Name: Slow Cooker Babi Kecap
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 4 h 10 min
Total time: 4 h 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Indonesian
Ingredients: FOR THE SAMBAL PASTE; 5 banana shallots; 3 candlenuts or macadamia nuts; 3 red finger chillies, roughly chopped; 4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed; 5cm (2in) piece of ginger, roughly chopped; 1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric; FOR THE STEW; 2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil; 700g (1lb 9oz) pork belly, cut into 5cm (2in) chunks; 2 makrut lime leaves, stems removed and thinly sliced; 1 tbsp medium hot sauce (of your choice); 1 tsp palm sugar or light brown sugar; 6 tbsp kecap manis; 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 2 red spur chillies, thinly sliced, to garnish

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Perfect for the crockpot... Give this slow cooker babi kecap a try soon.

Pork loans itself to slow cooking. It becomes so tender and the slow cooking also flavours the sauce. Babi kecap is a sweet and savoury dish that is so easy to prepare. My family loves it!

Babi kecap served with rice on a serving plate, garnished with sliced spur chillies.

What is babi kecap?

Babi kecap is an Indonesian dish that you make with pork and sweet soy sauce or kecap manis. Babi means pork so this is a dish of pork with kecap manis.

Traditionally, the pork is slowly braised in the kecap manis together will other aromatic ingredients. Doing this in your slow cooker is so much easier because you don't have to watch the liquid level. The pork is slowly cooked in just a little liquid and it comes out melt in your mouth tender.

Babi kecap is hugely popular in the non-muslim parts of Indonesia and has obvious ties to similar Chinese recipes.

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How do you cook this slow cooker babi kecap in a more traditional way?

If you want to give this recipe a go using more authentic methods, you should try my babi kecap recipe here. This slow cooker version is really similar but you can literally set your cooker and let it do its job.

In fact, I really don't think you will taste any difference between slow cooker babi kecap and my more authentic recipe which, by the way was featured in my book 'The Curry Guy One Pot'.

Where can you buy kecap manis?

You can find kecap manis at Asian shops, online and at some supermarkets. It isn't expensive and is really just a syrupy soy sauce that is slowly simmered with sugar.

So if you find it difficult to find where you live, you can also make it and I have a recipe for you here.

Can you use other cuts of pork?

Yes but pork belly is traditionally used and my personal favourite. If you like, you could use cubed pork shoulder or for a lighter version you could even use loin but it won't be the same.

If you're worried about all that fat in pork belly, save this one for a real treat.

What should babi kecap look like when finished?

I have seen this dish cooked by many different chefs. Sometimes there is a lot of sauce but I don't find that as good.

In my opinion, a good babi kecap should have a thick, rich sauce. The sauce should literally cling to the meat or close to it.

At the end of the day, you can try it and decide for yourself. This recipe will produce a thick sauce but you could add a little stock to thin it some if you prefer.

How long can you store leftovers in the fridge?

If you have leftovers, you can store them in your fridge for 3 to 4 days. As the babi kecap sits in the fridge, the flavours will develop even more.

Slow cooker babi kecap is also one that you can freeze with great results up to 6 months. If doing this, be sure to label and date the containers.

To reheat it, you could simply place it in your microwave or reheat in a pan over a medium heat until hot.

Step by step photographs.

The ingredients for the recipe laid out on a countertop. — Get all of your ingredients ready before you start cooking. It's easier that way.

Blending the paste ingredients until smooth in a blender. — Place the shallots, candlenuts/macadamia nuts, chillies, garlic, ginger and ground turmeric in a food processor and blend to a smooth paste.

Frying the pork belly pieces to brown them. — Heat the oil in your slow cooker using the sauté mode or in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. When the oil is visibly hot, add the pork belly pieces and brown the meat for about 5 minutes.

Adding the blended paste to the pork to simmer for 3 minutes. — Add the prepared sambal paste to the pan with all the seared meat and stir well to combine.

Adding the hot sauce, sugar, kecap manis and tamarind concentrate to the slow cooker. — Stir in the hot sauce, sugar, kecap manis and tamarind concentrate.

Adding the lime leaves and stirring it all up to combine. — Give it all a good stir and add the lime leaves. Slow cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.

The babi kecap after 4 hours of cooking in the slow cooker. — As the dish cooks, the sauce will thicken. It is ready when the pork is really tender and you are happy with the consistency of the sauce.

Babi kecap on a serving plate with rice and garnished with sliced chillies and fresh coriander. — Season with salt to taste if needed and serve garnished with sliced red chillies and chopped coriander (cilantro).

If you like this slow cooker Thai green curry, you might like to try some of these too.

See more Slow Cooker Curries →

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Yield: 4