Cook: Cha Siew Pork Rib

Dear all,

Sorry for haven't updating for the longest time. Finally, school reopens and now I have more time for cooking again. Hopefully will have more successful recipes to share :)

Today I try out this recipe that I have bookmark for quite some time and it was a success. Everyone commented that it is very nice and many had second servings. This is where I got the recipe (Cha Siew Pork Rib) and I adapted it by using less sugar as our family prefer less sweet in most of our dishes.

Cha Siew Pork Rib

INGREDIENTS

(Serves 4 adults)

1. 1 kg pork rib ( I requested to cut into small slices)

2. 3 tablespoon of Hoisin Sauce ( I use Lee Kum Kee brand)

3. 3 tablespoon of light soy sauce

4. 3 tablespoon of oyster sauce

5. 4 tablespoon of dark soy sauce

6. 3 tablespoon of white sugar

7. 2 tablespoon of honey

METHODS

1. Wash the pork rib and marinate them with all the sauces stated above for at least 8 hours or overnight. ( I marinate early in the morning and put in fridge until dinner time)

Marinate pork rib in sauces

2. Remove marinated pork rib from fridge.

3. Heat up a cooking pan.

4. Add the pork ribs with all the sauces into the pan.

5. On medium to high heat, let the rib slowly cook in the sauces for about 20 minutes, turning every 5-10 minutes.

Slowly let the rib cook and absorb the sauce

6. Once the sauces thicken, turn down to low heat and let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so until it is cook.

7. Serve hot.

I serve mine with stir fry broccoli and deep fried potato/yam with a bowl of lotus root soup! Yummy!

Cook: Mummy's Sticky Pork

Sticky pork is one of my sis and my favourite... It always come to our mind when mummy asked what would we like for lunch or dinner... Apparently, my mum learn this from my granny and now my sis and me loves to cook them for our family too :)

Plus, it is really a quick dish to whip up, just marinate in the morning or overnight. Take it out and deep fried... one dish is done :)

The secret lies in the corn flour so put a lot of them for it to be sticky, and when it is done, drizzle with dark soy sauce, i love seeing how the soya sauce react with the oil to form tonnes of bubbles. I feel like a chef when it does.. haha!!!

INGREDIENTS:

1. 150g of pork belly (or use lean pork for healthier version), cut into medium-sized thin strips (3-5cm long)

2. 3 cloves of garlic, minced

3. 1 1/2 teaspoon of light soya sauce

4. 1 teaspoon of sesame oil

5.1 teaspoon of sugar

6. 4 tablespoon of corn flour

7. 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce

8. chopped fresh chilli padi, optional

METHODS:

1. Marinate the pork with garlic,  light soya sauce, sesame oil, sugar and chilli padi for 4-6 hours.

2. Before frying, take them out from the fridge and add corn flour, mix well.

Frying....

3. Deep fry until it is golden. Tips: When frying, use  medium heat and let the pork turns golden before flipping them to the other side, it may takes few minutes for that to happen. This is to ensure that it is more crispy :)

Golden

4. When it is done, add dark soya sauce and coat well.

5. Serve hot!

Cook: "Kou Rou Bao" aka Braised Pork Belly Bun

"Kou Rou Bao" using lean pork

Was feeling adventurous so decided to make "Kou Rou Bao" from scratch...

I cooked the pork using my mum's braised pork belly recipe.Replaced pork belly with lean pork for healthier version :)

Recipe for braised pork belly:

(http://eatplaycook22.blogspot.sg/2014/06/cook-mummys-braised-pork-belly-secret.html)

For the "bao", i modify slightly from Angela's recipe from Facebook. Only reduce the sugar as this is a savoury dish, and switch Bao Flour to Hong Kong Flour as that is what i have at the moment. 

(https://www.facebook.com/sassyangelakitchen?hc_location=timeline)

Love how the "Kou Rou Bao" turns out :) It's yummy and by using the lean pork, i feel much healthier consuming them :)

INGREDIENTS:

(Make 8 Bao)

Starter

1. 1/2 tablespoon of instant yeast

2. 75ml of warm water

3. 1/2 teaspoon of white sugar

Bao

1. 250g of Hong Kong Flour

2. 3 tablespoon of white sugar

3. 4 tablespoon of vegetable oil

4. A pinch of salt

5. 4 tablespoon of water

6. Extra flour for dusting

7. A little oil to spread on the inner side of the bao

METHODS:

1. Mix the ingredients under starter in a bowl. Cover and set aside for 20 mins. You will see a layer of foam forming around 20 mins and it is done.

Yeast starts bubbling

Double layers forming-yeast on top and water below

2. In a big bowl, mix the yeast mixture with ingredients for "bao". Knead well using hand until well combine. The dough should look similar to the photo as shown.

Dough for the "bao" ready for proof-ing

3. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let it proof for 45 minutes. After proofing, the dough didn't rise much, but when u touch it, inside it is full of air pocket. 

4. The dough will be quite sticky so use flour to dust the the rolling pin and table. Take a handful of dough and roll them into an oval shape, dabble some oil onto the surface. Then fold the dough into half to form the shape.

5. Place the dough onto a baking paper, and place them to steam for 15 minutes or until the bun is cooked.

6. Serve hot.

Note: You can make the bun beforehand and put in fridge. Re-steam when required.

