Vietnamese Pork and Egg with rice

I am not a big fan of pork and I rarely cook them.  When my cousin sent me the picture of this dish that she made and told me how delicious it was, I could not resist making it.  Hoping and praying that my family will like it too.

When I first marinated the pork in fish sauce, the house started to smell fishy and funky.  My kids were asking me what the yucky smell was !  I was even more skeptical to try this but went ahead anyways.  The verdict - YUMMY !


Ingredients

Pork steak
Ground pepper
3 tbs vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced

Marinade:

3 tbsp fish  sauce
1 tbsp white sugar
1/4 tsp tumeric
2 garlic cloves, finely grated

Dressing:

3 tbsp white sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 garlic  cloves, finely chopped
1 long red chilli, de-seeded, finely chopped
2 tbsp lime juice

Method:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients. 
• Lay the pork on a chopping board and cover with baking paper and pound the steaks until they are .5cm thick
• Place the pork in the marinade and toss to coat.

• To make the dressing, heat the sugar, fish sauce, vinegar over high heat. for 2-3 min. Stir the garlic, chili, and lime juice. Set aside. 

• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the pork 3-5 min on each side in batches until thoroughly cooked. Remove from heat and rest.
• While pork is resting,  heat the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and fry the eggs to your liking.
• Serve with rice, pork, fried egg, tomatoes and cucumber.. top it off with generous spoonfuls of the dressing.

Mango Chutney Roast Pork

 I have not done many pork recipes.  I always felt it has some kind of smell to it but since the loin was going on sale in my local grocery store and also I had some mango chutney in my pantry, I made this nice tangy pork loin roast which was tender.  We had it with roast sweet potatoes and some leftover frozen stuffing..:)

The gravy color on my pork looks dark because I added some worchestershire on my meat before roasting and after taking it off the pan, I reduced the pan gravy and poured it on top.

Ingredients

2 pork tenderloins, about 2.5 lbs total

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup pre-made mango-ginger chutney (or any other chutney you like)

3 Tbsp brown sugar

Juice of 1/2 lime

3 cloves garlic

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup water


Method

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  In a baking dish, combine all ingredients from the olive oil to the sea salt. Add the pork tenderloins and coat all sides with the marinade.  Let sit for about 15 minutes.
• In an oven-proof sautee pan over high heat, add the pork tenderloins when the pan is very hot.  Reserve the rest of the marinade and place to the side.  Sear the tenderloins until browned on all sides, about 2-3 minutes.  Place the pan into the oven and roast for about 22-25 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers about 155-160ºF, slightly pink.  Take the pork out of the oven and let it rest a few minutes before cutting the meat.
• Take the reserved marinade and place into a small saucepan with the 1/2 cup water.  Bring to a boil, stirring the sauce.  Lower the heat and allow to simmer for about 6-7 minutes, until the sauce is slightly reduced.  Ladle over the roasted pork tenderloins and serve.

Slow Cooker Ribs

 

This is as easy as it can be...all you need is a slow cooker and 7 hr and you have a delicious fall off the bone ribs.

I used one vacumm package of ribs. Rubbed seasoned salt and some barbeque sauce.  Put in into the slow cooker against the sides.  Let it cook for about 7 hr on High. Take it out and lay it on a baking sheet lined with foil.  Brush extra barbeque sauce on it and let it broil till it looks charred or alternatively you could put it in a grill.

Sweet Sour Pork

My husband did his usual weekend cooking and this time was sweet sour pork.  I think he did a pretty good job.  We battered and fried the pork first and then added the bell peppers for the crunch.

Ingredients


1 green capsicum, cut into cubes
1 red chilli, seeded and cut into cubes
1 tomato, cubed
Some canned pineapple cubes
1 large onion – cut into cubes
1 cup cubed deseeded cucumber

Sauce ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsps white vinegar
2 tbsps soy sauce
1/2 cup pineapple syrup (from the can)
1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper
1/2 cup water
Cornstarch & water for thickening sauce

Method

• Deep fry meat in hot oil. Dish out, drain well and set aside in a serving dish.
• Heat wok with oil, saute chopped garlic and cubed big onions for 2 minutes.
• Add in sauce ingredients (except cornstarch) and bring to a boil.
• Add in the rest of the ingredients A and simmer for 2 minutes. Thicken gravy with cornstarch.
• Pour sauce over meat and garnish before serving.

