BABI TOHAY

Serves 4–6

This is a very old recipe that many have forgotten. I learnt it from two very good friends, Uncle Tan Kim Guan and Auntie Rosie Gwee, both excellent cooks. We used to meet up at Katong Antique House on East Coast Road to chat and share cooking tips and recipes. The unique ingredient in this dish is the red yeast rice or ang kak, a fermented rice, which gives this dish its distinctive red colour. Today, red yeast rice extract is used in health supplements as a natural statin to help lower cholesterol.

Pork belly 500 g (1 lb 1½ oz), boiled and
sliced into 1-cm (½-in) thick slices

Cooking oil as needed

Lemon grass 4 stalks, ends trimmed,
finely sliced

Shallots 20, peeled and finely sliced

Garlic 20 cloves, peeled and finely sliced +
1 Tbsp minced garlic

Kaffir lime leaves 15
Red chillies 2, sliced
Green chillies 2, sliced

Tohay Paste

Uncooked rice 50 g (1⅔ oz)
Sea salt 25 g (⅘ oz)
Red yeast rice 20 g (⅔ oz)

Fermented prawns (shrimps) (cincalok)
250 g (9 oz)

Brandy 3 tsp
Sugar 1 tsp

1.   Prepare tohay paste at least 5 days ahead. Heat a wok and dry-fry uncooked rice and
salt separately until lightly browned. Remove and set aside to cool. Reheat wok and
dry-fry red yeast rice for 1 minute. Remove and set aside to cool.

2.   Separately pound roasted rice, sea salt, red yeast rice and fermented prawns, then pour
into a glass mixing bowl and mix well. Add brandy and sugar and mix well.

3.   Pour tohay paste into a glass bottle with a lid. Cover and leave to ferment for 5 days
before using, shaking the bottle 3 times daily, once in the morning, once in the
afternoon and once at night.

4.   On the day of cooking, boil a small pot of water and cook pork belly lightly. Drain pork
belly and reserve stock. Cut pork belly into 1-cm (½-in) thick slices.

5.   Heat some oil in a wok and deep-fry lemon grass until crisp and golden. Drain and
set aside. Repeat to fry sliced shallots and sliced garlic. Drain well.

6.   Leave 2 Tbsp oil in wok and reheat. Add minced garlic and stir-fry for 1–2 minutes,
then add 2 Tbsp tohay paste and kaffir lime leaves. Stir-fry to mix well.

7.   Add sliced pork belly and some reserved stock. Add half the fried lemon grass, shallots
and garlic slices and simmer for 5 minutes until fragrant. Add chillies and dish out.

8.   Garnish with balance of fried lemon grass, shallots and garlic.

NOTE

•  For a less fatty dish, replace some of the pork belly with lean pork.

•  The excess tohay paste can be stored in the refrigerator for future use.

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PERANAKAN HERITAGE

Cooking