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Babi Chin Indonesian Soy Braised Pork Belly

Babi chin is an Indonesian braised pork belly recipe, my version adds hoisin sauce, roasted coriander & is fragrant with cloves and cinnamon.

The dish takes around an hour and a half to cook and prepare, but an hour of it is putting your feet up and allowing the rich sweet sauce to reduce and the pork to cook.

Babi chin Indonesian soy sauce braised pork belly being eaten with chop sticks.

Soy Sauce Braised Pork Belly

My site is littered with unusual recipes from around the world and this babi chin recipe is one of my favourites.

It is simple to cook and fills your house with the most beautiful sweet and fragrant aroma!

It contains pork belly, one of my favourite cuts of meat, its bold flavour and fat content works really well with a sweet glaze or sauce.

A combination I use in my sticky pork belly with pineapple, braised Vietnamese pork belly and my gluhwein pork belly bites.

The original recipe for this soy sauce braised pork belly hails from Indonesia. To be more accurate it is “nonya” cuisine, which is Chinese influence on Malay and Indonesian food. An ancient fusion food if you like.

The addition of hoisin is not traditional, but I love the sweet BBQ like flavour it brings to the dish.

Don’t worry about having another jar of sauce laying around, you can use it up in dishes like my hoisin chicken ramen, General Tso’s chicken, char siu pork tenderloin or hoisin pork stir fry!

Babi chin Indonesian soy sauce braised pork belly served with coriander and chilli.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to use pork belly?

No, but you do need to use a cut of pork with some fat because it renders down into the sauce. This gives it a rich flavour and beautiful sheen.

You can use pork blade or Boston butt for my American readers. You could also just get away with diced shoulder of pork, but is not ideal.

Do I have to use a wok?

For this recipe, yes! Cooking this dish in a saucepan does not allow the sauce to evaporate quickly enough and in a frying pan it evaporates too quickly.

Can I use regular soy sauce?

No, you really do need to use dark soy sauce in this recipe. It has a very different flavour to regular soy sauce and it adds a sweet complexity to the dish.

Do I have to use hoisin sauce?

No, you can double up the quantity of dark soy sauce and omit the hoisin sauce. This will make the dish less sweet and less complex in flavour but it is just as delicious.

Close up babi chin Indonesian soy sauce braised pork belly served with coriander and chilli.

Serving Suggestions

I like to serve babi chin with some plain boiled rice, chopped red chilli and fresh coriander. If you have a bit of time and are up on your planning it is also great with egg fried rice!

But the sweetness of the recipe means that it works really well with the crunch of some quickly cooked vegetables.

I’ve served this with both my asparagus stir fry and broccoli stir fry and it works beautifully.

Just because this is Indonesian braised pork does not mean you need to stick with Far East Asian side dishes.

It works fantastically with my garlic green bean amandine, which is very French in influence.

Likewise, it would work wonderfully with some roasted tenderstem broccoli.

Babi chin, Indonesian soy sauce braised pork belly served with rice, coriander and chilli.

Equipment Used

I only mention brands of equipment if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

  • Stovetop.
  • Wok, I use a large carbon steel wok.
  • Chopping board.
  • Kitchen knife.
  • Weighing scales and or measuring cups and spoons.
  • Stirring and serving spoons.
Babi chin, Indonesian soy sauce braised pork belly served with rice, coriander and chilli.
Yield: 2 Servings

Babi Chin Indonesian Braised Pork Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

This Indonesian braised pork or babi chin is braised in a dark soy sauce based stock and is rich, sweet and full of wonderful aromatic flavours and not only fills your belly but makes your house smell amazing!

Ingredients

  • 400g (14oz) Pork Belly
  • 200g (1⅓ Cups) Shallots
  • 8 Cloves Garlic
  • 3 Tbsp Corianader Seeds
  • 50ml (3 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) Hoisin Sauce
  • 50 ml (3 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) Dark Soy Sauce
  • 1½ Tsp Dark Brown Sugar
  • ½ Tsp Salt
  • ½ Tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • ½ Tsp Ground Cloves
  • 1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
  • 750ml (3 Cups) Water

Instructions

  1. Cut the shallots in half and then peel and then slice into half-moon shapes approximately 2-3mm (⅛") thick.
  2. Peel and mash your garlic into a puree.
  3. Cut your pork into 3-4cm (1½") cubes.
  4. Place a wok over a medium-high heat and toast the coriander seeds until they become fragrant (approximately 2 minutes).
  5. Grind the seeds in a pestle and mortar and then add 2 tablespoons of water continue to grind to form a coarse paste.
  6. Return the wok to the heat and when it is hot add the oil.
  7. Add the oil and stir fry the shallots for 2-3 minutes.
  8. Throw in the garlic and coriander paste and stir fry for a further minute.
  9. Pour in the soy sauce and the hoisin sauce and stir to combine.
  10. Add the pork belly and stir to coat
  11. Stir in the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cloves.
  12. Pour over the water and bring back to a boil and then reduce the temperature to a medium simmer.
  13. Cook for an hour uncovered until the sauce has reduced to a thick and glossy coating for the pork.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 823Total Fat: 51gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 33gCholesterol: 169mgSodium: 2718mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 5gSugar: 18gProtein: 52g

Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.

