Five Spice Stewed Pork and Porridge
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself
Nostalgia
Definition of Nostalgia:
1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.
2. The condition of being homesick; homesickness.
Yeah, winter can be abit boring as night falls really early and I have to call it a day at 5pm. Its really boring. As we see a weekend-Orchard Road being the crowd-magnet, I wonder where did the Aussies go to after dark?
Feeling bored? I decided to do abit of showing off again.. Allow me to share my latest dish.. 5-spice pork with porridge.
Significance of the dish:
I am never a teochew porridge lover. Recalling the days where I would fight with my parents against eating porridge on Sunday afternoons. All those rebelious fight I would put up week after week to "Say NO to teochew porridge". But as I grew up, I still didnt like teochew porridge, but started to fall in love with those kind of porridge u get in hawker centres etc.. I think its sort of Cantonese porridge?? I'm not too sure thou. But I love it, especially when you beat an egg inside.. just love it! My father likes to do it this way too. But my mum simply gets irritated when we do that, she hates the taste.. Perhaps my father didnt really like the egg afterall, maybe he is more interested in irritating my mum? Who knows? Hehee
That teochew porridge is the de-motivator which pulled me away from lunch at home on Sundays. Hence I was never close to my father cos thats the only few time in the week he sits at home for a meal.
My father loves to have that 5-spice fatty pork dish (in Hokkien, we call it lor bak), or stewed pork in dark sauce. I love it with those pig organs etc.. the type you get when you eat Kuey Chap. But my father likes those pig trotter with bean curd puffs and eggs. And sadly, my mum always follows my father's choice. At that very instant, I would start staging my fight against the porridge!
Its a nostalgia feeling that made me feel like cooking such a simple and traditional fare that winter night. Hence, presenting.. stewed pork with porridge.
Ingredients:
Basically, throwing everything in a pot and sit around for 1 hour would do the trick. Like sometimes I would say, everyone can cook, it just depends on who can do it well. Hence, I've decided to give you a clearer step-by-step instruction.
If you would need any instrcutions to cook INSTANT porridge, please refer to the back of the packet.
For the stew pork, first, a bit of marination would remove all unwanted smell from the pork. Feeling a little lazy this time, I just added salt and pepper to my cubed pork and finally the five-spice powder. Leave it in the fridge to let it absorb the taste. To start cooking, bring some water to boil maybe like 1 cup) then melt the sugar in the water. When its pretty done, add in the garlic, pork, hardboiled eggs and bean curd puffs. Then more water (this is dependent on how thick or thin you want to sauce to be). Add your salt and dark soya sauce as well. Then leave it alone for about 1 hour at least. But pls remember to check on it from time to time, cos sugar will make it burnt easily.
Thats about it I guess.. All you have to do is to keep waiting then. :)
And while you wait, I'm going to catch some sleep now.. Goodnite!
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself
1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.
2. The condition of being homesick; homesickness.
Yeah, winter can be abit boring as night falls really early and I have to call it a day at 5pm. Its really boring. As we see a weekend-Orchard Road being the crowd-magnet, I wonder where did the Aussies go to after dark?
Feeling bored? I decided to do abit of showing off again.. Allow me to share my latest dish.. 5-spice pork with porridge.
Significance of the dish:
I am never a teochew porridge lover. Recalling the days where I would fight with my parents against eating porridge on Sunday afternoons. All those rebelious fight I would put up week after week to "Say NO to teochew porridge". But as I grew up, I still didnt like teochew porridge, but started to fall in love with those kind of porridge u get in hawker centres etc.. I think its sort of Cantonese porridge?? I'm not too sure thou. But I love it, especially when you beat an egg inside.. just love it! My father likes to do it this way too. But my mum simply gets irritated when we do that, she hates the taste.. Perhaps my father didnt really like the egg afterall, maybe he is more interested in irritating my mum? Who knows? Hehee
That teochew porridge is the de-motivator which pulled me away from lunch at home on Sundays. Hence I was never close to my father cos thats the only few time in the week he sits at home for a meal.
My father loves to have that 5-spice fatty pork dish (in Hokkien, we call it lor bak), or stewed pork in dark sauce. I love it with those pig organs etc.. the type you get when you eat Kuey Chap. But my father likes those pig trotter with bean curd puffs and eggs. And sadly, my mum always follows my father's choice. At that very instant, I would start staging my fight against the porridge!
Its a nostalgia feeling that made me feel like cooking such a simple and traditional fare that winter night. Hence, presenting.. stewed pork with porridge.
Ingredients:
- Cubed pork about 300 to 400 grams
- 4 Hardboiled Eggs
- A few Bean Curd Puffs (depending on size)
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 whole Garlic (smashed lightly)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons of Dark Soya Sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon of Salt (depending on personal taste)
- Some water lah!
- 1 tablespoon of five-spice powder
- A packet of Maggi Instant Porridge (my personal favourite)
Basically, throwing everything in a pot and sit around for 1 hour would do the trick. Like sometimes I would say, everyone can cook, it just depends on who can do it well. Hence, I've decided to give you a clearer step-by-step instruction.
