Simple Tomato Pork Stew
Tomato Pork Stew is a Malaysian-Portuguese dish that is slightly spicy, tangy and sweet from ripe tomatoes yet savoury with hints of pork and shrimp paste. Although a lot of chilli paste is used, the gravy itself is mild in spiciness that even children can enjoy. The pork slices are tender and soft, with a mixture of melt-in-the-mouth and chewy, fatty textures.
What I like a lot about this dish, is that no water is added while the pork is cooking. All the gravy comes from pork, tomatoes, and yellow onions – so you can imagine just how flavourful the gravy is!
Additionally, the Tomato Pork Stew is also a great source of protein for meal preps as the stew keeps and tastes better after it has a chance to rest in the fridge for a day. It is easy to reheat too – place it on the stove and braise it until the gravy comes to a rolling boil.
Ingredients
For the ingredients, the main ingredients are pork and tomatoes. I like using boneless pork shoulder as it usually contains that bit of extra fat, which adds more flavour to the dish. However, other leaner parts of the pork work as well. If using bone-in parts, like the ribs, do note it may take a longer time to cook. Use tomatoes that have ripened for a sweet-tangy flavour.
The pork is marinated with salt, sugar, shrimp paste and homemade chilli paste. Salt adds taste to the meat, while the chilli paste adds spice, colour, and that hint of chilli flavour. The chillies used to make the paste is a mix of the less spicy variant, similar to guajillo chillies, or in Malaysia, “Cili Kering Besar” and the spicy xxx. To reduce the spiciness potency, some sugar is added to the marination. The shrimp paste gives a slight umami flavour to the gravy and makes it very tasty.
The herbs used are yellow onions, ginger, and garlic. Yellow onions add a sweetness to the gravy, garlic adds its unique flavour and ginger spices up the curry a little. The meaty flavour is also dressed up with fragrance from stir-fried cloves.
Steps
Here are the brief steps to make the simple Tomato Pork Stew:
- Marinate pork with salt, sugar, shrimp paste and chilli paste.
- Saute onions, ginger, garlic and cloves in cooking oil until fragrant on medium heat.
- Add marinated pork and stir.
- Add tomatoes, cover and let it cook for 3 minutes.
- Stir to mix, and braise for 50 minutes on medium-low, stirring every 10 – 15 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and braise for the last 10 minutes.
- Give it a taste.
- Dish out and serve.
Tips
- Pork shoulder is used as it contains some flavourful fats. Other parts like lean pork or chicken can be used as well.
- Chilli paste gives colour and a hint of spiciness to the stew. Use guajillos for a less spicy chilli paste, or a mix for additional spice.
- As the pork is cooking, refrain from adding water as the yellow onions, pork and tomatoes will eventually release their liquids, increasing the amount of gravy available.
- If the gravy is too spicy, add 1-2 tbsp of sugar to reduce the heat.
- Braise the Tomato Pork Stew on medium-high in the last 10 minutes to reduce the gravy to intensify the flavour.
- Make sure to watch the full video to see how I made it exactly!
Storage Instructions
Like many curries, this Tomato Pork Stew tastes better after it has had time to rest. It can be enjoyed after cooking but would get a lovely flavour boost the next day.
Let it cool completely before storing it in the fridge for a maximum of 3 days, or frozen for about 1 month.
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Simple Tomato Pork Stew
Equipment
- Sharp Kitchen Knife
- Chopping Board
- Wok
- Turner
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg pork shoulder, sliced thinly
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 30 g shrimp paste
- 200 g chilli paste, homemade
- 150 ml water, optional
- 240 g yellow onions, sliced
- 100 g ginger, cut into strips
- 50 g garlic, minced roughly
- 800 g tomatoes, sliced 1/4 cm thick
- 75 ml cooking oil, unscented
- 4 pieces star anise, washed just before cooking
Instructions
- Rub the pork with 1/4 tbsp of salt to marinate it. Turn the pork so the bottom parts flip to the top. Marinate with another 1/4 tbsp of salt.Sprinkle 1/2 tbsp of sugar and rub evenly. Turn the pork again and repeat with another 1/2 tbsp of sugar.
- Add shrimp paste and chilli paste to the pork. With food grade gloves, mix until well combined. If the pork is too dry, slowly add water to the chilli bowl and wash it down. Set it aside to marinate to 10 to 15 minutes.
- Warm the oil in a wok over medium heat, for about 1.5 minutes.
- Add in onions, ginger, garlic and cloves. Stir fry for about 4 – 5 minutes, or until soft and fragrant.
- Spread the herbs evenly and add the marinated pork. Stir to mix evenly.
- Add the tomatoes. Without stirring, cover the wok for 3 minutes.
- Stir to rotate the pork and tomatoes evenly. Cover the wok and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, or every 10-15 minutes.
- After 50 minutes, stir to rotate. Increase the heat to medium-high and cover for the last 10 minutes.
- Taste and adjust as preferred.
- Switch off the heat. Let it rest for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
- Pork shoulder is used as it contains some flavourful fats. Other parts like lean pork or chicken can be used as well.
- Chilli paste gives colour and a hint of spiciness to the stew. Use guajillos for a less spicy chilli paste, or a mix for additional spice.
- As the pork is cooking, refrain from adding water as the yellow onions, pork and tomatoes will eventually release their liquids, increasing the amount of gravy available.
- If the gravy is too spicy, add 1-2 tbsp of sugar to reduce the heat.
- Braise the Tomato Pork Stew on medium-high in the last 10 minutes to reduce the gravy to intensify the flavour.
- Make sure to watch the full video to see how I made it exactly!