''Babi kecap'' is an

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

braised Braising (from the French word ''braiser'') is a combination-cooking method that uses both wet and dry heats: typically, the food is first browned at a high temperature, then simmered in a covered pot in cooking liquid (such as wine, broth, c ...

pork with sweet soy sauce (''

kecap manis Sweet soy sauce (; ) is a sweetened aromatic soy sauce, originating in Indonesia, which has a darker color, a viscous syrupy consistency, and a molasses-like flavor due to the generous addition of palm sugar or jaggery. ''Kecap manis'' is widely ...

''). It is a

Chinese Indonesian Chinese Indonesians (), or simply ''Orang Tionghoa'' or ''Tionghoa'', are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese Indonesians are the fourth largest community of Overseas Chinese in th ...

classic, due to its simplicity and popularity among

households. It is also popular among non-Muslim Indonesians, such as the

Balinese Balinese may refer to: *Bali, an Indonesian island *Balinese art *Balinese dance *Balinese people *Balinese language *Nusa Penida Balinese * Bali Aga Balinese **Balinese script **Balinese (Unicode block) *Balinese mythology *Balinese cat, a cat bre ...

, Ambonese,

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

Minahasan The Minahasans or Minahassa are an Austronesian ethnic group native to North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes. The Minahasa people sometimes refer to themselves as Manado people. Although the Minahasan pre-Christi ...

s, and Dayaks, and in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

among the Indo-Dutch, where it is known as ''babi ketjap'', owing to colonial ties with Indonesia. In the Netherlands, the dish might also be served within an opulent ''

rijsttafel ( , ), a Dutch word that literally translates to "rice table", is an Indonesian elaborate meal adapted by the Dutch following the ''hidang'' presentation of '' nasi padang'' from the Padang region of West Sumatra. It consists of many (forty ...

'' banquet. The dish is believed to be based on Southern Chinese braised pork in soy sauce know in Indonesia as ''babi taotjo'' without the '' taotjo'' because of its unavailability in the past. However, it is more Indonesian in nature, because of the mild sweetness introduced by Indonesian ''kecap manis'' (sweet soy sauce). It is sometimes prepared with a sweet chili sauce. In

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

, ''babi kecap'' is consumed at festivals such as

Galungan Galungan is a Balinese holiday celebrating the victory of ''dharma'' over ''adharma''.Eiseman (1989) p353 It marks the time when the ancestral spirits visit the Earth. The last day of the celebration is Kuningan, when they return. The date is ca ...

and

Nyepi Nyepi, also known as Day of Silence, is a Balinese people, Balinese holiday held every ''Isakawarsa'' ("new year") according to the Balinese saka calendar, Balinese calendar, and it can be traced as far back as 78 A.D.

Ingredients

The basic recipe, commonly used by Chinese Indonesians in their households, usually requires cuts of pork belly simmered with sweet soy sauce, spiced with garlic, shallot or onion, and a dash of salt. The popular recipes employed elsewhere — from restaurants in Chinatown in Indonesia to Bali and the Netherlands, may include additional ingredients, such as

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, oily heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

, tomato,

shrimp paste Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a Fermentation, fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine, Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed Shrimp and prawn as food, shrimp or krill mixed ...

, ''salam'' leaf (Indonesian

bay leaf The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used as a herb in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. The flavour that a bay lea ...

), white pepper, and red chilies. If sweet soy sauce is not available, it can be substituted with normal soy sauce mixed with ground

palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar may be qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed simila ...

or brown sugar. The less hot and spicy

sweet pepper The bell pepper (also known as sweet pepper, paprika, pepper, capsicum or, in some parts of the US midwest, mango) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in diff ...

may be used to replace red chilies.

Variations

Pork belly Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless, fatty Primal cut, cut of pork from the Abdomen, belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in American cuisine, American, British cuisine, British, Swedish cuisine, Swedish, Danish cuisine, Danish, ...

is usually the preferred cut of pork meat for ''babi kecap''. However, other cuts of pork meat or offal may also be used in similar soy sauce-based recipes. Derivatives of this recipe that substitute the use of pork belly include ''sengkel babi kecap'', which uses

pig trotters A pig's trotter, also known as a pettitoe, is the culinary term for a pig's foot. It is used as a cut of pork in various dishes around the world, and experienced a resurgence in the late 2000s. Description Pigs' trotters, sold as Irish-style c ...

, and ''

sekba Sekba or sometimes called bektim is a Chinese Indonesian pork offal stewed in a mild soy sauce-based soup. The stew tastes mildly sweet and salty, made from soy sauce, garlic, and Chinese herbs. It is a popular fare street food in Indonesian Chin ...

'', which is a Chinese Indonesian pork

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the internal organ (anatomy), organs of a butchered animal. Offal may also refer to the by-products of Milling (grinding), milled grains, such as corn or wheat. Some cultures strong ...

stew that may also include pork liver, nose, tongue, ear, tripe, and intestines.

Similar dishes

It is very similar to another Indonesian favorite called '' semur daging'', although ''semur'' is usually made of beef and potatoes with slightly different spices. The chicken variant is called ''

ayam kecap Ayam kecap () or ayam masak kicap () is an Indonesian Javanese chicken dish poached or simmered in sweet soy sauce (''kecap manis'') commonly found in Indonesia and Malaysia. History and origin Fried chicken in sweet soy sauce is a typical ...

'' ore Kip Smoor in Dutch. The word semur is a corruption of the Dutch word smoor (smoren is to braise in Dutch). Originally Indonesian semur dishesKitab masak masakan India, 1845, Page 33, Batavia, Lange & Co are heated in butter instead of oil hinting at a Dutch origine. Smoor can also be found in former Dutch colonies

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

References

External links

Various ''Babi Kecap'' recipes
(in Indonesian) {{Commons category-inline Balinese cuisine Batak cuisine Indonesian Chinese cuisine Manado cuisine Indonesian fusion cuisine Dutch fusion cuisine Pork dishes

Ingredients

Variations

Similar dishes

See also

References

External links