If you would need any instrcutions to cook INSTANT porridge, please refer to the back of the packet.
For the stew pork, first, a bit of marination would remove all unwanted smell from the pork. Feeling a little lazy this time, I just added salt and pepper to my cubed pork and finally the five-spice powder. Leave it in the fridge to let it absorb the taste. To start cooking, bring some water to boil maybe like 1 cup) then melt the sugar in the water. When its pretty done, add in the garlic, pork, hardboiled eggs and bean curd puffs. Then more water (this is dependent on how thick or thin you want to sauce to be). Add your salt and dark soya sauce as well. Then leave it alone for about 1 hour at least. But pls remember to check on it from time to time, cos sugar will make it burnt easily.
Thats about it I guess.. All you have to do is to keep waiting then. :)
And while you wait, I'm going to catch some sleep now.. Goodnite!
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself
Go Go Go SocceRoos go!
When we talk about the national animals of Aussie..
First to come in mind would be koala and kangaroo..
There is no need to explain why the Aussie Soccer team calls themselves the SocceRoos! Gosh, this is such a hit nowadays.. Everyone is talking SocceRoos! Thanks to World Cup!
Yeah man! Run For Your Balls!
Yup.. So today, I'm going to show my culinary skills again..
We are not going to eat koala.. we are going for some Kangaroo rather.
I love this cos its really not that oily as compared to other meats I get in the supermarket. So I guess its a healthier choice for all.
You can hop, but you cannot hide! :)
Significance of the dish:
Its my first time cooking and eating kangaroo, so this sort of made me a Newbie to it. But nevertheless, it was such a wonderful experience. The meat was soft and tender. Tentalizes my taste bud till the max!
Presenting.. Garlic and Herbs Kangaroo Steak..
Ingredients:
The way you cut your veges really depends on how you wanted to present your dish this time, there isn't any rule to it. Boil your carrots and cauliflower, have your celery and tomato raw, they taste good! Sprinkle your freshly grinded peppercorn on top and finish it off with some salad dressing.
As for your kangaroo steak.. there is a couple of options. You can get the marinated ones from the supermarket, or you can get those plain ones and do your personal marination. I've tried both, and I prefer the ones I marinated myself.. Cos I get to control what goes into my steak to fully bring out the taste of the meat.
A bit more on the "traditional" side, I've actually tried 2 different marination for my steak. First is black pepper one, then a more oriental way of garlic and herb style. Black Pepper has always been my fave.. it goes well with almost anything. To do this dish, simply rub your steak in oyster sauce and black pepper. Then leave it for a couple of hours before cooking. For the garlic n herbs version. Grab some minced garlic, a dash of white pepper and your favourite mixed herbs, not forgetting some oyster sauce and start rubbing it in onto your steak. Again.. leave it for a couple of hours to let the taste set in.
The best way to cook this steak is to oven bake it. Its a slower process as compared to grilling, but you can be assured of better texture of the meat. More tender in other words. Don't over do it.. you are gonna waste your money, cos you will end up with a piece of rubber to chew on. About 20 minutes or so would be a good time. A tip to note, you might want to flip it just to ensure both sides get cooked.
Another way to ensure that you meat (this applies to all sorts of meat) is tender, you might want to pound the meat a few times before you marinate them. The purpose of this pounding is to slightly break the bonding in grains of the meat. If you don't have the proper tool (thats a hammer look-alike tool), you can always use the back of your knife.. But a word of caution, over pounding cause the meat texture to go really bad.. (this is a comment by a top chef I saw on TV years ago)
Interesting point: A glass of shiraz really will go well with this dish.
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself
First to come in mind would be koala and kangaroo..
There is no need to explain why the Aussie Soccer team calls themselves the SocceRoos! Gosh, this is such a hit nowadays.. Everyone is talking SocceRoos! Thanks to World Cup!
Yeah man! Run For Your Balls!
Yup.. So today, I'm going to show my culinary skills again..
We are not going to eat koala.. we are going for some Kangaroo rather.
I love this cos its really not that oily as compared to other meats I get in the supermarket. So I guess its a healthier choice for all.
You can hop, but you cannot hide! :)
Significance of the dish:
Its my first time cooking and eating kangaroo, so this sort of made me a Newbie to it. But nevertheless, it was such a wonderful experience. The meat was soft and tender. Tentalizes my taste bud till the max!
Presenting.. Garlic and Herbs Kangaroo Steak..
Ingredients:
- Garlic and Herbs Kangaroo Steak (other options discussed later)
- Carrots
- Celery
- Cauliflower
- Tomato
- Dash of peppercorn
- Small serve of Bell pepper salad dressing with olive oil
The way you cut your veges really depends on how you wanted to present your dish this time, there isn't any rule to it. Boil your carrots and cauliflower, have your celery and tomato raw, they taste good! Sprinkle your freshly grinded peppercorn on top and finish it off with some salad dressing.
As for your kangaroo steak.. there is a couple of options. You can get the marinated ones from the supermarket, or you can get those plain ones and do your personal marination. I've tried both, and I prefer the ones I marinated myself.. Cos I get to control what goes into my steak to fully bring out the taste of the meat.
