Pata Tim is braised low and slow in a sweet and savory sauce with bok choy and mushrooms. It is melt-in-your-mouth tender, flavorful, and amazing with steamed rice!
Like pata hamonado, pata tim is a pork leg cooked low and slow in a sweet and savory sauce. While pineapple juice is the base ingredient for the former, Shaoxing wine and star anise are the flavor components of the latter.
This Chinese-style braised dish is easy for weeknight family dinners, yet it’s fancy enough for company. A whole pork leg is first seared to seal in flavor and then simmered in a soy sauce mixture until melt-in-your-mouth tender. After a couple of hours on the stove with minimal tending, you get succulent meat and an amazing sauce everyone would sing praises for!
Ingredient notes
- Oil– use oil with a high smoke point such as avocado, canola, or safflower oil to brown the pork.
- Pork leg– Pata Tim is traditionally served whole and uncut, but I suggest having the butcher cut the pork leg in a few places through the bone and not to the skin. Not everyone has commercial-size cookware at home; this way, you can bend the leg as needed to fit in the pan and the pot. Also, it makes serving at the communal table easier; guests can help themselves to a piece or two without tearing through the whole pork.
- Shiitake mushrooms– you can use fresh or dried shitake mushrooms. If using the dried variety, soak them in warm water for about 20 to 30 minutes until softened, and then, using your hands, squeeze the mushrooms to remove the liquid.
- Sauce– Similar to macao-style asado spare ribs, it has a delicious medley of sweet and savory flavors. The sauce is made of Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar,
- Star anise– adds a distinctive slightly sweet with a hint of licorice taste
- Water– The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the pork leg. Add more water in ½ cup increments and adjust seasonings, if needed, during cooking to maintain 2 cups.
- Leafy greens– The recipe calls for bok choy, but other leafy vegetables such as spinach, pechay, or napa cabbage are also great options.
- Rinse the pork leg and pat dry. Sear in a wide pan until lightly browned on all sides.
- Combine Chinese cooking wine, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, star anise, and water in a large pot and boil.
- Add the pork leg to the liquid mixture and bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the pork is tender and almost falling off the bone. Add more water in ½ cup increments during cooking to maintain about 2 cups of sauce.
- Rinse the mushrooms and slice them into 1-inch thick strips. Saute in a wide pan until tender-crisp. Remove and keep warm.
- In the pan, add bok choy and saute until tender-crisp.
How to Serve
- On a wide serving platter, arrange the whole braised pork leg. Arrange sauteed mushrooms and bok choy around the meat. Spoon the savory sauce over the meat and vegetables.
- Serve hot with steamed rice for lunch or dinner.