Braised Pork Belly, Wombok, Cucumber Salad

First quiet weekend in a while, so I thought I would try braising some pork belly (actually, this was the cheaper substitute of pork spare ribs, but essentially the same texture) to chill in the fridge as a sandwich filler for the week.

Come dinner time, I couldn't help myself and turned some of the braised pork belly into a nice refreshing salad. And now I finally understand what 'pulled meat' is. I've split up the recipes for the braise and the salad. For the salad, you can substitute the pork with other meats including BBQ chicken.

braised pork belly, wombok, cucumber salad

Braised Pork Belly

Ingredients

• Pork spare ribs (or cut pork belly into ~2cm x 8cm pieces)
• 2 carrots, chopped into rough chunks
• 2 stalks spring onion
• 3 sprigs coriander
• ~5 Sichuan peppercorns
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tbsp soybean paste
• Spices: Chinese five spice, cinnamon, cumin, chilli
• Honey to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Remove any bones from the pork spare ribs and use these to form the base of the masterstock. If using pork belly, just add beef or chicken stock instead.
• Put bones in a pot half filled with boiling water. Add the spices, spring onion, coriander and Sichuan peppercorns. Simmer for half an hour (or longer if time allows).
• Pour in soy sauce, rice wine and soybean paste. Bring to boil, then add in pork pieces and carrots. Drizzle some honey over the pork pieces. 
• Cover and simmer for at least an hour. The longer you cook it, the more tender the pork will be. Taste the sauce at intervals, and add more soy sauce or water as needed.

Salad

Ingredients

• 1 leaf wombok, shredded
• 1/2 cucumber, julienned
• Honey
• Lemon juice

Method

• Drain two pieces of pork. Slice into 1cm pieces. The meatier part will start to pull as you cut it.
• Layer plate with wombok and cucumber. Add carrots from the braising liquid. Top with sliced pork.
• Drizzle with some of the braising liquid, then a little honey and lemon juice to finish.

Fresh Strawberries, Shredded Coconut, Butternut Snap Crumble

This is one of the easiest desserts I've ever come up with, and takes next to no time!

fresh strawberries, shredded coconut, butternut snap crumble

Ingredients

• 4 butternut snap cookies
• 1/2 punnet fresh strawberries
• 2 tbsp shredded coconut
• 1 tsp milk (optional)
• Ice-cream or yoghurt (I didn't have any in the fridge, but it definitely needed it)

Method

• To make the base, place cookies into a snap lock bag and break them into crumbs (you can use a rolling pin or a pestle).
• Pour crumbs into bottom of bowl. Mix in half the shredded coconut. Drizzle with a little milk and heat in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to soften the cookie crumbs to form a base.
• Chop strawberries, scatter over base, sprinkle over the remaining coconut. Refrigerate until base is set.
• Serve with ice-cream. If you want, you can also reserve some of the cookie crumbs to sprinkle over the top at the end.

Spaghetti Carbonara

My friends signed me up for a year's subscription to the Masterchef magazine for my birthday and the first one arrived this week. All that food porn has reignited my experimental cooking habits... If you haven't noticed, it is rare for me to be able to follow a recipe without making my own changes.

Inspired by a recipe from the magazine, along with an episode of Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals and some hints from a friend, I ended up with this.

Ingredients

• Two slices of short cut bacon, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup of frozen vegetables (I used peas, corn and carrots - substitute with whatever you want)
• 1 egg
• 100g spaghetti
• Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Boil water in a saucepan (it's faster to use the kettle). Salt the water and add spaghetti. (Check the cooking directions on your pasta - the longer it takes, the earlier you should start boiling the pasta. For 3 minute pasta, leave this step until the end.)
• Add bacon to a hot frypan, saute until fat is rendered and bacon starts to crisp up. Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
• Add frozen vegetables and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are soft and vegetables are heated through. Turn off heat.
• Crack egg into the bacon mixture, break yolk and gently fold the egg into the mixture until a smooth sauce begins to form. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese in and continue to fold.
• Using tongs, remove some of the cooked pasta from boiling water and place into the sauce. Toss pasta through sauce. Continue to add pasta to sauce, spooning in some of the pasta water to slowly build up the creaminess of the sauce.
• Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper to serve.

spaghetti carbonara

The beauty of this dish is that you get the creamy texture of most carbonara sauces, but without the heaviness of the cream found in most restaurants. Which means you can eat more of it without feeling like you have overeaten!

