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Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork Belly in Soy Sauce)
I grew up eating this homely dish of braised pork belly in soy sauce (or locally known as “tau yu bak”/豆油肉) so this is true taste of home-cooked food to me. Deliciously savoury, this dish goes very well with rice or steamed buns (kong bak bao). Every family has a different way of cooking this dish.
See Also:
- Braised Pork Belly in Root Beer Recipe
- Braised Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
- Mum’s Homely Chinese Recipes
My family’s version is no fuss – just one type of soy sauce (dark) and no need to grind the spices. The recipe is also very forgiving and flexible so you can always “rescue” it if something goes wrong. Do not overdose on the spices (like star anise, cinnamon) because a little goes a long way.
Browning the pork belly (optional but highly recommended) adds additional flavour to the stew.
Aromatics for cooking tau yu bak – garlic, 5-spice powder, cinnamon, cloves, star anise and rock sugar.
I re-created the dish from memory of the taste and I let my mum taste test the dish. Her verdict – my tau yu bak was good, and she liked that the sauce is just the right amount (if too much, the stew is diluted; too little will result in insufficient gravy for the rice & meat).
Hi Wiffy, thinking of trying this dish for dinner tonight. Can I just check with you, I cant seem to find the nice tau pok that we eat usually from the supermarts. The ones they sell seem to be smaller and harder. Are they good for this dish too?
Can I use lean pork instead of belly? Does cooking time need to be reduced? I’m using a clay pot.
the pork belly cut will be more flavourful, but lean pork will do too :)
This looks amazing, wiffy. I was looking on rasa malaysia website at the same recipe but i was kind of put off by the unseared pork belly. your recipe has this step and loads of spices whcih is why i’m going to give it a whirl tonight :)
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Hi,
I’m going to make this braised pork belly recipe tonight. Can I use fresh shitake mushroom instead of dried ones?
Thanks.
Yes you can. You don’t have to simmer them as long though; as long as they are softened, they are ready.
When do you add the mushrooms?
Step 4. Thanks for pointing it out to me, amended recipe.
Thanks for that mod. How about the garlic? Being Hokkien, this dish is so homey to me!
Garlic is part of (A), so it’s at step 4 :)
Thanks.
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