Kou Rou Bao ready to be served

Cook: Sweet N Sour Pork Rib

Sweet Sour Pork Rib

Difficulty: 2/5

Sweet sour dishes are one of the most commonest and well-liked dish in most chinese restaurant even in those abroad... When i was studying in the UK few years back, this is almost ordered by all the ang moh that patronise chinese restaurant.. i would say this is their most favourite chinese dish... 

The ingredients to cook sweet sour pork is simple and this is also one of the few dishes that i learn in my early cooking days when i was studying :) well liked by my hubby as well. When i cook this recently, hubby commented that " you should cook this everyday, it reduces my risk of eating variable quality of food everyday :P"... i am not sure if i should take that as a compliment or complain.... 

well, the recipe is as below is anyone is interested...

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 2)

1. 250g of pork rib 

2. 1 medium sized tomatoes, diced

3. 3 medium sized potatoes, diced

4. 1 medium sized carrot, diced

5. 1/2 cup of tomato ketchup

6. 2 teaspoon of corn flour

7. 2 cloves of garlic, minced

Marinate

1. 3 tablespoon of soya sauce

2. 1 tablespoon of sesame oil

3. 1/2 teaspoon of ground white pepper

4. 3 tablespoon of corn flour

METHODS:

1. Marinate the pork rib with the marinate ingredients for at least 2 hours.

2. Heat oil and deep fried the pork rib until golden brown. Set aside. Do ensure that it is fully cooked in the middle, as the ribs are thick and sometimes the inside is not fully cooked. 

Fried pork rib until golden brown.

3. Fried the potatoes and carrot until its cooked. Set aside

Fried the potatoes and carrot until cooked

4. Now to prepare the sauce, stir fry garlic until its fragrant. Then add tomatoes and stir fry for one minute.

5. Add tomatoes sauce and the fried pork rib, potatoes and carrot.

6. Then, mix the corn flour with 3 tablespoon of water and add into the mixture

7. Stir well and heat up until the sauce is hot and bubbly.

8. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Cook: Dim Sum-style Steamed Pork Rib with Tauco (salted soya beans)

Steamed Pork Ribs

Difficulty: 2/5

Steamed pork rib is one of our family's MUST ORDER when we go for Dim Sum... We love how the pork rib is well seasoned and steamed in the black bean sauce but it always come in such a small portion..

So, I decided to give this steamed pork rib a twist and used salted soya beans instead. I also cooked much more than what the dim sum shop served to satisfy the cravings :)

The pork ribs turns out to be great, smooth meat (cause i added corn flour) and the saltiness is just nice! It got wiped out in no time when i served them.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 300g of pork ribs, washed and cut to small pieces
2. 3 teaspoon of salted soya beans sauce*
3. 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
4. 2 teaspoon of light soya sauce
5. 2 tablespoon of corn flour
6. 3 cloves of garlic (minced)

* Do note that the soya beans comes in salted and sweetened version. Do buy the correct one...

Salted soya beans

METHODS:

1. Really very simple methods, mix everything together and place it on a plate.

2. Steam for 30 minutes or so until it is cooked. Do not worry if steamed longer cause pork does not overcook, the meat will still be soft.

Note: Cover the plate with another plate (as shown in picture) during steaming so that the water won't dripped into the pork rib and dilute the seasoning taste :)

Mix well and ready to steam

Cover the plate and cover the pan with a lid

Yummy!

Cook: Mummy's Braised Pork Belly--secret ingredient revealed!

Mummy's style braised pork belly

Braised pork belly (Second attempt)

Braised pork belly is one of our family's comfort food and it is especially comforting in a cold,rainy weather like today...

I have make braised pork belly several times before and on the last occasion, my mum tried them and gave me some pointers to improve my braised pork belly. Therefore this time, I used my mum's recipe and it turns out great!!! 

Her secret ingredient is the white sugar, melt the sugar and use them to brown the meat!!!

You could prepare this dish in advance, cool down and keep in fridge. Re-heat before serving. The more time you re-heat, the more flavourful the dish will become. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

(serves 2)

1. 200g of pork belly ( I didn't use pork belly this time round, substitute with a leaner pork and it is still yummy)

2. 10 mini dried mushrooms, soaked

3. 2 hard boiled eggs 

4. 3 tablespoon of white sugar

5. 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Cinnamon, cloves and star aniseeds

(A)

1. 800ml water

2. 2 tablespoon of dark soy sauce

3. 1 tablespoon of dark sweet sauce 

4. 2 tablespoon of light soy sauce

5. 1 cinnamon stick

6. 1 star aniseeds

7. 4 cloves

8. 1/2 teaspoon of 5 spices powder

9. 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper

10. 1 bulb of garlic, smashed and keep the skin

Smashed the garlic cloves with the side of knife

Smashed garlic

METHODS:

1. Heat frying pan and melt the white sugar into brown liquid as shown in picture below. Do note that this may take a while.

2. After the sugar has become brown liquid, put in the pork and brown both sides of the pork as shown in photo.

3. Add in mushroom and (A).

4. Bring to boil and then simmer for an hour.

5. Add the egg and corn flour during the last 10 minutes before the dish is ready.

Place white sugar into heated frying pan

White sugar starting to melt

Melted sugar and turn brownish

Brown pork on both sides