Drunken Butter Scallops

A Japanese dish that always seems to stand out for me is 'asari sake' (Kobe Restaurant, Doncaster) or 'asari butter' (Izakaya Chuji, Melbourne) - pipis (cockles) in a sake and butter broth. The smooth nuttiness of the butter and the strong almost acidic flavours of the sake blend together to create a whole new depth of flavour.

So with a handful of scallops leftover from my quiche last weekend, and memories of the two dishes in mind, I decided to attempt the dish with what ingredients I had in my kitchen. It worked surprisingly well, although I don't think I'll be repeating it again with scallops. Pipis are definitely the way to go!

Ingredients

• 100g fresh scallops (I left the roe attached, but you can remove it if you want)
• 50g butter
• 50ml Chinese rice wine
• 50 - 100ml water (add more if turning this into a soup)
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Lightly season scallops with salt and pepper.
• In a heated pan, melt in half the butter.
• Sear scallops in the hot melted butter.
• When scallops are par-cooked, pour in rice wine. Gently swirl pan to mix the butter and rice wine together.
• As liquid starts to evaporate, add in remaining butter, then pour in water.
• Season with black pepper.

drunken butter scallops

Scallop & Oyster Quiche

What does one do with a handful of leftover smoked oysters? Taking some inspiration from the yum cha take on baked oysters, I decided to improvise and turn them into a something like a seafood quiche.

scallop & oyster quiche

Ingredients

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 1 cup of smoked oysters (can substitute with fresh oysters, but cook quickly before using)
• 1 cup of scallops, halved
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup tasty cheese, grated
• 4 medium mushrooms, sliced
• 2 slice short cut bacon, diced

Method

• Line a baking dish with baking paper, then fit pastry into dish. Using a fork, prick the base of the pastry.
• In a hot pan, brown bacon. Remove bacon from pan, leaving bacon fat in pan.
• Quickly sear scallops, remove from pan. If using fresh oysters, cook them at the same time.
• Add mushrooms to pan, saute until they begin to soften. Remove from pan.
• In a bowl, whisk milk, eggs and flour until combined. Add cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
• Layer mushrooms, seafood and bacon in baking dish. Pour over egg mixture.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 25 minutes or until egg mixture is set.

Shredded Chicken Rice Noodle Soup

A quick meal that takes only 30 minutes to make.

Ingredients

• 1 chicken thigh fillet
• 1 cup dried rice noodles (can substitute with fresh noodles)
• 2-3 dried red dates
• 3-4 Sichuan peppercorns
• 1/4 cup goji berries
• 2-3 leaves of wombok, sliced
• 1 stalk fresh coriander, roots chopped, leaves torn

Method

• In a saucepan, place dried rice noodles, chicken, dried dates, goji berries, coriander root, top with boiling water and simmer until noodles soften and chicken is cooked.
• Drain noodles and chicken, reserving stock soup. Shred chicken.
• Add wombok to soup, simmer until cooked. 
• Add noodles to a bowl, top with shredded chicken, pour over soup and finish with coriander leaves.

shredded chicken rice noodle soup

Smoked Salmon, Spinach and Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 2 slices smoked salmon, torn into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup baby spinach leaves
• 1 medium potato, diced
• 2 medium mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp olive oil
• mayonnaise
• chives
• salt & pepper to taste

