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Make this incredible soy-braised pork with young bamboo shoots with this easy recipe yet packed with amazing flavor. It can be cooked on the stove, pressure cooker, or slow cooker.
TAU YEW BAK (TAU YU BAK)
As the weather cools down, I’m in the mood for something easy and can be cooked with a pressure cooker or slow cooker. This braised pork with bamboo shoots is one of my favorites that my mom often made. Easy and feed the whole family. This is actually also one of the tau yew bak (tau yu bak) varieties I like to make, but with bamboo shoots and dried bean curds added. No one complained (in fact they love this dish). The pork is usually browned and saute with other spices and then slowly cooked until it is tender and the overall dish has a brown caramel color.
THE BEST CUT OF PORK TO USE FOR THIS RECIPE
Most Chinese like to use pork belly for this particular dish as well. I used a mixture of pork shoulder/pork butt and pork belly in this recipe. They are great for braising as they still have some fat that won’t make the meat dry and tough. Definitely steer clear from pork loin. Not the right cut for this dish.
WHAT KIND OF BAMBOO SHOOTS TO USE?
Try not to use canned bamboo shoots if it’s possible. Usually in Asian grocery store, you will see a large bin inside the refrigerator with bamboo shoots (usually in a cone shape and pretty big too) soaked in water. That’s the kind I get. The bamboo shoots usually have been prepared and parboiled too, so that really saves some extra work you have to do at home. All I need to do is to boil it briefly at home to get rid of the pungent aroma.
POSSIBLE VARIATIONS FOR THIS BRAISED PORK WITH BAMBOO SHOOTS
1. Different meat: You can use chicken pieces like drumsticks, chicken legs (like in this recipe), chicken thighs
2. Meatless: Use more dried bean curds or use extra firm tofu
3. Other ingredients you can use: sea cucumber (like in this recipe), shiitake mushrooms, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs
I like to make mine with Instant Pot electric pressure cooker because it’s convenient and it is much faster than slow cooker. But cooking it with slow cooker definitely works too.
PERFECT FOR MEAL PREP
You can cook this in a big batch and then portion them out into the serving portion you like and freeze them individually. When ready to serve, you don’t have to thaw and just reheat in the microwave or on the stove until heated through.
DID YOU MAKE THIS BRAISED PORK BELLY WITH YOUNG BAMBOO SHOOTS RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Instant Pot Tau Yew Bak (Braised Pork in Soy Sauce)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork shoulder/butt cut into medium-size chunks
- 1 lb pork belly cut into medium-size chunks
- 1 lb young bamboo shoots
- 200 gr dried bean curd
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil divided
- 2 cups water or more as needed
Aromatics:
- ½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 1 large onion peeled and diced
- 5 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 medium cinnamon stick
- 1 thumb-size of ginger thinly sliced
- 1 whole star anise
- 2-3 dried red chili optional
Seasonings:
- 1 Tbsp fermented soy bean paste or use 1 Tbsp of brown miso paste
- ⅓ cup dark soy sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup Chinese rock sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
Other optional add-ons:
- 4 hard-boiled eggs peeled
- 2 large potatoes peeled and cut into quarters
Garnish:
- Coriander leaves
Instructions
Boil and slice the bamboo shoots:
- The bamboo shoots I got from the store have been parboiled and soft, so I just need to boil them in water briefly to get rid of the pungent aroma. The bamboo shoots are in large cone shapes and so I cut into half. You can slice them even smaller if you like
Brown the meat (for cooking on the stove and slow cooker methods):
- Preheat about 1 Tbsp of oil in a large pot. Brown the meat (batch by batch) in the pot until they have a nice brown
- Remove the pork from the pot. Add another 1 Tbsp of oil to the same pot. Add the aromatics and soy bean paste stir fry until the aroma rises, about 3 minutes. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot with a spatula
If continue cooking on the stove:
- Add the pork, bamboo shoots, dried bean curds, hard-boiled eggs, and seasonings. Add water just until it submerges everything inside the pot and bring it to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer covered partially with a lid until the pork is tender, this may take about 45 minutes or longer.
- 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the potatoes and let them cooked until soft but not mushy. Remove from heat
Cooking with Instant Pot pressure cooker:
- Press "saute" mode on Instant Pot. When it says hot, add the oil and then add some pieces of the pork in batches to brown them. The meat won't be cooked yet at this point. We just want a nice brown color.
- Remove the pork pieces and add another 1 Tbsp of oil to the same pot. Add the aromatics and soy bean paste stir fry until the aroma rises, about 3 minutes. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot with a spatula. Turn off saute mode
- Add the pork, bamboo shoots, dried bean curds, hard-boiled eggs, and seasonings. Add water just until it submerges everything inside the pot. Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to "sealing". Press "pressure cooker" and set the timer to 30 minutes or 40 minutes if you want it really tender
- Release pressure immediately when it's done. Carefully unlock the lid and turn the saute mode back on and add potato quarters and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender but not mushy. Turn off saute mode
Cooking with slow cooker:
- After you brown the meat above and saute the aromatics as mentioned in the steps above, transfer them to a slow cooker and add the pork, bamboo shoots, dried bean curds, hard-boiled eggs, and seasonings.water until it just about to submerge everything inside the pot. Cover the lid and let it cook on low for 6 hours
Serving suggestion:
- If you prepare this for the next day, place the pot inside the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them. The flavor will develop even more and the egg will get a much darker brown. You can also remove some of the extra fat that have solidified due to refrigeration. Leave some on for flavor though. Reheat it on stove top when you are ready to serve
- Serve warm and garnish with coriander leaves just before serving
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
If you like this recipe, you will also like this pressure cooker kong bak and kong bak pao recipes.
2 comments
It is the same with me when reading a good book! I just cannot put it down and nothing else is of so much interest anymore… And regarding the recipe today: I can actually buy all the ingredients in the next village 🙂 🙂 It looks really good, I hope to make it soon.
I love the way you cook Marvellina, beautiful ingredients and flavors make such a wonderful dish.