My MIL's Ponteh Recipe

My husband is a Malaccan Baba (Peranakan). And that means I have privileged access to Nyonya recipes :) :)

My mother in law (MIL, for short) though not nyonya at birth is married to my father in law (obviously) who is a Baba. She is a fantastic cook especially on nyonya food which she picked up from her MIL and before. Much as I like to, I can't seem to cook half as nice as my MIL even though I follow the recipe to the dot. Must be the fire thing .. or the Chinese says 'wok hei'. At least the Ponteh is something which I'm almost there :)

I decided to cook this dish on Monday and left it overnight for Tuesday's dinner. Ponteh tastes best overnight when the 'tau chu' sauce absorbs into the meat. Sorry I forgot to take a picture. But you can always google it up to see how it looks like. Non-spicy, chicken and pork dish in brown bean sauce with beancurd (fu chuk), chinese mushroom, etc. A good dish for children too. My sons love it.

Here is the recipe.

15 shallots (bawang merah kecil) -- to be pounded (tumbuk)

1 1/2 to 2 garlic (the whole garlic) -- to be pounded separately

'Tau Chu' or 'Tau Cheong' in cantonese

Half a kilo of pork -- the ones with layers of fat is good ('sam chang yoke' in cantonese)

Half a kilo of chicken

3 to 4 potatoes -- cut into big cubes

1 pack of 'fu chuk' (the hard ones) -- to be soaked

4-5 Chinese mushrooms

light soya sauce

dark soya sauce

1. Heat about 5 tablespoon of oil and fry the pounded shallots in low fire until it turns light yellow. Then add in the pounded garlic and continue to fry until it turns brown. Add in 'Tau Cheong'. Continue to fry in low fire until all the ingredients 'stick together' and oil separated from the paste. Add in about 3 tablespoon of water and fry in low fire.
2. Add in the meat next and fry till it cooks.
3. Then add more water (enough to cover the meat) and simmer in medium fire.
4. Add in the rest of the ingredients - potatoes, 'fu chuk' and chinese mushrooms. Continue to simmer.
5. Add sugar, light soya sauce and thick/dark soya sauce to taste.

You can serve immediately. But I would suggest that you keep some overnight to taste the difference. Careful not to break the meat and all when you reheat the next day.

Enjoy!!