Babi Pongteh

Name: Babi Pongteh
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h 40 min
Yield: 4 persons
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 750 grams of pork; 8 shiitake mushrooms; 8 garlic cloves; 5 shallots; 2 tablespoons of fermented bean paste; 1 cinnamon stick; 2 tablespoons of salty soy sauce; 2 tablespoons of palm sugar; 300 ml of water; salt to taste; for example rice and atjar tjampoer to serve

Babi Pongteh comes from the Peranakan cuisine, a cuisine that combines Chinese and Malay influences, among other things. Tender pork with shiitake and a delicious sauce.

Recipe babi pongteh

Made by Véronique

Published at 2021-02-03, this recipe is for 4 persons and takes 2 hours 40 minutes.

Founder of Ohmydish (since 2014), she prefers to spend all day in the kitchen. Once working in the hospitality industry as an independent chef, she loves helping you gain confidence in the kitchen. With her easy-to-follow recipes, handy tips, and cooking knowledge, you'll make the most delicious dishes yourself! The recipes are accessible to everyone, from beginners to advanced home cooks.

Updated at: 2025-07-19

Let's get started

Preparation time

10 minutes

Time cooking

2 hours 30 minutes

Total time

2 hours 40 minutes

You can use different types of pork. Such as stewing meat, pork belly or another slightly fattier pork.

Preparation - 10 minutes

Cut the pork into smaller pieces. If you're using dried shiitake mushrooms, soak them first in hot water until they have softened.

Peel the garlic cloves and shallots. Finely chop the shallots and 4 garlic cloves and leave the remaining 4 garlic cloves whole.

Finishing the Babi Pongteh - 2 hours + 30 minutes

Heat a little oil in a dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pan and fry the shallot, finely chopped garlic and the cinnamon stick for a few minutes. As soon as the cinnamon scent is released properly you can add 2 tablespoons of bean paste.

Fry the bean paste briefly and then add palm sugar and soy sauce.

Add pork pieces and fry for 10 minutes until nicely browned. Add the whole garlic cloves along with the whole shiitake mushrooms.

Add 300 ml water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, put the lid on and let it simmer gently for about 1. 5 to 2 hours.

If the meat is still not tender enough, you can add extra water and let it simmer a bit longer. If the sauce is still too thin, you can let it cook for a while without a lid.

Season with salt and/or soy sauce. Keep in mind that the bean paste and soy sauce are already quite salty.

Serve with rice, cucumber salad, atjar tjampoer and emping, enjoy!