Method

• Place diced potato into a saucepan and cover with water, simmer on medium heat until potatoes are cooked through but still firm.
• Drain potatoes, return potatoes to pan, add garlic, butter and mushrooms. Saute until potatoes start to brown and mushrooms are cooked.
• Arrange spinach leaves on a plate, Spoon contents of pan over spinach, top with smoked salmon
• Add mayonnaise, chives, salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken and Prawn Tom Yum Noodle Soup

Ingredients

• 1 packet Fantastic Hokkien noodles
• 250g chicken thigh fillets (~2 pieces)
• 8 small prawns, peeled and deveined
• 6 medium mushrooms, quartered
• 200g bamboo shoots
• 2 tbsps Valcom tom yum paste
• 5 tbsps cream or coconut cream

Method

• Soak noodles in boiling water until noodles soften and separate.
• Cook chicken in salted boiling water. Drain (reserve liquid), cool and shred.
• Pour 3 cups of the reserved cooking liquid into saucepan. Add tom yum paste and stir to dissolve. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots and prawns. Add more of the reserved liquid if required. Simmer until prawns are cooked through. Add cream and simmer for a further minute or two.
• Divide noodles amongst bowls, top with shredded chicken then ladle soup over noodles.

Skirt Steak & Vegetable Casserole

Ingredients

• 400g beef skirt steak, diced
  
• 1 carrot, diced
  
• 1 potato, diced
  
• 1 onion, finely diced
  
• 8 small mushrooms, quartered
  
• 3-4 rashers short cut bacon, chopped
  
• 1 tbsp cornflour (can substitute with plain flour)
  
• 1 packet Masterfoods Garlic and Herb lamb shank sauce
• salt & pepper to taste

Method

• Season diced steak with salt and pepper. Add cornflour and toss to coat evenly. Cover and refridgerate for at least one hour.
  
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Lightly grease a deep cake tin or baking tray.
  
• Heat oil in saucepan, brown onions until slightly caramelized, then add bacon. Fry until bacon starts to crisp. Remove from pan, leaving bacon fat in pan, and place into the baking dish.
  
• Brown steak in bacon fat. Add a little more oil if needed. Once meat is sealed, remove and add to the baking dish.
  
• Deglaze pan with 1 cup of water, saute potatoes and carrots until coated. Pour into baking dish.
  
• Add mushrooms and sauce, mix through until sauce evenly coats all ingredients.
  
• Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes.
• Serve with warm bread or pasta

Hakka Pork Belly (酶菜扣肉)

A traditional Hakka style dish...

Hakka pork belly

Ingredients

• 250g pork belly
• 1 stalk spring onion
• salted preserved vegetables
• 1 tbsp cornflour

Marinade

• 1.5 tbsp dark soy
• 2.5 tbsp light soy
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 1/2 tbsp black bean paste
• 5 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 slices ginger

Sauce

• 1 tsp light soy
• 2tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp rice wine

Method

• Boil pork belly, drain, cool and slice.
• Mix marinade ingredients together, add sliced pork and soak.
• Soak the preserved vegetables in water, drain and slice.
• Heat oil in claypot, add spring onions.
• Add preserved vegetables and sauce.
• When vegetables have softened, add pork.
• Dissolve cornflour in some water, add to pot.
• Cook until pork is soft and tender.

Black Pepper Beef

Yet another classic dish...

black pepper beef

Ingredients

• 500g beef, thinly sliced
• 2 small carrots
• 2 small brown onions
• 1 green capsicum

Marinade

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp rice wine
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp black pepper

Sauce

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp garlic, finely diced
• 2 tbsp black pepper
• 4 tbsp water

Method

• Mix marinade ingredients together. Add beef and marinate in the fridge overnight.
• Mix sauce ingredients together.
• Heat oil in pan, add onions and saute until slightly caramelized.
• Add beef and brown.
• Add vegetables and sauce, simmer for around 5 minutes or until sauce begins to bubble.
• Serve with rice.

Lemon and Garlic Fish with Cheesy Rice Bubbles

I had plenty of Rice Bubbles leftover from the last time I made chocolate crackles and thought I'd try and incorporate them into a savoury dish as an experiment. I adopted this recipe.

