Bacon & Beans in Dark Brown Sugar Sauce

I love the US baked beans in sweet sauce or dark brown sugar sauce. However, it is not only expensive, but also only available in big can. After browsing through several recipes, I came out with this simple recipe using readily available ingredients in an Asian kitchen :)

Yield: 4 adults serving

Ingredients

120g cranberry white beans

70g bacon strips

1 tbsp onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp dark brown sugar

1/4 tsp dark brown soya sauce

1 tsp rice wine

1/4 tsp black pepper powder

1/4 tsp seasoning powder, like "Hao Chi"

4~5 rock sugar cubes

1/2 tsp potato starch

1 tbsp water

Coriander leaves

Direction 

1. Soak beans in water overnight in the fridge.

2. Drain away the water and pour the beans into a pot. Add water to about 1 cm above the beans.

3. Boil the beans till foamy. Drain away the water and add in another batch of water.

4. Cook the beans till the beans can be crushed between fingers easily.

5. Drain away the water and set aside.

6. Pan-fry the bacon till fragrant and crispy.

7. Remove the bacon from the pot. Cut into shorter length and set aside.

8. Use a paper kitchen towel to soak away some of the remnant oil after pan-frying the bacon. Top up with olive oil to fry the garlic and onion till frangrant.

9. Add in dark brown sugar, dark soya sauce, rice wine, black peppe powder and seasoning powder.

10. When the mixture starts to bubble, pour about 50ml of water into the pot, follow by the cooked beans and bacon.

Top up water till about 4/5 of the food height. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer till the sauce infuse into the beans.

11. Add in rock sugar. After the rock sugar has melted, pour in the starch water (mix potato starch with water). 

12. When the gravy has thickened, add in coriander leaves. Serve with warm rice :)