Did you make this recipe?

If you made this recipe, I'd love to see what you did and what I can do better, share a picture with me on Instagram and tag me @krumplibrian and tell me how it went!

Vlad Ze Bad!

Tuesday 23rd of January 2024

Dangerously good recipe... Top Card category. Well played Sir !

Followed your recipe and directions but for no reason at all I added a 1/2 teaspoon of ground Star Anise, just cuz I thought it should be there at the same time as adding in the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and ground cloves. Brought a sampler bowl to the elderly lady next door, came back and my house smelled divine, what a fragrant recipe this is. Served over creamy roasted garlic mashed spuds and it paired great. Wife has asked that I make the same thing but with short rib instead of belly. I think I will use less water so the evaporation time will be quicker so I do not overcook those tender ribs and harden them up or turn them to mush ?

Thanks, this has a complete new flavor profile to my recipe collection. Will be serving next time around to friends.

Brian Jones

Monday 5th of February 2024

Glad you enjoyed it Vlad, I've never considered this with beef, but the technique would work well I think, but you will definitely need to play around with the liquid levels to get the optimum balance between tenderness and rendering down the sinew and fat. If it works well, do please come back and let me know how you got there.

Cheers

Brian

explorefood715

Monday 28th of November 2022

I am making this recipe right now, I don't have pork belly so I am using regular pork with little fat. No hoisin and dark sauce either so I also substitute with oyster & light sauce. I know the taste & look will not be the same but at least a little bit similar. Hopefully it will still taste good.

Brian Jones

Wednesday 30th of November 2022

Hi... I hope you enjoyed this; flavour-wise, it should have worked, although it may have lacked a little sweetness. I'd definitely be concerned about the pork being a little dry without all the fat of the pork belly to protect it, I have made this with blade in the past and it worked "ok" but not as good as belly.

Please do let me know how you got on I am always interested to hear how derivations of my recipes work.

Thanks

Brian

Steph

Monday 29th of October 2018

High Brian. Lovely recipe and smells amazing. The method however does not tell you when to add the soy sauce and we were a little worried to add 750ml of water as it washed the pork clean.

Brian Jones

Friday 9th of November 2018

Hi Steph... Just a note to update you on the availability of the video and how the dish reduces down to a thick and sticky sauce.

Brian Jones

Tuesday 30th of October 2018

Hi Steph, the aroma is wonderful isn1t it. I updated the recipe a couple of days ago to fix the soy sauce thing, it is in step 9 :)

The water thing is definitely őroving to be controversial, I'm making a video this weekend to add to the post to show how it works. When I started making this I was skeptical too but, it works!

Jane

Sunday 28th of October 2018

I've tried this but not with much success. Firstly your notes don't say when to add the soy sauce, so I added it with the hoisin. Next it was an awful lot of water. I simmrred it for an hour but it was still pale and there was lots of water still. I gave it another hour and it was a little darker and thicker but nothing like your photo. Any tips?

Brian Jones

Friday 9th of November 2018

Hi Jane… Just an update to let you know I have added a video at the top of this page so you can see the level of simmer and also the size and shape of the wok I use which will also have an impact on the evaporation rates.

Brian Jones

Monday 29th of October 2018

Hi Jane... Thank you for taking the time to write to me, I have updated my recipe with the correct spot to add the dark soy sauce, you were correct.

On to the issue with the lack of reduction of the sauce, I confess that I am at a little of a loss.

This recipe has become a firm favourite for us and I cook it regularly with no issues, my first thought relates to either your cooking device or level of heat. If you are using a deep pan with a shallow lid then you will not get as much evaporation and reduction, likewise if the temperature is not hot enough.

I have a plan that will hopefully clear things up a little for you. I will add this into my cooking schedule for next weekend and I will turn it in to a video, it will probably take me a little while to process the video, but when I have it done I will drop you an email. It should clear up some of this misunderstanding.

Chris

Tuesday 23rd of October 2018

I'll have to convert this outta the metric system, but I'm seeing myself eating this soon!

Brian Jones

Thursday 25th of October 2018

Enjoy Chris, if you get a set of battery powered scales they will skip back and forth between the two and have a 'tare' function to set to zero. Priceless in the kitchen and cost just a few dollars.

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