of the recipe and I’m so excited to share this with you.

However, let’s talk about some things. 🙂

First, kecap manis. This is very simply sweet dark soy sauce. It’s very Indonesian – basically a staple for any Indonesian’s pantry. It’s not as thin as its salty counterpart. Instead, kecap manis has a very thick consistency, almost like molasses. The flavor is, obviously, syrup-y sweet but also a little salty and when added to dishes like this one, it gives the dish a little bit more oomph. My dad used to say, “if the food on your plate is average, add some kecap manis and it becomes gourmet food,”. Yes, we are quite impartial to the kecap manis. 😉 It is, however, not very common on this part of the world (yet?). You do have to make the extra trip to your Asian grocer. But, I promise, once you’ve tasted it, you’ll be questioning everything that you know about flavor! 😀

Second, and I promise it’s the last, and we’ll jump straight to the recipe, I want to draw attention to the timing of adding sesame oil in this recipe. I firmly believe, that if there’s sesame oil in this kind of recipe (almost stir-fry), it should be added at the very last stage of cooking. This way, that distinct sesame oil will still come through, as opposed to adding it earlier on and losing the flavor completely – why bother, then?

Aaaaand, don’t forget to serve over steamed rice! 😉

That’s it. I hope you give this one a try and if you have any questions or input, do leave a comment. Happy cooking! 🙂

Cheers, Revi

Print Recipe

Pork Belly with Kecap Manis Sauce (Babi Kecap)

Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Total Time30 mins
Cuisine: Asian, Indonesian
Servings: 2
Author: Revi

Ingredients

  • 300 g Pork belly sliced into chunky strips
  • 5-7 Shallots medium sized, sliced thinly
  • 3 cloves Garlic finely minced
  • 4 cm chunk Ginger finely minced
  • 1 Tomato large, cubed
  • 1 tbs Shaoxing wine Substitutions: dry cooking sherry or chicken stock
  • 1/2 tsp Fish sauce
  • 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tbs Soy sauce
  • 1 tbs Kecap manis
  • 1/c cup Water
  • Salt and white pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp Sesame oil

Notes

  • In a hot wok/pan, fry pork belly until brown on all sides. Set aside. 
  • Using the same wok/pan and the rendered fat from the pork belly, fry shallots, garlic and ginger until fragrant. 
  • Return pork belly into the wok and cook for 2 minutes, stirring or tossing occasionally. 
  • Add the shaoxing wine, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. 
  • Add tomatoes. 
  • Add kecap manis and water. 
  • Leave to cook on medium high for 5-7 mins, stirring occasionally, until water has reduced by half. 
  • Add salt and white pepper to taste
  • Add sesame oil. 
  • Serve over steamed rice.Â