Barbeque Baby Back Ribs

I am so extremely happy to have finally found the best barbeque ribs recipe.  It is super moist and fork tender.  All you need is couple of already in the pantry ingredients and about 3 hours of your time.

Ingredients

Garlic powder
Brown sugar
Seasoned salt
Paprika
A slab of baby back ribs
Barbeque sauce

Method

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a glass baking dish line with foil. Tear off a piece of aluminum foil big enough to enclose the ribs. Spray each piece of foil with vegetable cooking spray. Sprinkle and massage the ribs liberally with all the ingredients except the sauce and place it in the foil.

Bake ribs wrapped tightly in the foil at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 2 1/2 hours. Remove from foil and add sauce and put under broiler until top is charred.

Lor Bak

Lor Bak is slivers of pork lightly seasoned with five spice powder and rolled up in beancurd sheet, and then deep-fried. There are also bits of Jicama ( Sengkuang), shallots and spring onions in the rolls. Everyone has a variation of this recipe. The most important thing is that the meat has to be tender and tasty. This time around since I decided to make it without any planning ahead, I just used ground pork and it turned out as delicious. Also I made a special dip to go along with it. Make sure to make the dip if you are going to do this Lor Bak.

Source: The Hungry Caterpillar (with own modifications)

Ingredients


1 lb of pork, ask the butcher for a tender cut ( I used ground pork)
1 tsp of five spice powder
1 medium Jicama, optional
1 carrot
2 stalks of spring onion
2 shallots
1 clove garlic, minced
Thumbsize ginger, pound and squeeze juice
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 egg
3 tbsp tapioca flour
salt, white pepper and sugar, according to taste
Beancurd sheet
Cooking oil for deep frying

Method

• Cut the pork into slivers. Marinate with the five spice powder and a teaspoon of salt and white pepper. Mix together and leave aside.
• Peel the jicama and carrot. Cut the jicama, carrot and spring onion into matchsticks. Dice the onions and mince the garlic. Squeeze the ginger to get about 1 tsp of juice.
• In a mixing bowl. put the the pork with the sengkuang, carrot, spring onion onion, onions and mix well.
• Then, add the egg, oyster sauce, tapioca flour and seasoning. Mix well.
• Cut the beancurd sheet into long sheets with a width of 12cm. Place the filling at the end of the sheet, and roll it tightly. Roll it only once so that it’s only wrapped in a layer of the sheet.
• Heat the cooking oil, and deep fry the rolls till golden brown.  These rolls are usually served with the dipping sauce and cubed cucumbers.

Dipping Sauce

2 tbsp dark soy-sauce

a pinch of Chinese 5-spice powder

2 tbsp sugar

salt , to taste

4-5 tbsp water

½ tsp cornstarch

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Method

In a small pot, combine all ingredients [except egg white], over low heat, bring to a slow simmer

Simmer 1-2 mins stirring occasionally till sauce is smooth

Add egg white, stir with fork, forming fine white streaks in the sauce

Remove from heat, serve at room temperature .

Peking Pork Chop

This is an authentic dish that I was so glad I made. The cut of meat used for this is usually the spareribs but this time I used tenderloins instead and it was still very flavorful and moist.  My kids devoured it as soon as it was placed on the table.  It is slightly tangy sweet and crispy.  Somewhat like sweet sour chicken. The ingredients can be a little lengthy but I will assure you that you would be glad that you made it for your family.

Ingredients

1 lb pork tenderloin or pork spare ribs, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

Oil for deep frying

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, optional

Marinade

1 egg

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon shaoxing wine

1/2 teaspoon salt

Sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato ketchup

1/2 tablespoon plum sauce

1/2 tablespoon chili sauce

1/4 teaspoon sweet bean sauce, or Hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons black vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

small pinch of Chinese Five Spice powder, optional

2 tablespoons water

Method

• Pound pork slices with mallet, or with the back of a kitchen knife until tender. Set aside. In a bowl, mix the Marinade ingredients, add in pork slices, mix well, and marinade for 30 minutes.
• In a separate bowl, mix the Sauce ingredients. You may add more or less sugar, or other sauce ingredients to your own liking. Set sauce mixture aside.
• Heat up a wok with enough oil, deep-fry pork slices for 5 minutes, or until color changes to golden brown and slightly crispy. Dish up, drain with paper towels and set aside.
• Bring sauce to a quick boil, add deep-fried pork, and stir until all the meat is well coated with sauce. Dish up and sprinkle the pork chops with some toasted sesame seeds. Serve over a bowl of hot steamed rice.