The result? Beautiful crunchy topping for baked fish.

lemon and garlic fish with cheesy Rice Bubble topping

Ingredients

• 250g bream fillets
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 3/4 cups cereal
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
• Grease the base of a casserole dish with butter and arrange fish fillets in a single layer.
• Drizzle the lemon juice over the fish. 
• Add garlic, tomato, zucchini, salt, pepper and sugar.
• Top with Rice Bubbles and tasty cheese.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until crust starts to turn golden brown.

Char Kwai Teow

Another adaptation of a Malaysian recipe off Poh's Kitchen - Char Kwai Teow.

char kwai teow

Ingredients

• 2 packets fresh rice noodles
• 2 Chinese sausages, sliced
• 1 capsicum, chopped
• 1 stalk spring onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, grated
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1.5 onions, sliced
• 2 eggs, beaten

Marinade

• 400g beef, sliced
• 2 tsp shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp light soy
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

• 2 tbsp light soy
• 2 tsp dark soy
• 1 tsp sugar

Method

• Fry Chinese sausage in a little oil. When sausages start to confit, add onions and garlic. Saute.
• Add capsicum and carrots, saute until carrots start to soften.
• Add rice noodles, sauce and extra soy sauce if needed.
• Scramble eggs into noodles (you can also scramble eggs separately and then add them here).
• Served garnished with spring onions and shallots.

Chocolate Crackle Nests

Having been rostered on to supply afternoon tea on the day before the Easter, I decided to make chocolate crackles with an Easter theme. This recipe is a simpler version and instead of using copha, uses Mars Bars to give it a stickier and more caramel taste.

chocolate crackle nests

Ingredients

• 3 cups Rice Bubbles
• 200g Mars bars
• Cocoa powder or dark chocolate
• 1 tbsp cream
• Easter eggs (one for each crackle nest)

Method

• Melt Mars Bars, cream and dark chocolate over a pot of boiling water. Mix well.
• Stir through the Rice Bubbles.
• Immediately spoon mixture into patty pans and form a small well in the centre.
• Place an Easter egg into the centre of each nest.
• Chill in fridge overnight.

Chorizo and Bean Salsa

An adapted version of a recipe from Poh's Kitchen...

chorizo and bean salsa

Ingredients

• 1 chorizo, sliced
• 1/4 capsicum, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 400g mixed beans, drained
• tomato sauce, to taste
• salt and pepper
• chilli powder (optional)

Method

• Fry chorizo in a little olive oil.
• Add onions and saute until they start to soften.
• Add capsicum and beans, saute for a few minutes.
• Add salt, pepper and chilli powder to taste.
• Simmer until sauce reduces and thickens.
• Serve with toast.

Spring Onion Pancakes

My take on a traditional Chinese snack...

spring onion pancakes

Ingredients

• 4 stalks spring onion, chopped
• 2 cups plain flour, sifted
• 2 cups water
• 2 tsp salt
• drizzle of sesame oil

Method

• Mix flour and water until it comes together into a batter-like consistency.
• Add salt, spring onions and a drizzle of sesame oil. Mix well. 
• Leave to stand for 30 minutes.
• Heat frypan on low heat, spray with oil.
• Add 1 tablespoon of batter at a time, allowing it to form small circles.
• When the pancakes no longer stick to the pan (when the pan is lightly shaken), flip them.
• Fry until the pancakes are golden brown, then drain on absorbent paper.
• Serve warm

Lemongrass Pork and Fried Egg on Rice (Com Suon Trung)

A traditional Vietnamese dish...

com suon trung

Lemongrass Pork

• 250g pork fillet
• 1.5 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp garlic, chopped
• 1.5 tbsp lemongrass powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1.5 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp oil

Nuoc Cham

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 2-3 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, finely diced

Method

• Combine sugar, garlic, lemongrass, pepper, soy sauce, fish sauce, lemon juice and oil.
• Slice pork and cover with marinade ingredients for at least 20 minutes.
• Heat oil in frypan.
• Fry pork until caramelized and edges start to crisp.
• Serve over rice with fried egg and nuoc cham.

