Pork Leg Mee Sua 猪脚面线

What other better ways to spend a nice Sunday morning than having a delicious home-cooked meal? After a long week of hard work, its time to pamper yourself with some much-needed, well-deserved good food. Throw away the calories counter, forget about hitting the gym, and indulge yourself in some calorie-bursting food. Once in a while, giving yourself some sinful indulgence is all that you need.

Pork leg mee sua is a popular Chinese cuisine. My Taiwanese friends brought me to one well known shop called 阿水狮猪脚  that specialises in pork leg dishes. The properly braised pork leg with its succulent meat, chewy tendon and gelatinised gravy goes perfectly well with mee sua. That has inspired me to try making my own version of pork leg dish.

Mee sua is another variant of noodles made from wheat flour. It is cooked during important festivities, eg Chinese New Year. As it symbolises longevity, it is also a birthday food in Chinese culture.

Ingredients A

1                        Pork leg (cut into pieces, boiled to remove excess blood)

2 tbsp                 Black Vinegar

3 tbsp                 Dark Soy Sauce

2 tbsp                 Sugar

Ingredients B

1 inch                 Ginger (pounded)

1 bulb                 Garlic

3                         Chillies

2                         Star Anise

5                         Shitake Mushroom 

3 tbsp                  Oyster Sauce

1 tbsp                  Plum Sauce

2 tbsp                  Fish Sauce

2 tbsp                  Light Soya Sauce

1 tsp                    Sesame Oil

2 tbsp                  Shao Xing Wine

1 cup                   water                             

2 tbsp                  starch water

                            Oil

Ingredient C

                            Mee Sua

1. Marinate pork leg with black vinegar, dark soy sauce and sugar (ingredients A) for 30 minutes.

2. Heat up oil in wok, stir fry ginger, garlic, chillies, star anise until fragrant.

3. Add in pork leg and the rest of ingredients B and bring to boil.

4. Turn to low heat and cook for at least 2-3 hours or until the meat is soft and tender.

5. Stir in starch water.

6. When you are ready to eat, cook mee sua and serve it with pork leg.

Stewed Pork in Pear & Nutmeg Gravy

The best way of having a great time in the kitchen is to play with the food. Instead of following recipes in cookbooks or the internet, why not let your imaginations run wild and prepare something that is authentically yours. Cook with your heart, feel what you are cooking, mix and match the food, the let the chemistry works magic!

This dish was prepared from what is left in my fridge one day. Adding fruits to cooking can add that extra sweetness to the dish. And the aroma from the pear and nutmeg can heighten the flavour of the meat.

Preparing the Meat

Ingredients

500g                     Beef or Pork

1                           Pear

1                           Carrot (cut into big pieces)

a few stalks           Celery (cut into big pieces)

3-5 slices              Ginger

3 cloves                Garlic

a pinch of              Nutmeg Powder

2-3 cups                Beef stock (or any stock)

                             Salt, Pepper, Sugar to taste

                             Oil

1. Heat up oil in pot. Saute ginger and garlic until fragrant.

2.Add in the rest of the ingredients and bring it to boil.

3.Reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until meat is tender.

4.Remove the meat and pear. Pour the rest of the ingredients into a blender and blend into puree.

5. Serve the meat with the puree.

Preparing the Side Dish

For the side dish, i have opted for a mashed potato and mashed sweet potato combo. Mashed potato alone is a bit too dull. Mashed sweet potato alone will be a bit too sweet as a side dish. Hence a combination of both give it the perfect balance.

Ingredients

1-2                        Potatoes

1-2                        Sweet Potatoes

2 tbsp                    Butter

                              salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel the potatoes and sweet potatoes and steam over high heat until they are soft.

2. Mashed the potatoes and add in the butter, salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

                        

BBQ Pork (Char Siu) Rice 叉烧饭

Who could have resisted this meat temptation? The mere thought of this slightly charred, sweet and savoury pork belly grilled to perfection is already making me drool and my digestive system all pumped up!

For 6 years studying in the Czech Republic, this is one dish i was dying for. We do not have the privilege of having a Chinatown near us, where cantonese restaurants abound. And the so-called "Chinese Restaurants" run by Vietnamese are serving substandard chinese food.

Hence, to satisfy my craving, this is my recipe for BBQ pork. For those studying or staying abroad and have much craving like me, try preparing it yourself and eat to your heart's content!

Ingredients:

1 strip               Pork Belly

1 tsp                 five spice powder*

1 tsp                 pepper

3 tbsp               sugar

2 tbsp               light soya sauce

1 tbsp               dark soya sauce

1 tbsp               oyster sauce

dash of              sesame oil

                         honey

* Five spice powder is a mixture of 5 spices(star anise, cloves, cinnamon, sichuan pepper and ground fennel seeds) used commonly in Chinese cuisine. source: Wikipedia

 Find them in Asian food stores.

1. Remove the skin of the pork belly. Using a fork, poke a few holes on the meat (so that the marinade can easily penetrate the meat).

2. Mix all ingredients (except honey) with the meat and marinate overnight.

3. Heat up oven to about 200 degree celcius. Grill the meat for 20-30 mins, turning the meat once. Depending on the thickness of the meat, the grilling time might be shorter or longer. So check regularly to prevent the meat from over grilled.

4. Before serving, brush the meat with honey. Cut into pieces and serve with steam rice.