Pong Teh

This Chinese New Year, I've decided to serve finger food with an ethnic feel to it. One of them is Pong Teh, a Peranakan-styled dish that is actually pork and chicken stew with salted soy beans. Got the recipe from my MIL who came visiting but adapted it to my needs as the original dish is rather soupy - I made a rather thick and creamy sauce and used pork ribs only...

Ingredients (serve 8)

1.5 kg pork ribs, cut to individual ribs
3 tablespoon of minced salted soy beans (taucu)
3 onions, 2 entire head of garlic blended
1 tin winter bamboo shoots, finely sliced

In a hot deep casserole, fry the onion and garlic mixture until fragrant.
Add the soy paste, continue frying until the mixture starts to caramelize.
Add 2 tbsp of sugar at this point to hasten the process as well as adjusting the saltiness of the mixture.
Add the pork ribs, coat well and add water to cook down (about 35 mins).
Add the sliced bamboo shoots and cook for a further 10 mins.

To serve

For the base:
800 g Chinese arrow roots (Nga Ku in Chinese, a species of Sagittaria)
1 large leek

Peel the arrow roots, dice them and arrange in a steaming plate.
Prepare the leeks and pile them over the arrow roots.
Steam for about 20 mins until tender, remove and puree.
Lighten with natural yogurt and adjust the taste.

Spoon the puree on the base of a deep bowl, pile the ribs on top and place a few slices of bamboo shoots to garnish. Serve with fresh baguette bread.