Bak Kut Teh

It tough taking pictures with your cell phone. It makes the food  not so appetizing

The weather outside today is in the 20's. Can you believe it. I hate going out and just want to cuddle up in my couch doing nothing and just sipping a hot bowl of soup. That will be in my dream world but reality is that I have 6 mouth's to feed. So, I looked in the pantry to see what I can whip up and there we go; a packet of Bak Kut Teh which is also called Pork Bone Tea mix which my sister sent last year.  I never used to like this soup as it has some kind of distinct smell, more like chinese medicine. Since my sister took the time to mail this, I thought I would go ahead and make but with chicken instead of pork spareribs which is the original method.

Usually the soup is loaded with pork ribs, dried Shitake mushrooms, tofu puffs, and heaps of garlic.This soup is cooked for couple of hours with the herb and spice mix. Flavoring only with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce and white pepper. It’s best cooked and served in a clay pot and eaten with plain white rice, yau char kway (Chinese crullers), a dish of stir-fried vegetables. I did not have the clay pot so I just served it in a bowl.  I got the chinese crullers at the frozen section in the Asian Grocery. You can also get the Bak Kut Teh packet at the Asian Grocery. I hope you will have fun making this soup.  I really enjoyed it and definitely going to make this again.


Ingredients

1 pack of pre-packed Bak Kut Teh herbs
1 lb of pork ribs ( I substituted dark meat from chicken)
2 whole garlic bulbs ( leave it with the skin)
A handful of tofu puffs ( I used dried beancurd knots)

Seasoning

2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
A few dashes of white pepper powder
Salt to taste

Chinese Crullers

Condiment, optional

4-5 bird’s eyes chilies
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Indonesian ABC sweet soy sauce

Method

Heat up a medium size pot or claypot of water until it boils. Add in the garlic bulbs, pre-packed Bak Kut Teh herbs, pork ribs,  tofu puffs and boil in low heat for about 1 – 2 hours. Add in the
seasoning and boil for another 5 minutes. Serve hot with hot white rice and chinese crullers.

Pulled Pork

I have tried pulled pork many times but this recipe has such intense flavor that is hard to describe.  When I measured the amounts stated, I was thinking to myself chili powder and cumin on a pork.  This ought to be good and brining it before cooking is something new to me. It actually helped to keep the meat moist and develop the flavors.  For what is worth, this is truly a wonderful recipe. Thanks to one of my favorite blogger who posted this amazing pulled pork dish.

Source:  Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Ingredients

I halved the amount below since I only used 1 1/2lb of meat. Followed all the instruction given except that I put it in a slow cooker on High for 6 hours instead of roasting it.

For the Rub

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon ground pepper

1 tablespoon paprika

1/2 cup brown sugar

Brine Solution

4 pound bone-in pork shoulder roast 

2 quarts cold water

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons dry rub mix

bay leaves

Method to Prepare the Roast

• Rinse the pork shoulder and place in a large container, pour in the brine solution until the shoulder is completely covered. 
• Cover the container and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Then remove pork shoulder from brine solution, pat dry with paper towels, place in baking pan that is bigger than the shoulder by at least a inch in length and width and at least 3 inches deep. 
• Sprinkle dry rub onto the surface of the shoulder and massage in such that it adheres to the surface. Coat all sides. Make sure the fat layer on the shoulder is facing up before cooking! Place baking pan uncovered in a 225 degree oven on the middle rack. 
• Insert a probe thermometer into the center or thickest part of the shoulder, but not touching the bone. Monitor the temperature throughout cooking (a digital thermometer with an alarm function is the easiest way to do this). Do not remove from the oven until the center of the shoulder reaches 200 degrees. 
• When the shoulder has reached 200 degrees, shut off the oven and let the roast cool for a couple of hours before removing from the oven. If the bottom of the pan is dry (or crusted with dried spices) then cover the pan with foil to retain internal moisture of the meat during the cooling period. 
• When the temperature drops to 170 degrees or slightly lower, remove from oven. Place on a large, clean work surface such as a cutting board, and remove the large sheet of crusted fat on the top. Pull apart with two forks, it will pull apart very easily.

