Pongteh is a braised meat dish, cooked with potatoes in a gravy consisting of “tauju” or fermented beancurd, gula melaka and soy sauce. It is said the word “pong” is derived from the Hokkien “hong”,which basically means “stewing in soy sauce”.
Imagine a plate of hot steamed rice, flooded with gravy with chicken meat tender and almost falling off the bones. That’s what you will get with this recipe, which tastes even better after being kept overnight!
Ingredients
- 4 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 6 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons tauju
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of gula melaka or palm sugar, chopped
- 1/2 chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 4 small potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
- a handful of shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced into halves
- a handful of chestnuts, boiled and peeled
- 750ml water
- salt and pepper to taste
- chopped spring onions or coriander, for garnishing
Method
- Heat the oil on medium heat and fry the potatoes until golden brown. Set aside.
- Discard some oil, leaving 3 tablespoons in the pan. Saute the shallots and minced garlic for about 2 minutes, making sure it doesn’t burn.
- Add the tauju and shiitake mushrooms, and fry for another 1 minute.
- Add the chicken and fry for 2 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and water. Bring the broth to a boil.
- Add the chestnuts, palm sugar and soy sauces, plus salt and pepper to taste.
- Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Garnish with chopped spring onions or coriander.
- Dish out and serve hot with steamed rice and sambal or chili padi.
This article first appeared in butterkicap.com.
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