Stir-fried Pork Belly with Spring Onion

This morning I was very busy.  Today is the first day I start to be a volunteer at Oxfam.  I find people here are very kind-hearted and generous.  There are many bags of items donated by them within 3-4 hours, like books, shoes, clothes, accessories, sports equipment, toys, etc.  Some of them are new and even unpacked.  Some are with famous brand names.  The other volunteers are very helpful and friendly.  I had a very good morning to be there. 

When I finished my work, it was about 2 o’clock.  Then I rushed back home and made a quick and simple lunch – fried pork belly with spring onions and a bowl of egg noodles.  The pork belly is succulent and it is a nice pair to fry with spring onions.  I enjoy cooking for ‘one’ again.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serve: 1

Ingredients:

- 100g pork belly (shredded)

- 3 spring onions (diagonal cut)

- 1 garlic clove (sliced)

- ½ small red chili (sliced and seeded)  

- 1 shallot (sliced)

- 1 tsp oil

Seasoning:

-  ½ tsp sugar

- 1 tsp soy sauce

- ½ tsp white wine

- 1 tsp sesame oil

Sauce:

- 1 tsp soy sauce

- 1.5 tsp oyster sauce

- 1 tsp white wine

Method:

1.	Season the pork belly with sugar, soy sauce, white wine and sesame oil.  Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2.	Divide the spring onion into two small bowls, one bowl is for the white parts and another is for the green parts.
3.	Heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and white parts of spring onion in the pan and stir-fry for one minute.  Then put the pork inside the pan and stir-fry for another 3-4 minutes.
4.	In the meantime, add the shallot and green parts of spring onion inside the pan and continue to stir-fry for another 2 minutes.
5.	Pour the mixed sauce ingredients and red chili into the pan and stir-fry for 1 minute.
6.	Serve with rice or noodles.

Chicken with Vermicelli noodle soup

I love summer.  It is the most beautiful season.  It is becoming warm in UK.  The weather is very nice during these two weeks. My family members would like to have a change of appetite.  They like eating some with sweet and sour, some with soup and more cold desserts.   Today I cooked chicken with vermicelli noodle soup using my husband's favorites, like mussel meat and dried shrimps.  He loved it very much.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serve: 2

Ingredients:

l  100g chicken breast (shredded)

l  12g dried shrimp (cleaned and soaked in half cup of water for 10 minutes)

l  70g mussel meat

l  130g dried rice vermicelli

l  100g chinese leaf (sliced)

l  1 spring onion (diced)

l  10g Tianjin preserved vegetable (cleaned)

l  6g ginger (shredded)

l  ¼ tsp salt

l  ¼ tsp sesame oil

l  ¼ tsp dried coriander or a handful of fresh coriander

l  6-8 ice cubes

 

Seasoning:

l  ½ tsp fish sauce

l  1 tsp soy sauce

l  1 tsp sugar

Method:

1.	Marinate the chicken with fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar.
2.	Boil 1L of water in a saucepan.  Add the dried rice vermicelli noodles into the boiling water for 3-4 minutes.  Give the noodles a stir to loosen them up for every minute. Stop cooking until tender.  Do not overcook the noodles, otherwise they will become mushy.
3.	Place ice cubes into a bowl of water, add the cooked rice vermicelli noodles.  Stir to loosen them up and let it cool down.  Use a colander to drain them once.  Transfer the noodles to two serving bowls.
4.	Boil 1L of water in a pot over medium heat, add in ginger, Chinese leaf and dried shrimp and boil for 15 minutes.
5.	Reduce heat to medium-low, add mussel meat, chicken and Tianjin preserved vegetables and boil for 5 minutes.
6.	Season with salt and add sesame oil.  To serve, divide the cooked mixture between bowls and scatter over spring onion and coriander.

	Tips:
1.	Since this dish is in a soup, add the noodles just before serving.  Monitor closely to make sure they don’t over-cook.
2.	If the noodles will be used in a stir-fry dish, they should be under-cooked a bit. They will absorb the sauce and become more moisture.  Then they will be more tendered in the stir fry. If the noodles are perfectly cooked from the very beginning, they will turn to mush in the stir fry.
3.	The Tianjin preserved vegetables is quite salty.  It is still a bit salty after cleaning.  Then do not add too much salt into the soup.

