Indonesian Sweet Soy Pork (35g Protein)
Babi kecap is the Indonesian home cooking answer to a busy weeknight: pork simmered in kecap manis until the sauce goes dark and glossy and clings to every piece. Built on lean pork loin instead of the usual belly, one serving lands around 35g of protein for roughly 350 calories. That is the kind of ratio that makes this a regular in our kitchen.
The flavor is sweet, savory and a little aromatic from garlic, ginger and a single star anise. It tastes like it braised for hours, but the whole thing comes together in about 40 minutes because the cubes are small and the sauce reduces fast.
Serve it over steamed rice with something green on the side and you have a full plate that holds up beautifully as leftovers.
Why this works
Two things carry this dish. First, searing the pork before it ever sees liquid. You want real color on at least two sides of each cube, because that browning is where the savory depth comes from. Crowd the pan and the pork steams instead of sears, so use a wide pan and give the cubes room.
Second, lean loin needs a short braise, not a long one. Belly can sit in liquid for an hour and only get better, but loin turns dry and chalky if you push it. Fifteen minutes covered keeps it tender, and the quick uncovered reduction at the end is what turns the thin liquid into a clinging glaze.
Ingredient notes
Kecap manis is the heart of this. It is a thick, sweet Indonesian soy sauce, and ABC is the most common brand in the US, usually near the Asian sauces. If you cannot find it, use 2 tbsp regular soy sauce plus 1 tbsp brown sugar, and reduce the sauce a touch longer to thicken.
Pork loin is the leanest cut that still stays juicy here. Pork tenderloin works too and is even leaner, though it cooks a minute or two faster. Skip pork chops with a lot of connective tissue, since the short braise will not soften them. The star anise is optional but adds a warm, rounded note that reads as long-cooked, so use it if you have it.
If you like a richer dish, the same sauce works over char siu pork tenderloin style cuts, and if you want the lean weeknight version of this flavor on chops instead, the honey garlic pork chops use a similar sweet-savory glaze.
Indonesian Sweet Soy Pork (Babi Kecap)
Ingredients
Method
- Pat the pork cubes dry and season with the white pepper. Heat the oil in a wide pan or wok over medium-high until it shimmers.
- Add the pork in a single layer and sear without stirring for 2 to 3 minutes, until the underside browns. Turn and brown the other sides, then push the pork to one side.
- Add the onion, garlic and ginger to the cleared space. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant and the onion softens at the edges.
- Pour in the kecap manis, soy sauce, water and star anise if using. Stir to coat the pork, bring to a simmer, then cover and cook on low for 15 minutes.
- Uncover, raise the heat to medium and let the sauce reduce for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir the cornstarch slurry and add a little at a time until the sauce is glossy and coats the back of a spoon.
- Taste and adjust with a splash more soy sauce if needed. Top with sliced red chili and fried shallots and serve over rice.
Tips and storage
This is strong meal prep food. The flavor deepens overnight, so it is one of the few dishes I sometimes prefer on day two. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, and reheat gently in a pan with a splash of water to loosen the glaze. It also freezes well for up to 2 months.
For meal prep boxes, portion the pork over rice and pack a separate vegetable so it does not go soggy. If you batch cook proteins on the weekend, this slots in next to something like our lemongrass pork meal prep bowls for variety across the week. A squeeze of lime and extra fried shallots right before eating wakes the whole thing back up. If you keep a bottle of kecap manis around for this, put it to work in our Indonesian grilled sambal fish (ikan bakar) too.
