Strips of Pork Chop & Cha Sau (Roasted BBQ Pork)

Dish 1: Pork Chop

I made this dish specially for my two boys. I even nicknamed one of them pork chop for his love of pork. Make sure to tell the butcher you want lean meat for making pork chops or doing BBQ pork - "Cha Sau". I think I got a good deal for 1.7 kg of pork for only RM22 which I bought from Foh Sang.

500 g of pork meat
( sliced & marinated with light soy sauce, sesame oil, salt & pepper)
Constarch
Egg lightly beat

As for the sauce:
Brown sugar (2 teaspoons)
Tomato sauce
Constarch
Lemon
Ginger
Salt

Dip sliced pork meat in egg & batter it with constarch. Deep fry it in a non stick pan. Repeat for all the slices. When meat is cooked, keep it aside on a kitchen tissue to absorb the oil.

For the sauce, add some oil & ginger, plus the rest of the ingredients. Add a little water & heat up till gravy thickens. Pour the sauce onto the pork & serve.

Dish 2: Cha Sau

From the remaining of the 1.7 kg pork, I took about 1 kg of it to make my own version of cha sau or cha siew or sasau - depends who's talking :o)

Marinate overnight with:
2 Cubes of Salted Bean Sauce (Tauhu Masin)
Osyter Sauce
Salt/Pepper
Chinese 5 Spice
Cha Siew Sauce
(Lee Kum Kee Brand recommended)

Roasting:
Convection oven
conventional oven,
open fire-BBQ
or your choice really
at 180°C for 20 minutes &
150°C for another 25 minutes.

Not made to order.

Sibu Fest 2007 - Kampua & Tattoo

Guess which is homemade & which is from Sibu?

I was in Sibu for work in conjunction with the Sibu Fest 2007. Plenty of things to see & eat. 2 things I enjoy the most there - eating kampua (not sure of the spelling) & tattoos. It was also the 2nd Borneo International Tattoo Convention 2007. Tattoo enthusiasts came from all over the world to showcase their tatts & convert new legions of followers :) Nevertheless, eating kampua is a permanent fixure for me when doing work in Sibu.

I did one thing right this time round, I bought 1 kg of kampua mee (uncooked) to bring home & made my own version of Sibu kampua mee :) The dry noodles is very cheap - cost only RM2.20 per kg, which is just like the price of kampua in the Sibu coffee shops. I've to give it to them for having the cheapest food in Malaysia.

Kampua Mee
Chopped Spring Onions
Sliced Cha Siew
Minced Pork
Fried Onions
Pork Stock as Sauce (homemade lard)

Boil kampua in boiling water (add salt) for 3 minutes.
Rinse the noodles & put aside in a bowl.
Add pork lard & toss kampua.
Garnish with cha siew, minced pork, spring & fried onions.

There you have it - KK kampua!
Sibu style breakfast.

Pork Belly with Chilli & Garlic Sauce

This is suppose to be a starter before the main course - Bak Kut Teh. Not many people would eat pork belly if served as it is. The pork belly (200 g) is cooked together with the Bak Kut Teh but not chopped into pieces. Slice it & put aside on a plate.

The Sauce :

Add garlic & chili into a hot pan,
thereafter the cooked Bak Kut Teh soup.
Sizzle it & add corn starch to thicken the sauce.
Pour sauce on top of the sliced pork belly & serve.

On the contrary to popular belief,
eating pork is good for health.
This is due to the good cholesterol & fatty acids :o)

True or False?
Answer:
So what? Only if eaten excessively. Same goes with any other food.

Bak Kut Teh

Don't you just love eating pork. It's God's gift to mankind. Being born in the year of the Tiger makes me a natural carnivore. Different places have their own unique style of Bak Kut Teh. In Malaysia, Klang Bak Kut Teh is most famous whereas back home in Kota Kinabalu, Yu Kee on Gaya Street is the talk of town. Seafood style Bak Kut Teh in Sandakan deserves a mention too. Here's the catch, famous doesn't mean best taste. Everyone has their own favourite. My favourite Bak Kut Teh is the one cooked at home. How bias is that? Well, it cost more than RM80 to eat Bak Kut Teh outside for 5 persons.

2 kg - Pork Ribs/Belly (80:20 ratio)
A1 Bak Kut Teh Herbs (forgot to take picture of the packet)
3 Cloves of Garlic
2 Spoonful Light Soy Sauce
2 Spoonful Dark Soy Sauce
2 Spoonful Osyter Sauce
Dried Mushrooms (plenty)
200ml Pork Stock (homemade)
2 Litres of Water
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Dips:
Cut Chili/Garlic in Dark Soy Sauce

Rinse meat & add into 2 litres of boiling water. If you like, you can blanch meat in hot water to get rid of blood & sediments. Add garlic, the combination of sauces as well as mushrooms. Cook for ½ hour under medium heat & another 15 minutes on low heat. Best served with Cha Koay & Fried Soft Tofu, also with rice while hot.