Minced Pork Congee

Congee is a rice porridge commonly served for breakfast in China. It is an ultra-simple dish. A small amount of rice is simmered in a large amount of water for several hours.  Then it becomes silky and creamy.  Some people like simmering the rice in chicken stock to make it tastier.  It is nice to have congee with rice dumplings during Dragon Boat Festival.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes for frozen rice (if not, 1.5 hours)

Chilling time: 2 hours (optional)

Serve: 2

Ingredients:

l   ½ cup rice

l   4.5 cups water

l   100g pork (minced)

l   1 slice of lettuce (shredded)

l   4 tbsp sweetcorn

l   2g ginger (shredded)

l   1 spring onion (shredded)

l   1 tsp soy sauce

l   ½ tsp sugar

l   ¼ tsp ground black pepper (optional)

l   ¼ tsp fish sauce

l   ¼ tsp table salt

Method:

1.	Before start cooking, rinse the rice and keep it in ziplock bag.  Then chill it in the freezer at least 5 hours.  *If there is not enough time, just rinse the rice and boil it directly in a pot.  But it needs to be simmered a long time like 1.5 hours instead of half an hour (step 4).
2.	Season the minced pork with soy sauce, sugar and ground black pepper.
3.	Boil water in a pot over medium heat.  Take a pack of ½ cup frozen rice out of the freezer and put it into the boiling water.
4.	Add ginger in the pot.  Partially cover the pot and reduce to low heat.  Simmer for 25-30 minutes.  Stir once for every 10 minutes.  The more frequently you stir, the more the rice will break down and become silky.
5.	Add the minced meat, lettuce and sweetcorn into the congee and stir well.  Continue simmering for 10 minutes.
6.	Season congee with salt and fish sauce. Add sesame oil and garnish with spring onions before serving.

Tips:

1.	The quickest way to cook congee is to use the frozen rice.  Rinse the rice and keep it in a ziplock bag.  Store it in the freezer at least 2-3 hours. I always store one cup or two cups of rice in the freezer.  Then it can be used immediately when needed.
2.	It is important to simmer over a low heat and partially cover the pot to prevent drying and boiling over.

炆冬菇生菜 (Braised Shiitake Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce - Chinese style)

準備時間：2小時

烹調時間：45 分鐘
份量：2-3人

材料：

Ø  乾冬菇 10隻

Ø  乾瑤柱1粒

Ø  一片薑

Ø  冰糖 10克

Ø  生菜半個

Ø  生粉 1湯匙

Ø  橄欖油 ¼茶匙

Ø  水1700毫升

獻汁：

Ø  生抽1茶匙

Ø  蠔油 2湯匙

Ø  粟米粉 / 生粉 2茶匙

Ø  麻油少許

做法：

1.	把冬菇先冲水洗淨，切去冬菇蒂，用500毫升水浸約2小時至冬菇完全軟身。
2.	撈起冬菇，浸冬菇的水留用。瑤柱用100毫升水浸乾瑤柱1小時至軟身，用手撕乾瑤柱絲。
3.	用手將生粉搓勻冬菇，待十分鐘後，用水沖洗淨。
4.	把冬菇，浸冬菇的水、薑和冰糖放入鍋中，用中慢火炆約20分鐘。不可猛火注意乾水。如有需要可加少量水。
5.	用另一個煱加入生抽、乾瑤柱絲、蠔油和麻油再炆約20分鐘。用2湯匙水拌勻粟米粉後，慢慢加入鍋中，搞拌成獻汁。
6.	煲1000毫升水至滾，下橄欖油入滾水中，加入生菜灼2分鐘。灼熟即可排放在碟上。
7.	將炆好的冬菇放在生菜上。

Braised Shiitake Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce (Chinese style)

Preparation time: 2 hours

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Serve: 2 persons

Ingredients:

Ø  10 Dried Shiitake mushrooms

Ø  1 slice of ginger

Ø  1 dried scallop

Ø  10g Rock Sugar

Ø  1/2 Iceberg

Ø  2 tablespoon Corn flour

Ø  1/4 teaspoon Olive / vegetable oil

Ø  1700 ml water

Sauce:

Ø  1 teaspoon Soya sauce

Ø  2 tablespoon Oyster sauce

Ø  Sesame oil

Ø  2 teaspoon Corn flour

Ø  1 tablespoon Water

Method:

