Braised Pork in Miso

Whenever I cook miso soup, my kids will shun away from it. They still can't get use to the taste of miso. However, I was quite surprised that they love this dish. They simply spoon the sauce and drizzle over their rice.

All along I thought miso can only be used for soup. But this braised pork using miso as marinade change my mind completely. It was not very salty. May be because of the amount of the rock sugar, my husband found it a bit sweet. Apart from that, we love the taste of this dish. It was simply delicious. :)

More information on miso, read here.

Recipe as follows:

Ingredients:

Pork belly 500g (I used 五花肉.)

Miso paste 3 tbs

Rock sugar 50g (can reduce to 40g)

Small cucumber, cherry tomato & spring onions - for decoration (I omitted)

Seasonings:

Cooking wine 2 tbs

Dark Soy Sauce 2 tbs

Star Anise 1 pc

Broth 2 cups (I used homemade chicken stock)

Method:

1. Clean & pat dry pork belly.

2. Coat miso paste onto the meat completely. Marinade for at least 2 hours.

3. Put all the seasonings into a pot and bring to a boil. Once it boils, put in the meat. Cover. Braise for about 30 minutes using small fire.

4. Add in rock sugar and braise for another 1 hour (using small fire).

5. Slice the meat and arrange onto a plate. Decorate with spring onion, cherry tomato and slice cucumbers. Drizzle the braised sauce onto the meat. Serve.

Do let me know if you have try it! :)

Recipe source: 妈妈做的菜　（莊佩柔　编著）

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

My first homemade mooncakes gifts to my mum, mother-in-law and of course, some for myself :)


Fresh out from the oven:


I used a wooden mould for this "White Lotus mooncake". The knocking was quite fun: left, right, top and bottom. The most difficult part was dislodging! Look at the sides... need more practice to perfect it! :(

This plastic plunger mould was a breeze to use. Press and it came out very nicely. This one with "Green Tea lotus" fillings.

This one with salted egg yolk. My kids didn't like it! So did I! :D My husband felt that the yolk was a bit dry and not fragrant enough! (may be I didn't soak with sesame oil long enough or I over-baked...)

My snowskin "Green Tea Lotus" mooncakes also as gifts. Quite pretty right? My elder boy loves this very much!

Looks pretty but need lots of practice to perfect the skin... some thin, some thick...!

My mum was very pleased with the baked mooncake. I was pleasantly surprised when she gave a thumb-up for my bakes! Needless to say, I was really HAPPY!
Thank you Aunty Yochana and Amanda for the wonderful recipes! All the mooncakes were very well-received! :)
祝大家：中秋节快乐！

Green Tea Chiffon Cake

A simple cake on a very special day for someone special....

Hesitating whether to try my luck to bake a chiffon cake or try a no-bake cheese cake. Finally decided to give chiffon cake a try after discovered this site:周老師的美食教室 - yam天空部落 not long ago. There are a couple of videos and there are three videos demo specially for "Chiffon Cakes". I find it very useful for me since I'd failed a couple of times. If I did remember correctly, this was my fifth try on chiffon cake: the first try was perfect! but dry texture :( Subsequent bakes were all failure.... :(

These videos demo on chiffon cake really help me on the correct way to beating egg whites. Besides chiffon cakes, there are a few videos on bread too. By the way, you need to register before you can access all the videos.

This "Green Tea chiffon cake" was taken from Do What I like. I was really happy when I unmould the cake: no volcano valley! :) Was over the moon when the cake was cut: soft, light and moist to our delight! The birthday man took 3 slices at one go! One slice spread with kaya, and he similed and said delicious!

Steam Minced Pork with Salted Fish Paste

My steam minced pork with salted fish paste. Taste yummy! My family loves it! only comment from my husband was: more generous topping of the paste next time please.... :)

Recipe as follows:

Ingredients:
300g minced pork
2 tbsp shredded ginger
2 tbsp fragrant salted fish paste
1 tbsp chopped spring onion

Seasoning:1 tsp light soya sauce
dash of sesame oil and pepper
1 tsp corn flour
2 tbsp water


Method:1. combine minced pork, seasoning and mix well. Arrange onto a steaming plate.

