If one goes to a Peranakan restaurant and doesn’t order babi pongteh, has one ever really been to a Peranakan restaurant?

Chili Padi’s excellent rendition of the timeless Nyonya classic is making me lean towards no on this one. It’s really quite astounding as to how a hodgepodge of soy sauce, fermented soybeans and other assorted spices can result in a love so right.

The pork belly is lovingly stewed to a near melt in your mouth tenderness, and all that TLC during the braising process loads the belly cut of porcine full of stunningly savory flavors. The sauce is moderately oily, which is to be expected given that the pork belly was braised in said sauce, but the flavors in there are just extraordinary. Pair this piquant porcine up with a plate of freshly steamed white rice, and you could very well reach the promised land.

Yeah, babi.