Stir-fried Pork Belly Strips with Minced Garlic

A handful of ingredients is all you need to whip up this very simple and delicious pork dish that makes you eat more than 1 bowl of rice. Enjoy!

Slurrrpppss

Ingredients
300-500 grams of pork belly strips
1 whole garlic - minced
1 tbsp of salt
2 tbsps of dark soya sauce / dark caramel sauce
1 tbsp of honey
1 tbsp of soya
1 tbsp of oil

Method

1. Heat up the oil and fry garlic till fragrant.
2. Add in pork strips and fry till slightly browned.
3. Add in all the seasonings and adjust according to your taste.
4. Stir and mix well for another 5 mins.
5. Dish up and serve with a bowl of rice.

'Tau Yew Bak' aka Braised Pork with Mushroom

I have been tight in schedule lately and haven't had the time to write anything. Pardon my disappearance! This dish is a hit in my household and I hope some of you would enjoy cooking and savouring it. All I could say: Yummmy!
(Using the same sauce, I have braised some fried beancurd and hard-boiled eggs separately) 

Melt-in-the-mouth pork slices and mushrooms

Another good combination

Ingredients (It's all about estimation. ;))

500g of pork slices (cut into desired size)

15 dried mushrooms (soaked, cleaned and water+stems discarded)

2 bulbs of garlic

A handful of star anise

100 ml of soya sauce

3 tbsps of dark soya sauce

2 tbsps of salt

A handful of fried beancurd

A few hard-boiled eggs

Water (enough to slightly cover the meat and mushrooms)

Method

1. Boil up garlic, star anise, salt, soya sauce and mushrooms in some water for about 30 mins.
2. Add in pork slices and hard-boiled eggs.
3. Add in dark soya sauce and adjust according to taste.
4. Continue to boil for another 20 mins.
5. Scoop out some sauce into another pot and boil the fried beancurd for about 5 mins.
6. Serve with rice. 

Pork Stew

I have a big piece of pork shoulder sitting in the freezer and didn't know what to do with it. Hmmm.. since the weather has been cold lately, I think a stew would be perfect to keep us warm and happy. This stew kept us filled for 3 days. A stew with mashed potatoes, pulled pork with taco wraps and creamy pork stew with pasta. Hubby gave thumbs up for all three. Voila!

Ingredients

1 kg of pork shoulder -cut into big chunks (about 1.5 X 1.5 cm) 

2 tbsps of shaoxing wine

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tbsp light soya sauce

2 tsps of salt

2 tbsps of honey

1 piece of brown sugar

1/2 tsp paprika

3 tbsps of olive oil

2 meat stock cube

few slices of bacon 

100-150 ml of water

2 medium-sized onions - sliced in quarters

2 medium-sized carrots - thinly sliced

Method

1. Blend stock cube and olive oil (like a paste) in a bowl.
2. Add in all other spices. Mix well.
3. Marinate the pork shoulder with all the spices (except water) for 2 hours or overnight.
4. Heat up a frying pan and fry the bacon till crispy. Set aside.
5. Next, brown the meat cubes.
6. Transfer all into a pot.
7. Lay bacon slices at the bottom of the pot and add meat chunks on top.
8. Add in water. Simmer at low for about 1.5 hours.
9. Prepare a baking dish and grease with some butter. 
10. Lay onions and carrots at the bottom.
11. Ladle all the meat chunks on top. 
12. Add stock till meat is half-covered.
13. Cover with aluminium foil.
14. Bake at 200 degrees for 1.5-2 hours.
15. Turn the meat around during halfway to ensure even browning.
16. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice or any main dish of your choice.

Lip-smacking

Yuummmylicious!

Baked Honey Ribs with Mashed Potatoes

A simple dinner for my little boy's birthday celebration. He loves mashed potatoes and tender ribs. My fussy princess was also chomping down those yummy ribs. My, oh my.. I'm so pleased. :) Our dessert for the day is Oreo ice-cream birthday cake.  Yippeee!

Ingredients

Honey Ribs

700g pork ribs

5 tbsps honey

5 tbsps soya sauce

2 tsps salt

Mashed Potatoes

10 medium-sized potatoes

Slabs of butter 

Milk

Salt to taste

Vegetables of your choice

Method

1. Marinate the ribs with honey, soy sauce and salt for at least 4 hours or overnight.
2. Bake the ribs at preheated oven (200 deg) for 40mins. Do check after 30mins if they brown too fast. 
3. In the meanwhile, boil potatoes and mash them with butter and milk (to taste) till smooth and combined. Season with a little salt to taste.
4. Blanch your choice of vegetables.
5. Serve warm.

Juicy + Yummy

Dessert of the day

p.s. The marshmallows are only for decoration purposes. Somehow, none of us in the family likes them. Do you like it? 

Pan-fried Pork Chops with Tzatziki Dip

Not in the mood to cook anything fancy over the weekend. I call it the lazy bug. Some pan-fried pork chops, homemade tzatziki dip, bulgur and some vegetables were in for a dinner plate. Nobody complained, so guess that was acceptable. ;)

Ingredients

Tzatziki Dip

300 ml of natural yoghurt 

2 cloves of minced/crushed garlic

2 tbsps of olive oil

a pinch of salt and pepper

Half a cucumber (shredded)

Bulgur

Cooking directions as stated in the package

Vegetables

Blanch the desired vegetables

Pork Chops

Few slices of pork chops

2 tbsps oil

1 meat stock cube 

1 tsp salt

3 tbsps honey

Method

1. Make tzatziki dip as directed in the pictures.
2. Crush n dissolve cube with oil, salt and honey in a bowl. 
3. Mix well till combined.
4. Marinate mixture with slices of pork chops for at least 3 hours or overnight.
5. Pan fried each slice of pork chop till cooked. About 3 mins on each side.  This depends on the thickness of your meat.
6. Prepare others as accordingly.
7. Enjoy!