2. Sprinkle shredded ginger on top of the minced pork and spread over salted fish paste.

3. Steam at high heat for 15 minutes or until cooked.

4. Sprinkle chopped spring onion on top and serve hot.


Recipe source: 大牌档酱 （郭子仁著)

Snow Skin Mooncake 冰皮月饼

My first homemade snow skin mooncake in my life! Think snow skin mooncake is more manageable for a beginner like me.

I got all the necessary ingredients like, "Kao fen", shortening and the lotus paste plus the plunger from Sun Lik on Monday. After running through all the mooncake recipes files, decided to use Amanda's recipe. Her recipe is much simpler and like me, that was her first mooncake! :)

Well, unlike her who made her own lotus paste, I bought a ready pack. No regret! the paste is very good! Not too sweet to my liking. :) However, the paste is not cheap! $13.00 per kg! The shop won't sell half kilo to you! :(

Thinking that I might fail in my trial today, I attempted half the recipe (make 5 pcs). The plunger is a breeze to use. I finished the 5 pcs in no time (less than half hour?). A pity that the plunger only got 1 plate! How nice to have a few to interchange......

Guess I'm too generous with the melon seeds.

By the way, you need to roast the melon seeds . For me, I fried the melon seeds in my wok. Easier for me.

Understand that for snow skin mooncake, you need to make it fast and chill immediately otherwise the skin will harden!?

As for the mooncake, it tastes super soft after chilling. The softness of the skin and the crunch from the melon seeds is simply delicious! My two kids love it very much. :)

Going to make another batch later so that my mum & sisters can taste tomorrow.

Oh yes, before I forgot, I added half teaspoon of banana essence into my snow skin. It actually blends well and enhance the whole mooncake.

Fragrant Salted Fish Paste 咸鱼酱

This salted fish paste was made on the same day as my "Jing Du Sauce". The "Jing Du Sauce" was a breeze to make whereas this salted fish paste need some patience. You need to peel and chop the shallots (which I dread). Though all the hard work, the salted fish paste turned out to be very nice and fragrant. It tasted especially good with fried rice. My husband gave a thumb-up for this sauce. :D

Recipe as follows:

Ingredients:
150g Mui Heong Salted Fish (梅香咸鱼), wash & chop
10 shallots, peel & chop
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp sugar
100ml water
100ml oil

Method:
1. Heat up oil, saute chopped shallots and garlic till fragrant.
2. Add in chopped salted fish, sugar and stir well.
3. Add in water and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat.

(Storage time: 1 month in the fridge)
This sauce is also good for "steam minced meat" which I'll try sometimes next week.


Recipe source: 大牌档酱 （郭子仁著)

Jing Du Prime Ribs 京都排骨

Jing Du Sauce

Made my very first "Jing Du Sauce" for my "Jing Du Prime Ribs". The sauce was simple and straight forward to make.

Ingredients:
100ml dark vinegar 浙醋

2 tbsp worchester sauce

5 tbsp tomato sauce

5 tbsp plum sauce

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp five spice powder

100ml water

Method:
Combine all ingredients and bring to boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
(This sauce should be kept in the fridge for 1 month.)
The recipe for the ribs as follows:

Ingredients:
1 kg spare ribs, cut into pieces (I used prime ribs)

150ml Jing Du Sauce

Marinade:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame Oil
1 egg
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp custard powder
3 tbsp water

Method: 1. Mix ribs with marinade for 3 hours.
2. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Dish and drain.
3. Bring Jing Du Sauce to boil. Add in the ribs and mix well.
4. Thicken with corn flour water and dish up.

My elder son and husband love it very much! My little one didn't like it because of its sourish taste. I think the "sourish" taste comes from the plum sauce. Anyway, this sauce is a real keeper! I like it too! Sedap! :D

Recipe source: 大牌档酱 （郭子仁著)