Cantonese Egg Tarts

A traditional yum cha dessert...

egg tarts

Tart Crust

• 220g plain flour
• 80g caster sugar
• 150g butter, cubed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt

Egg Custard Filling

• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 pinch salt

Method: Tart Crust

• Sift flour and sugar into mixing bowl.
• Add in butter, egg and salt.
• Mix with hand mixer on lowest speed (or whisk by hand).
• Once dough starts to come together, turn it onto a floured surface and roll it into a log.
• Cut the log into 20 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then flatten.
• Place dough into muffin well, press and shape some walls.

Method: Egg Custard Filling

• Pour all custard ingredients into a pot and set over the lowest heat (less than 50 degrees celsius).
• Stir custard in one direction with a whisk until all the sugar has dissolved.
• Sieve the custard through a strainer. Cool and set aside.
• Skim off foam and solid particles.

Method: Assembly

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
• Pour custard into tart shells to about 80% full.

ready for baking

• Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 20 minutes.
• Custard should be firm and jelly-like when done.
• Cool for 30 minutes, then lift out of the muffin pan with a butter knife. (We used patty pans, which made it easier to remove).

The original recipe we used made more than four times the amount of filling required, so I have reduced the ingredients to the appropriate ratios. In order to finish off the filling, we used some store made shortcrust pastry. The results were not as great as the homemade tart crust, which was sweeter and more crumbly in texture.

Kung Pao Chicken (宫保鸡丁)

A classic spicy Sichuan stir-fry...

kung pao chicken

Ingredients

• 500g chicken thigh fillets, diced into bite-size pieces
• 12 dried chillies, soaked (optional) then shredded
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup peanuts
• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 3 slices ginger, finely diced
• 1 small red capsicum, chopped

Marinade

• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp cornstarch

Seasoning

• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1.5 tbsp dark soy
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

• Combine marinade ingredients, add chicken and marinate for 1 hour (or overnight).
• Heat a little oil in a frypan and brown chicken. Remove from heat.
• Adding a little more oil to the pan, fry up the garlic, ginger and chillies.
• Add the chopped onion and capsicum.
• Add chicken, peanuts and seasoning.
• Fry until all ingredients are coated evenly in the seasoning.
• Serve with rice.

Katsu-don

A classic Japanese rice dish...

katsu-don

Ingredients

• 2 pieces pork scotch fillet steak
• flour
• breadcrumbs
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine (or Japanese mirin if you have any)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 stalk spring onion, chopped
• 1 brown onion, sliced
• cooked rice
• salt and pepper

Method

• Pound the pork steaks until they are around 1cm in thickness.
• Coat the steaks in flour, dip in egg, then coat with breadcrumbs. Keep the leftover beaten egg.

crumbed pork steaks

• Shallow or deep fry the crumbed pork steaks. Rest meat, then slice into ~1cm wide strips.

after frying

• In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, rice wine (mirin) and sugar.
• Chop spring onions and slice onions.

sliced onions and spring onions

• In a saucepan, simmer spring onions and onions with the soy sauce mixture.
• Just before serving, turn down the heat and add leftover egg (from crumbing stage), swirl pan gently to combine with sauce. Sauce should thicken slightly. Add water to deglaze pan if necessary.

cooking the sauce

• Place sliced pork on rice and spoon some sauce mixture over.
• Enjoy!

And in the beginning...

...there was just a whole collection of photos of food that I have cooked, or at least attempted to cook.

So I decided to join the rest of the cook-and-publish online community and start up a food blog dedicated to my own cooking (as opposed to my reviews of all the amazing food out there in the world).

In any case, I figured it was about time they got their own piece of the internet rather than collecting dust on my hard drive.

And don't worry, egg and tofu will not be the theme of the dishes!