A bit more on the "traditional" side, I've actually tried 2 different marination for my steak. First is black pepper one, then a more oriental way of garlic and herb style. Black Pepper has always been my fave.. it goes well with almost anything. To do this dish, simply rub your steak in oyster sauce and black pepper. Then leave it for a couple of hours before cooking. For the garlic n herbs version. Grab some minced garlic, a dash of white pepper and your favourite mixed herbs, not forgetting some oyster sauce and start rubbing it in onto your steak. Again.. leave it for a couple of hours to let the taste set in.
The best way to cook this steak is to oven bake it. Its a slower process as compared to grilling, but you can be assured of better texture of the meat. More tender in other words. Don't over do it.. you are gonna waste your money, cos you will end up with a piece of rubber to chew on. About 20 minutes or so would be a good time. A tip to note, you might want to flip it just to ensure both sides get cooked.
Another way to ensure that you meat (this applies to all sorts of meat) is tender, you might want to pound the meat a few times before you marinate them. The purpose of this pounding is to slightly break the bonding in grains of the meat. If you don't have the proper tool (thats a hammer look-alike tool), you can always use the back of your knife.. But a word of caution, over pounding cause the meat texture to go really bad.. (this is a comment by a top chef I saw on TV years ago)
Interesting point: A glass of shiraz really will go well with this dish.
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself
Xiao Mei, ni you hui lai le ah?
Whats so good about Tung Fen?
You have really got to taste it before you know why..
Significance of dish: Reminds me of Chewling... so sad rite? hehe
no lah, it reminds me of Short Circuit rather.. and why link to Chewling? Cos she was the one who always spend the "Rush Hour" with me in Short Circuit. Recalling those FYP days.. when everyday was a busy day.. Rush here n there in the name of FYP..
Why linkage to Short Circuit?
Cos the Thai food stall always sells this.. I know I hated that stall cos her food always has so much oil etc.. Well, I think its my taste bud problem cos I always find fault with that stall I think.. I have no qualms with other stall.. especially the Corona stall.. In fact, I'm kind of scare to walk pass that stall now.. each n everytime, without fail, the aunty will shout "Xiao Mei, ni you hui lai le ah?" grumblesss..
But I still miss my TP..
Anyway, still presenting...
Dish of the Day: Fried Tung Fen with Chinese Sausage
Ingredients:
Remember to soak your Tung Fen before you cook them. Maybe for about 20 mins or less will do. Then dice your chinese sausage into little bits (not too small either).
Right, first, you got to fry your minced garlic in the pan with a little oil till almost golden brown, then throw in your diced sausages.. Watch out for the heat cos sausages can get burnt. After a minute or two, dump in all the Tung Fen and mix well with the sausages and garlic. Next, get some water and mix with the Oyster Sauce, stir well, and pour into the pan (onto the Tung Fen obviously). The Tung Fen will soak up the water in a jiffy. Then finish it off with a dash of pepper.
Anyway, just a word of caution.. this dish is suppose to be dry.. Tung Fen is suppose to be springy and nice.. If your dish turns out to be really soupy.. I suggest you change the name of YOUR dish Tung Fen SOUP.
Sprinkle chopped Spring Onions before serving. TaDA!
You have really got to taste it before you know why..
Significance of dish: Reminds me of Chewling... so sad rite? hehe
no lah, it reminds me of Short Circuit rather.. and why link to Chewling? Cos she was the one who always spend the "Rush Hour" with me in Short Circuit. Recalling those FYP days.. when everyday was a busy day.. Rush here n there in the name of FYP..
Why linkage to Short Circuit?
Cos the Thai food stall always sells this.. I know I hated that stall cos her food always has so much oil etc.. Well, I think its my taste bud problem cos I always find fault with that stall I think.. I have no qualms with other stall.. especially the Corona stall.. In fact, I'm kind of scare to walk pass that stall now.. each n everytime, without fail, the aunty will shout "Xiao Mei, ni you hui lai le ah?" grumblesss..
But I still miss my TP..
Anyway, still presenting...
Dish of the Day: Fried Tung Fen with Chinese Sausage
Ingredients:
- 1 small packet of Tung Fen
- 1 chinese sausage
- minced garlic
- half a tablespoon of Oyster sauce
- dash of pepper
- Spring Onions (chopped)
Remember to soak your Tung Fen before you cook them. Maybe for about 20 mins or less will do. Then dice your chinese sausage into little bits (not too small either).
Right, first, you got to fry your minced garlic in the pan with a little oil till almost golden brown, then throw in your diced sausages.. Watch out for the heat cos sausages can get burnt. After a minute or two, dump in all the Tung Fen and mix well with the sausages and garlic. Next, get some water and mix with the Oyster Sauce, stir well, and pour into the pan (onto the Tung Fen obviously). The Tung Fen will soak up the water in a jiffy. Then finish it off with a dash of pepper.
Anyway, just a word of caution.. this dish is suppose to be dry.. Tung Fen is suppose to be springy and nice.. If your dish turns out to be really soupy.. I suggest you change the name of YOUR dish Tung Fen SOUP.
Sprinkle chopped Spring Onions before serving. TaDA!
