Braised pork with tomato ketchup and pineapple

My first helper from Phillipines cooked this dish and my children loved it so much. After she left, she taught my parents' Indonesian helper until I decided to learn from her as I missed the dish so much. It is a bit like sweet and sour pork dish but the healthier version because it is braised.

You can either use pork ribs or pork belly for this dish.

Ingredients:
- pork belly/pork ribs
- pineapple (cut into small pieces)
- tomato ketchup
- garlic (minced)
- shallots (minced)
- carrots (shred)
- dark sauce
- black pepper/sugar/salt to taste

Steps:
1) Panfry the pork ribs/ pork belly first for the colour (a bit brown)
2) Remove it and throw in the garlic and shallots into the oil
3) Then add the shredded carrot and continue mixing
4) Then add the pineapples, tomato ketchup and water
5) Finally, throw the pork ribs/pork belly back in to mix with the tomato gravy
6) Add dark sauce and black peper and let it simmer
(Initially, it may be watery but after simmering, the gravy would thicken up and you might need to add more water after that. Keep tasting to make sure you have that rich tomato gravy that is tangy and sweet)
7) Add salt, sugar to taste if needed.

Enjoy! Excellent with rice!

Claypot Braised Pork Belly with Salted Fish

My friend shared this recipe with me as I have been looking for dishes that goes well with rice so that I can just prepare a dish or two just for dinner. Simple and tasty is my goal in cooking. Simplicity takes away the stress of washing up!

So here's a great dish for the family to dig in. You can just boil vegetables like cai xin or Xiao bai cai as a side dish with the rice.

Enjoy!

Ingredients
- pork belly (500g)
- salted fish- the oily ones you use for steaming (50g)
- 2 large onion (Initially, I was sceptical in using so many but its worth it! Sweeten up the dish)
- pepper
- ginger (cut)
- shallots (cut)

Marinade for the pork belly
- 1TB oyster sauce
- 1 TB light soya sauce
- I TB dark soya sauce
- 1 cornstarch

(I didn't have enough pork belly in my fridge, so I added minced pork as well)

Seasoning
- 1 TB oyster sauce
- 1 TB light soya sauce
- I TB dark soya sauce
- 150 ml water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil

Steps
1) Marinade the pork belly for at least 30 mins and place it in the fridge
2) Heat wok, drizzle some oil. Pan fry the pork belly both sides till brown. Set aside
3) Add a little of oil and put salted fish in claypot and fry for a while
4) Add the ginger, onions and shallots and sauté till fragrant
5) Add pork belly and seasonings, then pour water and simmer for 15-20 mins or till slightly dry. I did not wait till its dry as I love mine with gravy for the rice. Your preference!

Serve with rice and veggies!

Ngor Hiang- Sweet and Juicy

This was my virgin try on preparing ngor hiang and it was a success, except maybe for the art in wrapping it which I have yet to master.

Decided to cook this as my hubby loves eating ngor hiang. I guess it is probably his comfort food since growing up with it as he is a hokkien and his mum cooks that a lot!

This recipe was shared by my facebook home cooking group which I joined. Enjoy!

Picture adapted from the Facebook Cooking Group

Ingredients
- 1 kg of minced meat
- 300g of water chestnut
- 1/2 kg of prawns
- 2 big onions
- $2 worth of fish paste
- bean curd skin (the soft ones)
- 1 egg

Steps
1) Use a damp cloth to clean the bean curd sheets if not it will be very very salty
2) Steam the bean curd skin by covering with the cloth so that the water doesn't drop onto the sheets
3) Prepare the paste - minced the prawns, onions, and water chestnut. Add the minced meat and fish paste. Crack and egg and mix it altogether. Season with pepper and corn flour. (no need salt as the skin is salty already!) I added spring onions to give the colour and because I had it in my fridge and didn't know how else to use it before it withers beyond its of use.

4) Wrap the paste with the bean curd skin

5) After wrapping all up, deep fry them and voila, nice and crispy sides to go with for your lunch or dinner!

Bacon-Nutella Puff Pastry

When my friend, Esther first posted this dish in Facebook, immediately I thought," What a brilliant idea to add nutella to bacon!" (As I know it will surely go well) The saltiness of the pork compliments well with the sweetness of the nutella and who doesn't like nutella??

I know of recipes like bak ku teh (herbal pork rib soup-local dish) with chocolate risotto suggested by a British Michelin star chef.

Anyway, here's the recipe which Esther shared with me! It is easy and make a great snack for bacon and nutella lovers!

Ingredients
- frozen puff pastry. Leave in overnight in fridge to defrost or leave it out at room temp till soft
- nutella
- bacon (fried in small strips)
- 1 egg
- sea salt
- cinnamon powder

Steps
1) Fry the bacon till the way you like it. I like mine crispy

2) Roll out the puff pastry till thin

 

 3) Cut them into rectangles with a sharp knife. Depends on how big you want your pastry to be. I like it bite-sized. So its entirely up to you!

 

4) Lay out the bacon (about 2 pieces each) into the pastry

 

5) Add a dollop of nutella onto the bacon

 

6) Sprinkle sea salt and cinnamon powder on it

 

 

7) Seal it with egg and use the fork to surround it with the pattern lines. Then use your fork to poke holes on it

8) After all done, put in over at 200C for about 10-15 mins or when it turns brown.

Enjoy!

Spinach Pork Congee (Porridge)

This dish is perfect for those who are sick, for cold weathers or simply, just to cook a healthy meal for the family. For the record, my kids, including myself slurp this whole thing real fast as it is very sweet and tasty!

A nice, simple, economical and tasty meal for the family. How can you not try it?

Ingredients
- Spinach (chopped)
- Dried Anchovies/ Chicken bones of one chicken
- Minced pork to make pork balls/ sliced pork
- rice (I use only one cup of rice for 2 adults and 2 children)
- water
- salt and pepper to taste
- ginger (3-4 slices)
- sliced fish cake (optional)


Steps
1) Boil the dried anchovies/chicken bones in a pot of water (filled 3/4 of the pot) under medium high fire

2) Then let it cool down after about 30 mins of boiling and drain to use the stock.

3) Wash your rice and boil them in a pot with only the stock you use from Step 1. Add the ginger slices as well. If you did not boil enough stock, and you find that you need more liquid to make the rice soft, then use normal water and add it into the pot. Main thing is try to use as much of the stock as possible as that is the one that makes it sweet.

4) Boil using low fire till you are satisfied with the water to rice ratio (not too watery or not too thick) and you see if the rice is of the softness you want. (Check out the picture closely to see how the rice should be like) Keep stirring so that the bottom does not get burnt or to prevent the rice from sticking below.

5) During the last 15 mins or so, you add the chopped spinach and pork slices/pork balls.

6) Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

I added my favourite pickled cabbage for the crunch to the porridge. Another of my favourite compliment dish would be the fried dace canned food with black beans.

These are two pictures of the times I cooked this dish. One was pork balls, and the other was pork slices.

Look healthier as I was sick then

Had this bowl when I was craving for porridge. Not sick

Enjoy!