Bite On It!

I love to eat fried pork skin but I’ve never tried cooking them before. Then, last weekend, while I walked past the stall, I saw them and can’t resist and bought a packet and some fish paste too. Pork skin taste good even if you just dump them in the soup but being an adventurous person, I tried to come up with something unusual….

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Ingredients

• 200g Pork skin
• 150g Fish paste
• 50g Ginger - chopped finely
• 3pcs Red Chilies (add a cili padi if you like) - chopped finely
• 1/2 bulb of Garlic - chopped finely
• 1.5tbsp Tau chu or bean paste
• Corn flour
• Water

Methods

1. Cut pork skin to desired size, sprinkle some corn flour on the surface where you will spread the fish paste so it will hold them together.
2. Heat up wok with some oil, on medium fire, place stuffed pork skin with the fish paste face down and lightly fry till cook. Remove from wok.
3. Heat up 2tbsp of oil and saute the garlic, ginger and chilies till fragrant, add in the bean paste, stir and add in around 1/2 cup of water and let simmer for a while before putting the cooked stuffed pork skin and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.

There are actually two types of black fungus, one is the thick black type and another is the thinner and softer type which the Cantonese called it ‘Wen-Yu’.

Wen-Yu do not have the same chewiness as the black fungus which is known as ‘Muk-Yu’. However, they tasted just as good and it’s more suitable for stir-frying or light braise.

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Ingredients

• 150g Pork loin (sliced and marinated with corn flour and light soy sauce)
• 50g Sweetpeas
• 30g Carrot (sliced)
• 8-10g Soft black fungus - Wen Yu (presoaked in water)
• 1pc Onion (sliced)
• Corn flour
• Water
• Light soy sauce
• Pepper

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Methods

1. In a saucepan, boil 2 cups of water with a dash of oil and sugar. When water is boiling, put in sweetpeas and carrot then the fungus and boil till 50% soft. Thaw away the water.
2. Heat up wok with some oil, saute the sliced onion till fragrant, add in the marinated pork and stir till half cooked, add in the boiled items, stir, add some water, stir and cover for a few minutes.
3. In a small bowl, prepare about 1/4 cup of water with 2tsp corn flour, 2tsp light soy sauce and a dash of pepper. Mix well.
4. When all the item are completely soften, add in the corn flour mix and continue stirring till sauce is thicken. Lift up and serve.

I’m not sure if this is the correct name but it’s what we called in Chinese. I saw it in Tesco and they named it as ‘Baby-dao’. This vege is quite unique in it’s outlook. It’s small like Chinese brussel sprouts (those on my header image currently) but has a very rich green colour leaves and whitish stems. It’s like a small plant and to me it looked like a mixed between baby bok-choy and choy-sum.

I was first introduced to this vege by my greatgrandaunt when I was staying with her in Hong Kong. That was some 11 years ago. Only quite recently (about 2 or 3 years) I started seeing them being sold here. They definitely don’t come cheap too. For about 6 plants, I paid RM3. I used to buy them in Singapore too and normally a pre-packed will cost about SGD2.99 but the quantity is more.

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Ingredients

• 6 plants Nai-Bai (cut into 4 sections for bigger plants and 2 for smaller plants)
• 2-3 cloves Garlic (coarsely chopped)
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1/2 cup Water
• Salt to taste

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Methods

1. Heat up wok with some oil and sautee chopped garlic till fragrant.
2. Add in the Nai-Bai and stir for a while, sprinkle with some salt then cover over medium fire.
3. Pour in water and cover for a few minutes stir occasionally.
4. When the Nai-Bai looks soften, beat in the egg (sprinkle with some salt) and continue to stir till egg is cooked. Lift up and serve.

I have wanted to cook something with black fungus as I like their chewiness. If I’m not wrong, these black fungus have some nutritional value as well but I’m not sure what they are… got to google it and find out

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Ingredients

• 300g Pork (recommended to have both mixed pork belly and loin)
• 30-40g Black fungus (pre-soak)
• 3-4 Dried chilies
• 6-7 cloves Garlic (coarsely chopped)
• 5-6pcs Shallots (coarsely chopped)
• 2 tsp Bean paste
• 3/4 cup Water
• Dark soy sauce
• Light soy sauce or salt

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Methods

1. In a sauce pan, heat up 2-3tbsp oil and saute the chopped garlic and shallots till fragrant.
2. Add in dried chilies, stir, add in pork pieces, stir, add in dark soy sauce and stir till meat is 50% cooked, add in bean paste, stir, add in black fungus, stir, add water, stir and simmer on low fire for 30-45 minutes stirring occasionally.
3. Add light soy sauce or salt to taste.

Note: The bean paste is salty so if you don’t fancy salty food, can omit the soy sauce or salt.

The Chinese version of minestrone soup, which we called ABC is the mixed vegetable soup. It’s easy to prepare and nutritional as well… Best of all, kids love it!

Darrius loves to bite on the soft carrot pieces and I gave him rice soaked in the soup so I don’t have to cook his normal porridge.

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Ingredients

• 200-300g Pork ribs or chicken pieces
• 2.5-3L Water
• 3 pcs Potatoes (medium)
• 1-2 Carrots (medium)
• 2 pcs Onions or 6-7 pcs Shallots
• 2 pcs Tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp Peppercorns (crushed)
• Salt to taste

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Methods

1. Add pork ribs or chicken pieces into boiling water for 5 minutes.
2. Throw in carrot and potatoes pieces and boil another 5 minutes, then add in cut onions or shallots with crushed peppercorn and boil on slow fire for 1.5 hours.
3. Add in tomatoes pieces (seeds removed) and boil for another 20-30 minutes.
4. Add salt to taste.