Tau Yu Bak (Dark Soy Sauce Pork)

Tau Yu Bak's one of my favourite dishes (and my hubby's too) and the first time I had it was when my mother-in-law cooked it. It's really scrumptious, especially when served hot with a bowl of rice. Instead of waiting around for my mother-in-law to cook it, I decided that I should learn to cook it myself so that I can satisfy my own craving when it strikes. I don't quite like the idea of requesting someone else to specially cook something for me (I don't like to trouble others) so I figured the best way is to learn how to cook all my favourite dishes (and I try to learn how to cook my hubby's favourites too!) :D


Tau Yu Bak

Ingredients:

• $4 pork (I used 腿肉 as it was recommended by the butcher for cooking this dish)
• 2 star anise
• 1-2 dashes of ground cinnamon
• 4-5 dashes of cracked black peppercorns (use whole ones if you don't like to bite into them)
• 5 cloves garlic
• quail eggs (number up to you)
• 5 big mushrooms
• tau pok (again, amt depends on personal preference) - cut into strips
• 4 tablespoons raw brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• enough water to cover the ingredients

Seasoning (for the pork):

• 1/2tsp salt
• 2 dashes ground white pepper
• 1 tsp cornflour
• hua diao jiu
• a dash of sesame oil

Method:

1. Marinate pork with seasoning overnight.
2. Cut the tau pok into strips.
3. Clean the mushrooms and cut into smaller pieces if they are very big (like the ones I bought). If they are small, just clean them and set aside.
4. Boil the quail eggs, remove the shell and set aside.
5. Heat wok and caramelise the brown sugar.
6. Add in the pork.
7. Add in the rest of the ingredients and enough water to cover all of the ingredients.
8. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour.
9. Serve hot with rice.