Babi Tomat

Babi Tomat is a very tasty variant of babi kecap; just add tomatoes and you’re done! At least that’s how my grandfather used to make it in Indonesia. My mother told me that my Indonesian grandfather loved to cook. His specialty: babi tomat! The taste changes by only adding tomatoes. The basic taste is no longer sweet soy sauce, but becomes even more umami and gets a warm sourness.

For my version of babi tomat, I slightly adjust Beb Vuyk’s recipe. I replace the vinegar with lime juice and I add a tablespoon of tomato puree and I let everything simmer until the sauce thickens.

Below Beb’s recipe for babi kecap adapted to my babi tomat. This recipe is enough for 3 people and is ready in 1 hour.

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg pork shoulder cut into cubes of 3 cm
• 4 tablespoons of oil
• 2 tablespoons of water
• 3-4 tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of tomato puree

Herbs

• 10 tablespoons of chopped onions
• 4 chopped cloves of garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
• 3 teaspoons ginger powder
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped baking ginger
• 1 tablespoon ginger juice
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice
• 4 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce
• salt

1. Sprinkle the meat with pepper, ginger powder, and salt and let it rest for an hour.
2. Then sauté the meat in the oil until light brown
3. Add the onions and garlic and sauté together.
4. Cut the tomatoes into wedges (quite large) and add them too.
5. Add a splash of water, the sliced ​​stem ginger and the ginger juice, lime juice, sweet soy sauce, and the tomato puree.
6. Let the dish simmer for about 20 minutes until the meat is tender and the sauce has reduced a bit.

Just like babi kecap, for babi tomato also goes: make it one day in advance and it tastes even better.

This dish is delicious with a homemade sambal (for example a sambal jeruk), white pandan rice, and a cucumber salad or acar.