Strain yoghurt for a couple of hours (till it's dry)

Mix crushed/minced garlic, pepper, salt, olive oil and yoghurt

Add in shredded cucumber and mix well

Voila!

Curry with Potatoes and Pork Cutlets

Tean's Gourmet Chicken Curry

Fried potatoes+ a piece of brown sugar

Fried Pork Cutlets

SPICY!

I'm no expert in cooking curries. Usually, I use store-bought sauces or powder. I have tried doing from scratch but it's too much work and doesn't have the ommph that I fancy. I like Tean's Gourmet's ready-made sauces. Easy and yummy! Today, I have decided to do a dry curry type with salted pork cutlets and fried potatoes. Add  2 medium-sized tomatoes, 1 piece of brown sugar and a few stones of rock sugar. These complete the whole dish. If you want it burning in your tongue, forget about the sugar and tomatoes. 

Ingredients

1 packet of Tean's Gourmet Curry Chicken Sauce

6-8 medium-sized potatoes-in cubes and browned

200 g pork cutlets-in desired size and browned (I have some salted pork cutlets left, therefore I used them. You can use any other meat. )

1 small piece of brown sugar

2 medium-sized tomatoes

a few stones of rock sugar

oil  for frying

Method

1. Fry potatoes and pork cutlets till browned and set aside.
2. Heat up curry chicken sauce in a pot and add in potatoes and tomatoes.
3. Let them boil for about 5 mins and add in the 2 types of sugar.
4. Lastly add in pork cutlets, mix well and let the curry simmer for about 10 mins.
5. You can add coconut milk for the creamy taste. 
6. Serve warm with rice or bread. 

Braised Minced Pork with Zucchini

You can whip this up in less than 20 mins. Alternatively, chicken can be used. Just try not to overcook the zucchini. Simply yummy. Another bowl of rice, please!

Star of the day

Ingredients
300g of minced pork/chicken (marinated with dashes of salt, pepper, shaoxing wine and sesame oil)
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 medium-sized ekologisk zucchini (cut into cubes)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
salt to taste


Method

1. Heat up a pan with 2 tbsp of oil and fry minced garlic till fragrant.
2. Add in minced pork and fry till browned.
3. Add in 30 ml of water, soya sauce, and continue frying for another 5 mins. 
4. Add in zucchini and fry for 3mins or till almost soft. Add in dark soya sauce and salt (if needed) and turn off the heat.
5. Serve warm with rice or plain vermicelli. Enjoy!

Braised Minced Pork with Soy Beancurd/Tofu

This is a big hit with my kids. "Give me more tofu" is the repeated phrase while gulping down their rice. A very simple dish but yet nutritious and 'lip-smacking'. You can use basically all types of tofu. I use Morinaga's Firm Silken Tofu that is found in most Asian shops. Enjoy!


Ingredients
1 box of tofu
3 cloves of garlic-minced
200g minced pork (marinated with 2-3 pinches of salt+pepper)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1/2 dl water

Optional
Enoki mushrooms (separate them and trim off the 'sandy' roots)


Method

1. Heat up a frying pan with a dollop of oil.
2. Fry garlic till fragrant and add in minced pork.
3. Fry till pork is slightly browned. Add in oyster sauce, soya sauce and dark soya sauce. 
4. Continue stirring and add in water and enoki mushrooms.
5. Let it simmer for a few minutes.
6. Gently, slide in tofu and turn off the heat. Cover the lid of the pan and let it simmer for another 3 mins.
7. Use an angled spatula to lift up the tofu onto a serving dish. Pour the rest of the sauce+minced pork around it.
8. Serve warm with rice.

Pork Stew with Mashed Potatoes

Apples from the garden

Pork Stew

What can I do with some apples from the garden? A stew, a pie or some jam? Combined with some pork, dried apricots, these apples could find their place in the same pot. They are like Granny Smith's-sourish which my kids find them fanciful in their mouths. My little hurricanes munch on them very much whenever they are at play in the garden. 
Oh! And btw, my little missy refused to eat her dinner today. Hmmmm...


Ingredients
400g pork tenderloin (cubed) and marinated with a few pinches of salt and white/black pepper
100g dried apricots  
50g of raisins or plums
4 medium sized Granny Smith apples-cored and cut into desired shapes (Mine was cubed and wedged)
2 bay leaves
2.5 dl water
2.5 dl cream
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worchestershire sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce

Optional

1 medium-sized onion-cut into rings
* Fry onion with butter and season with a pinch of salt and 3 tbsp of sugar. Fry them till soft and brownish.

Method

1. Fry the cubed pork in some butter till browned.
2. Put them into the pot. Add water, dried apricots, raisins/plums, bay leaves, apple cider vinegar, Worchestershire sauce and soya sauce. Boil at medium heat for about 30 mins or till tender. 
3. Add in cream, apples and dark soya sauce. Simmer for another 5 mins at low heat.
4. Switch off heat and let it rest for 5 mins.
5. Serve warm with your choice of main dish. 

You can use any main dish and extra side dishes to complement your meal. I have made with couscous, bulgur, rice, green peas, a green salad and etc. The combination is endless!