1.	Clean the dried shiitake mushrooms, trim and discard the stems. Add 600 ml water and mushrooms in a bowl. Soak the mushrooms up for 2 hours until they become soften.
2.	Take out the mushrooms and keep the soaked water for braising. Soak the dried scallop into the 100 ml water for 1 hour unit it becomes soften.  Tear it into slices.  Keep the soaked water for further use.
3.	Rub the corn flour on the whole mushrooms and rinse.
4.	Add the mushroom, the soaked water, rock sugar and ginger into a pot for braising.  Reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes.  Check regularly to make sure the water is not dried out.  Add a bit water if necessary.
5.	Add slices of scallop, soya sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil into the pot and braise for another 20 minutes. Mix corn flour and one tablespoon soaked scallop water in a bowl and stir them well.  Add the corn flour sauce into the pot and stir constantly until the sauce has thickened.
6.	Cook the lettuce in 1000 ml boiling water with 1/4 teaspoon olive oil for 2 minutes. Put them slice by slice on the plate.
7.	Put all the braised mushrooms and the sauce on top of the lettuce.

焗蜜汁义燒 (Chinese Barbecue Pork Belly/Char Siu)

女兒非常喜歡吃义燒。每逢她回家吃飯，义燒必是其中一味餸菜。My daughter loves Char Siu very much.  She misses Chinese food a lot.  I always cook this dish when she comes home to have meals with us.  

焗蜜汁叉燒

準備時間：10分鐘

烹調時間：50分鐘

份量： 2-3人

材料：

Ø  梅頭豬肉 450克

醃料：

Ø  紹興酒 1湯匙

Ø  薑汁 2茶匙

Ø  生抽 1 湯匙

Ø  李錦記叉燒醬 4湯匙

Ø  蜜糖1湯茶匙

汁料：

Ø  麥芽糖1 湯匙

Ø  清水1 湯匙

 

做法：

1.	將梅頭豬肉洗淨，加入已拌勻的醃料，放入保鮮袋內，密封袋口。存放於雪櫃中一晚。
2.	焗爐預熱至200°C， 把醃好的豬肉放在焗盤中，倒進所有汁料。蓋上鋁箔紙，焗約35分鐘。
3.	將焗爐調低溫度至100°C，拿走鋁箔紙。用掃筆把焗盤中的焗汁均勻地塗在叉燒上後，焗 5分鐘。
4.	反轉叉燒另一面，重複塗上焗汁再焗 5分鐘。焗汁會慢慢收乾，义燒顏色漸變鮮紅。
5.	用暖水稀釋麥芽糖，在义燒表面塗勻麥芽糖水，焗2分鐘。反轉另一面，塗上麥芽糖水再焗 2分鐘。
6.	從焗爐取出，等待10分鐘後即可切片。

Chinese Barbecue Pork Belly (Char Siu/Cha Shao)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 50 minutes

Serve: 2-3

Ingredients:

Ø  450 gm skinless pork belly or pork shoulder

Char Siu Sauce:

Ø  1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine

Ø  2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger juice

Ø  1 tablespoon light soy sauce

Ø  4 tablespoons Lee Kum Kee Chinese Sauce (Chinese Barbecue Marinade)

Ø  1 tablespoon honey

Maltose Sauce:

Ø  1 tablespoon Maltose

Ø  1 tablespoon hot water

Method:

1.	Rinse and cut the skinless pork belly or pork shoulder in 2 long strips. Mix all the Char Siu Sauce ingredients and marinate the strips and then put them in a ziplock bag in a fridge for overnight.  Massage it so the marinade is all over the pork strips
2.	Preheat oven to 200°C.  Line a baking tray with non-stick paper and set a wire rack on top. Place the pork strips on the rack. Then cover the strips with kitchen foil. Bake for 35 minutes. Keep the Char Siu Sauce left in the bag.
3.	Lower heat to 100°C. Uncover and throw away the foil. Brush the remaining Char Siu Sauce over the pork strips and bake for 5 minutes.
4.	Turn over the pork strips and brush the Char Siu Sauce on top of them. Bake for another 5 minutes.
5.	Dilute the maltose in hot water and dab it on the pork strips.  Bake for 2 minutes. Turn and repeat on the other side.  Then bake for another 2 mintues.
6.	Leave the pork strips to cool to room temperature (about 10 minutes) before slicing.