Chipotle Spareribs

When I came across this recipe in Cooking Light magazine, I was wondering how the taste was going to be since I was so used to always having ribs in barbeque sauce.  It was so delicious that my little one just chowed it down so fast.  The meat was also so tender and fall off the bone. The meat was baked in foil covered oven and later in a broiler just for couple of minutes.

Source:  Cooking Light

Ingredients

1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar

1 tbs chili powder

2 tsp chipotle chile pepper

1 tsp saigon cinnamon

1 tsp garlic salt

3 lb pork baby back ribs

1/4 c water

1/2 c pure maple syrup

Method

• Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix with brown sugar and spices in small bowl. Rub spice mixture evenly on ribs. Place ribs in single layer on foil-lined roasting pan. Pour water into pan. Cover with foil
• Bake 1 hour or until meat starts to pull away from bones. Brush with maple syrup
• Broil or grill over medium heat 3-5 minutes per side or until heated through and nicely browned. Make 6 servings

Ham with apricot sauce

Ingredients

Ready to serve ham, boneless
1 can ginger ale
1/4 cup dried apricots
1 1/2 cup apple juice
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of cinnamon powder
pinch of ground cloves
1 tbsp butter

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Place ham in a roasting pan and pour ginger ale all over it. Cover with foil and set timer for 45 minutes.
• Cut apricots into small pieces and simmer in apple juice in a small stove-top saucepan.
• Blend together brown sugar, cornstarch and spices in a small bowl. Whisk gradually into apple juice mixture until smooth.  Bring to a gentle boil.  Add butter, stir, remove from heat and set aside.
• When timer rings for the ham, baste the top of ham with liquid in the roasting pan and return ham to oven for another 10 minutes. Discard liquid when done.

Serve sliced ham with apricot sauce and grilled asparagus or steamed brocolli,

Lor Bak/Pork Roll in Beancurd Skin

This is another way to use  Bean Curd Sheets. This dish is very popular in Penang and is readily available in most eating places in Kuala Lumpur but here, you would have to make your own. Other items - such as Fried Tofu, Prawn Fritters, Century Eggs and fresh cucumbers wedges are served along with these.  It looks like a lot of work but its so simple when you get the hang of it and the smell of the five spice powder is really wonderful.

This dish can totally be done vegetarian style.  Just use firm tofu in place of meat. And if you do not wish to use pork, it can be substituted with chicken.

Ingredients

1 lb pork, cut into strips ( I used ground pork)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp, finely minced garlic

1 small carrot, shredded

5 tbsp chopped water chestnut/jicama
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp, black pepper

1 tsp 5 spice powder
1 tbsp tapioca starch

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 spring onion, cut small

4 or 5 pieces bean curd sheet

1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup hot boiling water

1½ cup vegetable oil

1 seedless cucumber, cut into bite-size chunky wedges

INGREDIENTS for Dark-soy Dipping sauce 

2 tbsp dark soy-sauce
a pinch of Chinese 5-spice powder
2 tbsp sugar
salt , to taste
4-5 tbsp water
½ tsp cornstarch
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Method

To Prepare Dark-soy Dipping Sauce 

In a small pot, combine all ingredients [except egg white], over low heat, bring to a slow simmer
Simmer 1-2 mins stirring occasionally till sauce is smooth
Add egg white, stir with fork, forming fine white streaks in the sauce
Remove from heat, serve at room temperature .

To Prepare Lor Bak

Soften dried bean curd sheets by wiping gently with a clean wet tea towel or paper towels. Cut into squares - size of your choice.( don't forget to add an additional inch on all sides, for folding and rolling )

In a small bowl, add cornstarch and hot boiling water, mixing well into a glue-like paste, set aside
In a bowl, combine (A) and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

In the center of a bean-curd sheet, spoon pork mixture length-wise, forming it into the shape of a log. Brush all the sides of the bean-curd sheet with the cornstarch paste. Roll tightly, folding in the sides while rolling.

Repeat this procedure. Heat wok on high, add vegetable oil, allow oil to heat up to moderately hot.

Fry several lor bak untill golden brown,, then turn up the heat or remove a few scoops of oil so the  temperature of oil can be very hot and further crisp the lor bak. Remove, drain on cake rack .

Allow to cool slightly, before cutting into bite-size.

Arrange on a serving plate , along with a condiment bowl of dark-soy dipping sauce and a bowl of sweet-chili dipping; garnish with cucumber wedges.

