Pork braised then roasted, the Macanese-Patuá name fusing the Portuguese words for braise and roast. Uses the braise-then-roast hybrid plus Cantonese soy with Portuguese vinegar-sugar.
Porco bafassá is a Macanese pork dish whose name, in Macanese Patuá (the local creole), fuses the Portuguese words bafá (abafar, to braise) and assá (assar, to roast), describing the hybrid technique: braise then roast. The pork is braised with garlic, balichão, soy and vinegar-sugar, then roasted to finish. The Cantonese soy meets the Portuguese vinegar-sugar, a perfect Macanese fusion, and the dish is named in the dying Macanese creole language.
Tender, falling-apart pork with a dark, glazed, caramelised crust from the final roast, the vinegar-sugar giving a sweet-tart edge, the soy and shrimp paste deep. Eaten with rice, it is sweet, savoury and the creole pork of Macau.
The pork is braised in a mixture of garlic, soy, vinegar, sugar and balichão until tender, then transferred to a hot oven to roast, which caramelises the sauce into a dark, sticky glaze on the meat. The braise-then-roast hybrid (captured in the Patuá name) is the defining technique. The vinegar-sugar is Portuguese, the soy is Cantonese, and the balichão is Macanese — three culinary worlds in one dish.
Variations
A spicier version adds more balichão. Some use pork ribs instead of belly.
On the Palate
Where Porco Bafassá sits in the Macanese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 16 min
Cut 600g pork belly into chunks; blanch; drain.
- 25 min
In a pot, fry 5 cloves garlic in 2 tbsp oil; add the pork, 2 tbsp soy, 2 tbsp vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp balichão and 200ml water.
- 35 min
Simmer covered 45 minutes until the pork is tender.
Watch outBraise until the pork is fork-tender before it goes to the oven — the roast only glazes it; if it's not tender now it never will be.
- 418 min
Transfer the pork to a baking dish; pour over the reduced braising liquid.
- 56 min
Roast at 220C for 15 minutes until the sauce caramelises into a dark glaze.
Watch outRoast just until the sauce caramelizes into a dark, sticky glaze — a few minutes too long past that and the glaze scorches bitter.
- 64 min
Rest 5 minutes; serve hot with rice.
Archive tool suggestions — not reviewed
These legacy suggestions have not been evidence-reviewed and are not presented as required tools.