Serves more than 5

Cost of Meat RM20
Cost of Spices RM5
Cost of Labour & Good Taste - Priceless
Anything else, there's MASTERCARD!

Side Dish: Leeks & Pork Liver

A very nice combination of tastes.
Pork liver has to be really fresh.

I love this dish very much simply cos it has pork liver. The liver has a distinctive taste & it's definitely not everybody's cup of tea. But combining it with leeks & ginger would take away the smell & transform it into an aromatic blends of food. A classic!

Pork Liver
Leeks
Ginger
Salt & Pepper
Corn Starch & Soy Sauce

Add oil to wok, then add ginger & liver. Fry till brown before adding leeks & the rest to taste. Add water with corn starch to thicken the sauce.

Another express dish!

"Chu Kiok" - Pork Trotters in Sweet Dark Vinegar Sauce

If there's ONE dish I've to pass down to my boys it'd be this ONE. My dad cooks the best "chu kiok" ever! This is his specialty & I'm proud to cook this dish, thus passing down the generation & closing the generation gap. As I'll always say - home food cooking isn't just about cooking, it's a recipe for a happy family.

Chu Kiok (pork legs in hakka) - 2 kg
ask your butcher to chop them into pieces
Ginger - lots of 'em
Sweet Vinegar Sauce
A Bottle of Mixed Pickle (ginger/onions/red chili/etc)
Black Soy Sauce
Salt & Pepper
Potatoes

Boil pork legs for 10 minutes
to get rid of blood & sediments.
Take out legs & transfer into a big cooking pot.
Add vinegar, then mixed pickle.
Use only ½ the juice from the bottle
or else it becomes too sour.
Add black soy sauce, salt & water.
Lastly add potatoes.

Serves 4-8 over two meals

Lunch - Tomatoes & Sweet Sour Pork

I took the day off as planned. It's a lousy feeling especially when you wake up at wee hours of the morning anticipating a 6th Champions League Title for my beloved club, Liverpool FC, gone with the break of dawn.

I fetched my Noah from school & headed straight home instead of the normal take away or lunch with him. I wanted him to eat my brand of home food cooking. Well, to my surprise, he did finish his meal after much persuading & given the opportunity to play his favourite Rally Race on my mobile phone.

2 Big Tomatoes - sliced
250g of Tender Pork - sliced
Ginger

Marinate with:
Dark/Light Soy Sauce
Sesame oil
Sweet Vinegar

Light fry the marinated pork
with ginger till light brown & tender.
Add the tomatoes & let it simmer.
Add some water, pepper & salt to taste.

I want my two boys to love eating at home
rather that the usual fast food
that kids love these days.
Good wholesome lunch for both of us at home.

Should be cooking more this weekend.

You'll Never Cook Alone

Sliced Pork Belly with Cashew Nuts

Another all time favourite. Another chinese influenced dish.
(Like myself)

A twist of taste for every dishes. Chinese mix with yet another style/way but whatever you wanna call it, please by all means don't called it fusion - it's insulting the cooking fraternity. Haha - only joking! Normally for every half, there is always the other half. It doesn't really matter 'cos the other half is always CRAZY (not supposed to be understood).

The Stuff:
Pork Belly & Loin Pork - 300 g
Ginger
Cashew Nuts (roasted)
Dark Soy Sauce/Sesame Oil
Salt & Pepper

The Way:
Heat up the wok with some oil,
add ginger & the pork belly/loin
(marinated with dark soy sauce/sesame oil/salt & pepper).
Stir fry till it's really cooked.
Let it be a bit overcooked for better taste & to BURN the FATS!
Lastly, add cashew nuts & serve.

Serves A Plenty

Sweet Pork with Potatoes & White Cabbage

Pork Meat (loin/shoulder) ½ kg

Sweet Potatoes ½ kg
White Chinese Cabbage
Garlic/Ginger
Marinate pork for 15 minutes with:
5 Spice Powder
Dark/Light Soy Sauce
Sweet Vinegar (apple cider as alternative)
Corn Starch

Preparation:
Light fry pork in vegetable/corn oil
(ginger/garlic included) till brown.
Add sweet potatoes & ½ cup of water.
Let it simmer & cook under low heat.
Cabbage is cooked separately &
only used for garnishing.
Add little salt/oyster sauce if necessary.

The sweet vinegar &
plain taste of cabbage
compliments the dish which makes
this paricular dish very authentic.

Serves 4