Char Siew

It was so coincidental, I had bought pork cuts suitable for making Char Siew and I was browsing "Tastes Like Home"'s blog... she beautifully made Char Siew & Siew Yuk! I fell in love with the photos she took too! I was inspired to try also! hehehehe!

So off I went to do my home work. I compared several Char Siew recipes from the recipe books I had to what's on the web. Looked pretty simple ;)


Ingredients
3 strips of Pork Belly without skin

Seasoning
2 - 3 Tbsp Dark Soya Sauce
3 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee brand)
1 Tbsp Tau Chu Sauce (blended fermented soya bean paste)
2 Tbsp Light Soya Sauce
2 Tbsp Xiao Shing Wine
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
2 Tbsp Garlic - chopped
a dash of sesame oil

Method
1. Mix all the seasoning ... taste as you go to see what you'd like to add.

2. Marinade the pork with the seasoning for at least 2 - 3 hours. Preferrably over night.

3. Before you heat your oven, take out the marinated pork belly & leave at room tempreture. Heat oven at 220'C for 10mins. The arrange your pork belly on the rack and roast it for 15mins. Then rub more marinade onto the pork and roast for another 15mins.

4. Roast for another 15mins if you find the meat not cooked properly.

5. Boil the rest of the marinade to make a sauce.

all sliced up on the chopping board

this is me trying to get an artistic shot of my Char Siew

Malaysian Nasi Lemak

My absolutely favourite breakfast choice! If I could, I'd have it almost everyday like all the other working Malaysians! It's the tastiest & most conviniently found breakfast sold anywhere.

Will share the recipe soon.... (to be cont'd)


My little satisfied customers (^_^)... though they didn't have chilli sambal, theirs was a vegetarian tomato base sauce (cucumber, tomatoes, onions & little buttom mushrooms)

Taiwanese Basil Chicken

Got this idea while I was lunching with the kids 2 weeks ago at The Gardens Midvalley... we were eating at Lye Foong Restaurant there. I ordered some 3 Flavoured Chicken dish and was surprised to receive a Chilli Padi Chicken parts cooked in Soya Sauce & Basil!

I thought: "hmm.. so Thai like the style when it's a Taiwanese place". Anyways, it tasted really good! Since it was my day of Chef Duty... it gave me a great idea to try to copy the style of chicken since I had defrosted chicken fillets.

Ingredients

400g Chicken Fillets ~ cut into bite size pieces

1 bag of Fresh Basil Leaves ~ roughly chopped

3 Dried Chillies ~ soaked in hot water to soften & chopped

2 medium sized Red Onions ~ quartered

2 Cloves Garlic ~ chopped

Salt & Sugar to taste

1/2 Cup Water & a bit of Corn Flour

Seasoning

2 Tbsp Dark Soya Sauce (Kicap Manis)

2 Tbsp Soya Sauce (Kicap)

1 Tsp sugar

Dash of pepper

Dash Xiao Shing Wine

Method

1. Marinade the chicken fillets at least for 2 hours.

2. Heat wok with 3 Tbsp Oil and fry garlic, dried chillies, red onions & half the fresh basil leaves until fragrant.

3. Add the chicken fillet pieces & continue stir frying until chicken half cooked. Then add water together with the balance of the marinade to make a bit of sauce.

Classic Potato with Minced Chicken

One of my childhood favourites : Potato with Mince Chicken! I was reminiscing about this dish... so I decided to recreate my mother's easy & common dish.

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes ~ diced
1 large red onion ~ diced
1 cinnamon stick
300g minced chicken

Seasoning:
1 Tbsp Soya Sauce
2 Tsp Xiao Shing wine
pinch of white pepper
1 Tsp Sesame Oil

Sauce:
1 Tbsp Dark Soya Sauce
1/2 Cup water
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat oil and fry cinnomon stick & diced onions till fragrant. Then add potatoes & stir fry till half cooked.

2. Add the marinated minced chicken and keep stir-frying. Add water, Dark Soya Sauce and salt to taste.


Best eaten with fluffy white rice! Leftovers - if any can be used as sandwich fillings ;)

Homestyle Sengkuang

Ingredients
1 medium sized Yam Bean/Jicama/Sengkuang/Bangkuang ~shredded or sliced finely
1 small carrot ~ sliced thinly
3 Tbsp Har Mai = dried shirmp ~ chopped finely
3 Tbsp Oil
2 Tbsp Soya Sauce
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce

Method

1. Heat oil & fry har mai till fragrant.

2. Add sliced Yam Bean & carrots and stir fry

3. Add the Soya Sauce & Fish Oil and continue stir frying. Add a little bit of water & cover for 1 min

4. Stir it around & taste. If not salty enough, add a pinch of salt.

Serve with rice & sambal belacan