Ah, a homey Hokkien Style Caramelised Pork Belly. A dish that very close to my heart. We called this dish is Samcan Kecap in Indonesia. A very common home cook meal in Medan and Pontianak’s family. It’s a typical Chindo (Chinese-Indonesian) food you can find in every Chindo’s household whether their background is Hakka (Khek), Hokkien, Tio Ciu, Hai Lok Hong, and many more! Did I make you confused yet? Basically, we have a lot of tribes! Samcan means Pork Belly which I think it’s a Hokkien word from ‘shan cheng‘, it means three layers. And, kecap means soy sauce in Bahasa.
Unlike the Shanghai-style, we do not use any Chinese wine also known as Shaoxing wine. No chili, no spring onion, and typically no garnish. Also, unlike the Vietnamese-style, we do not use any sugar to make caramel and add any young coconut water. We simply use water and easy ingredients that we can find because back then, my Chinese immigrant’s ancestors were struggling to afford spices and herbs.
My mother taught me this recipe, she learned it from my dad’s older sister who learned it from my grandmother. As time goes by, I noticed that none of my cousins know how to cook this, so I hope they read this and start to learn how to cook so then they can pass it on to their future kids!
So, let’s begin to cook!
Hokkien Style Caramelised Pork Belly (Samcan Kecap)
Equipment
- wok
Ingredients
- 350 grams Pork Belly diced
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce Brand: Lee Kum Kee
- 2 tbsp Sweet Black Bean Soy Sauce Brand: Bango
- 1 tbsp Mushroom Stock Brand: Knorr (optional)
- 1 pinch Salt
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 500 ml Water
Instructions
- Clean and cut the pork belly into small dice or slice accordingly to your taste
- Heat up the wok with high heat, and add olive oil
- Stir fry chopped garlic until fragrant, be careful not to burn it
- Add diced/sliced pork belly and then add oyster sauce. Continue to stir to coat the pork in the oyster sauce
- After the meat appeared to be half cooked, add black bean soy sauce to darken the colour
- Add water and mushroom stocks into the meat, slowly bring to the boil
- Reduce the heat to low. Simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the pork is very tender and let the oil builds up from the fat of the pork belly.
- No sugar is needed for the caramel! It will start to get sticky from the pork belly fats then add a small amount of water to prevent the caramel sticks onto the wok
- Adjust the taste by adding more sweet black bean soy sauce and a pinch of salt
All the recommended brands I put on the recipe are just optional and based on my opinion which one will give the best flavour. Feel free to use any brand you can find in your local Asian grocery store, but try to stick with South East’s brand. Please avoid Japanese and Korean soy sauce because it has a completely different taste with any other black bean soy sauce made by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. For the oyster sauce, my all-time favourite will always be a Hong Kong brand Lee Kum Kee. Which I can get in any Asian grocery store in Melbourne and every supermarket in Jakarta.
I am sure that every household has its own version of Samcan Kecap, I hope this simple caramelised pork belly is good enough for you and of course for your pocket too! Fewer ingredients = less money to spend.
Good luck! Leave me a comment to ask any question or any feedback!