My beancurd is a little off. 

Fried Wontons

I had some wonton wrapper stached in the freezer and I thought of just filling them like spring rolls and fry them. It was scrumptious especially eaten with some chili sauce.

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground pork

1 1/2 cup coleslaw mix or cabbage and carrot ( shredded)

1 small shallot

1 tsp minced ginger

2 tbsp oyster sauce

pepper and salt to taste

Wonton wrapper

Method

• In a wok, drizzle some oil and saute the shallot and ginger.  Add in pork and stir fry till no longer pink. 
• Mix in the vegetable and oyster sauce.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for couple of minutes till vegetables are soft but not overcooked. Take out and cool.
• Put about 1 tbsp of filling per wrapper. Wet the sides slightly with some water and seal them in a triangle shape.
• Fry till golden brown. Drain out in a paper towel and serve with sweet chili sauce.

Char Siew Pau

Ingredients for Filling

285g char siew, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

  2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

  1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

  2 tbsp oil

  1 tbsp flour

  Seasoning:

  3 tsp light soy sauce

  2 tsp sesame oil

  1/8 tsp pepper

  2 tbsp oyster sauce

  4 to 5 tbsp sugar

  1 tbsp water plus 1 tsp cornstarch

Heat oil and fry the garlic, add the char siew and the seasonings.

Lastly add in the coriander leaves and put the fillings in refrigerator to cool.

For the Dough:
1 packet of pau ready mixed
1 cup milk/water
1/2 cup sugar

Follow the directions stated at the back of the packet.

Just before steaming the pau, I added some vinegar to the water. Pease refer to my earlier blog on making pau with yeast.

Dough proofing

Steaming

Some pau even manage to smile at me....

After steaming as you can see the pau is white and fluffy

At last a bite of my tasty char siew filled pau

Char Siu ( Roast Pork)

BBQ pork or “char siu” (also spelled as “char siew”) is a famous Chinese dish that everyone loves.

Char siu (char siew) is of Cantonese origin where skewers of Pork meat is marinated in a honey hoisin sauce, and then roast in oven to charred, savory, and sticky sweet perfection. If there is a pork recipe that defines Chinese cooking, I think char siu (char siew) would be it.

Whenever we go to the chinese eatery, my kids love to snack on the char siew or get the char siew pau so hence I thought  I would try making it at home.  

1. Choice of meat – if you love your char siu (char siew) tender, juicy, moist, and a little fatty, use pork belly. If you prefer a meaty char siu (char siew), then go for pork loin. 
2. Maltose –  maltose is the secret ingredient that gives char siu (char siew) that sticky sweet taste and texture. Honey is just the icing on the cake.
3. Chinese rose wine – this wine is very fragrant and lends a very nice flavor to this BBQ pork or char siu (char siew) recipe.
4. Five-spice powder  – mixture of 5 spices used in chinese recipes

INGREDIENTS:

1lb of pork tenderloin
3 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil

CHAR SIU (CHAR SIEW) SAUCE:

1 1/2 tablespoons maltose
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine
3 dashes white pepper powder
3 drops red coloring (optional)
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

METHOD:

Add all ingredients in the char siu sauce in a sauce pan, heat it up and stir-well until all blended and become slightly thickened and sticky.  (It will yield 1/2 cup char siu sauce.) Transfer out and let cool.

Marinate the pork  with 2/3 of the char siu sauce and the chopped garlic overnight. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil into the remaining char siu sauce. Keep in the fridge.

The next day, heat the oven to 375 degree F and roast the char siu for 15 minutes (shake off the excess char siu sauce before roasting). Transfer them out of the oven and thread the char siu pieces on metal skewers and grill them over fire (I used my stove top). Brush the remaining char siu sauce while grilling until the char siu are perfectly charred. Slice the char siu into bite-size pieces, drizzle the remaining char siu sauce over and serve immediately with steamed white rice.

You don’t have to roast the pork in the oven if you use an outdoor grill. As I used the stove top to char the char siu, I roasted the char siu in the oven so they were cooked. It’s impossible to cook the char siu by using the stove top alone. You can roast the char siu thoroughly for 25-30 minutes in the oven. It’s best to use the S-shape hook and hang your char siu at the top layer of the oven, with a roasting pan or aluminum foil sheet at the bottom for the drips.