Porco Balichão Tamarindo

Macanese Fusion·Medium·25 min

A sweet-tart braised pork stew built on balichão, Macau's defining fermented shrimp sauce, brightened with tamarind. The tamarind-shrimp pairing is a uniquely Macanese Portuguese-tropical signature.

Porco balichão tamarindo is a sweet-tart braised pork stew of Macau, built on balichão, the city's defining fermented shrimp or krill sauce, brightened with tamarind. Balichão itself is the soul of Macanese cuisine, akin to Malay belacan but with its own character, and the tamarind-shrimp pairing is a uniquely Macanese Portuguese-tropical signature. The dish is a staple of Macanese home cooking and restaurants.

Rich, fatty pork in a glossy, sweet-tart, deeply savoury sauce, the tamarind bright and tangy, the balichão giving a deep umami undertone, the sauce clinging. Eaten with rice, it is sweet, sour, savoury and the pure taste of Macau.

The pork belly is braised slowly in a sauce of balichão, tamarind, garlic, sugar and a little soy, which reduces and clings. The balichão is the umami backbone (re-fermented shrimp, intense and complex); the tamarind is the bright acid. The long, slow braise renders the pork fat into the sauce, enriching it. The sweet-tart-umami balance of the sauce is the dish's signature.

Variations

A richer version adds palm sugar. Some include star anise.

On the Palate

Where Porco Balichão Tamarindo sits in the Macanese flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 6

How it's made

6 steps · 25 min

1
6 min
Cut 600g pork belly into chunks; blanch; drain.
2
5 min
In a pot, fry 4 cloves garlic and 1 sliced onion in 2 tbsp oil 3 minutes.
Watch out
Whisk the yogurt smooth with the cornstarch and warm it gently until it just steams — let it boil and it splits into grains.
3
5 min
Add the pork, 2 tbsp balichão, 3 tbsp tamarind juice, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp soy and 200ml water.
4
18 min
Simmer covered 45 minutes until the pork is tender.
5
12 min
Uncover and simmer 15 minutes more until the sauce is glossy, thick and clinging.
Watch out
Uncover and reduce until the sauce turns glossy and clings to the pork — a thin sauce hasn't rendered and reduced enough.
6
4 min
Serve hot with rice.

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Dutch Oven

A heavy enameled or bare cast-iron lidded pot, 4-7 liters, with thick walls and a snug lid. The mass evens out hotspots; the lid traps moisture for braising. Sears on the stovetop, then transfers to a 150°C oven for 3-4 hours of even, contained heat — the structural difference between a beef bourguignon that comes out luminous and one that turns to gray mush. Le Creuset and Staub are the celebrated versions; an old American Wagner is functionally identical.

Techniques

Braising Simmering