Ponteh (Braised Meat with Potatoes and Mushroom)

It's been such a hectic month and most of my weekends are occupied with this and that. December is no different either with my daughter's birthday coming up, Christmas dinner to organize and not to mention the Christmas gifts as well.  Soon after the seasons greeting, school gonna re-open again and then we will be scrambling in getting the books all wrapped up, buying new school uniforms and shoes etc etc etc.  At the end of this, then it's the Chinese New Year time again.  All these will leave a big big hole in the pocket!  Sigh!

Anyway, as mentioned in my previous post, here's my late mom's version of the authentic Nyonya dish - Ponteh!  Usually this dish uses pork belly or pork ribs which tastes so much flavorful than chicken.  However, you may mix pork and chicken if you wish.  For this post, I use chicken.  A great accompaniment with this dish is the Sambal Belacan which is made from pounded shrimp paste, red chilies and squeeze of lime juice.

Pound to a paste:  Shallots, garlic

1 tbsp of bean paste

Gula Melaka (dark brown sugar) to taste

1 cup water

1 chicken - cut into bite sizes

potatoes - quartered or halved

black mushroom - soak in hot water to soften and discard the stem

dark soya sauce for color

Heat oil in wok and fry the paste together with bean paste  till fragrant.

Add chicken and fry for 2 mins and add water.

Add in the potatoes and mushroom, let boil and add the sugar and dark soya sauce.

Simmer till chicken is cooked and potatoes are tender.

(Do not add salt as the bean paste is very salty.  If it's not salty enough for you, add light soya sauce)

Serve with hot rice