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3 Comments This delicious and easy babi pangang (or roasted pork shoulder) is the perfect homemade version of the Chinese classic.
Babi pangang
Growing up as a kid babi pangang was my absolute favorite. The crunchy outside of the pork combined with the sweet and sour sauce, was just so good. Later on I learned that you could order the same dish but with a peanut sauce and I was hooked even more. But to this day I had not tried and attempted to make this at home. Until now!
It might look a bit complicated but it is actually quite simple to make. You need just a few items to get this going. A marinade for the pork, the pork itself of course. I’ve used pork shoulder here but you could also make this with pork belly. Before marinating I slice the meat into thick slices. That way it cooks easier, is marinated better and will give you a better end result. I will also try and make this on a barbecue once we finally get some summer over here. For now this is a good alternative and pretty delicious!
Preparation of the meat
First of all you need to make the marinade. You finely chop some ginger (or use ground ginger), onion and garlic clove. Mix this with 5 spice, star anise, sweet soy sauce, kecap manis and vinegar. Mix this together well and rub the meat in the marinade. In order for the marinate to fully get into the meat you slice it in 2 centimeter thick chunks. Let the meat marinate for at least an hour but preferably overnight or let it marinate the entire day.
Once the meat is marinated you place the pork with the marinate inside a large pan and add enough cold water to make sure that the meat it submerged. Bring this to the boil and let it simmer for around an hour. Remove the meat slices from the pan and dry on paper towels. Set aside while you work on the sauce.
Making the sauce
Babi panggang wouldn’t be babi panggang without a good sauce. I’m giving you the recipe for the red sauce here, but you can also use this recipe for peanut sauce for a different version. The peanut sauce is actually my favorite but both are delicious. For making the babi pangang sauce you heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in small sauce pan and sauté the garlic, onion and ginger. Add a table spoon of Chinese 5 spice, a tbsp tomato paste (or one of those small cans). Then add about half a liter of water, some brown sugar, vinegar, sambal oelek and ketjap manis. Bring this to the boil and let it reduce slightly on low heat before adding in the corn starch. The sauce should now start to thicken. Taste it and see if it needs anything extra. Maybe some extra sugar or a bit of lemon juice to balance the flavors. A bit of sweet chili sauce is also quite delicious.
Frying the meat
Once you’ve finished those two steps it’s time to do the final preparation of the meat. You want the thick slices of the pork shoulder to be deep fried so they get a lovely golden crispy outside. Once it is fried you slice the meat in thinner slices. Don’t do this right away or the meat will become tough.
Serve the meat with the sauce, noodles, bean sprouts, pickled cucumber and prawn crackers. This also works really well with the egg foo young too!
Love pork roasts? You might want to have a look at this fantastic porchetta recipe too!
Babi pangang – roasted pork shoulder
Ingredients
- 800 grams pork shoulder
Marinade
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 cm fresh ginger finely chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 tsp 5 spice powder
- 1 star anise whole
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp kecap manis
- 10 ml vinegar
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 cm fresh ginger finely chopped
- 1 tbsp sambal
- 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
- 1 can tomato puree
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp kecap manis
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 50 g sugar more if you want
- 40 ml vinegar
- Extra requirements: frying oil
Equipment
- Deep fryer
How to make babi pangang
For the marinade
- Cut the meat into thick slices (around 2 cm or 1 inch). Place the meat in a bowl. Finely chop 1 cm ginger, 1 onion, 3 cloves of garlic in a mincer. Mix together with 1 teaspoon, 5 spice powder, the star anise, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 10 ml vinegar. Mix well and massage the meat with it. Let the meat marinate as long as possible, preferably overnight but if that is not possible, at least an hour.
- Place the meat including the marinade in a pan. Add cold water until the meat is just submerged and bring to the boil. Let it simmer gently for 50 minutes. Remove the meat from the pan and pat it dry with kitchen paper.
For the sauce
- Finely chop the 3 cloves of garlic, 1 onion and 1 cm of ginger. Fry these gently in a pan with a tablespoon of sunflower oil and 1 tablespoon of 5 spice powder. Add the tomato puree and fry for a while more. Then pour in 500 ml of water. Add 50 g sugar, 40 ml vinegar, one tablespoon sambal, tablespoon soy sauce and stir well. In a small bowl, stir the cornstarch with a drop of water, add this to the sauce and stir well again. The sauce should now start to thicken. Taste to see if the sauce is to your liking, does it taste exactly as you like it? Maybe add some soy sauce or sugar to make it perfect.
- Heat the deep fryer to 180 degrees. Fry the meat one slice at a time for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and crispy. It goes quickly so keep at it. Drain the meat on kitchen paper. Cut the meat into smaller slices for serving.
- I serve it with noodles, atjar, bean sprouts, pickled cucumber and lots of prawn crackers.
- It is also nice not to eat the meat with the babi pangang sauce but with peanut sauce, the recipe for peanut sauce can be found on the site.
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
I love this recipe for roasted pork shoulder. Just try it!
Im going to try this today! I loved this whilst i lived in breda. Thank you so much for the recipe as they dont have this in the UK. Brings back memories aswel as babi ketchap and chicken satay. We have found bami over here now just like in the netherlands.
Ah how cool is that! Good to hear and let me know how it went! As a strange coincidence I am staying in Breda for a few days at the moment. 🙂