Barbecue Pork or Char Siew

Barbecue pork, goes well with noodles or rice. I have been away for a while, can't wait to get into my kitchen to cook! 

An easy recipe with simple ingredients. 

Adapted from the following recipe:

http://www.singaporehomecooks.com/2015/05/char-siew-by-sylvia-ramlal.html?m=1

Pan fried in a wok, until oil separated from marinade. 

Served with steamed cooked rice.

Barbecue pork recipe 

500g lean pork. 

2 tbsp oyster sauce 

3 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine 

3 tbsp sesame oil 

3 tbsp sugar 

1/2 tsp 5 spice power 

1 tsp white pepper 

1 tbsp oil 

2 clove of garlic crushed with skin on. 

Preparation method :

1. In a bowl, add in all the marinade & marinate the meat overnight. 

2. Heat up the wok with oil, add in the garlic, fry until fragrant.  Add in the meat & marinade.

3. Using medium-low heat , slowly cook the meat. Cover with a lid & flipped occationally to avoid over burning. But I like it with some burnts sections. 

4. After 20 - 25 minutes turned up the heat, to thicken the sauce. You'll noticed the oil & the marinade separated. Refer to picture. 

5. Turned off the heat, when meat is fully cooked. Dish out the BBQ pork & leave it to cool slightly. Slice the BBQ pork before serving. 

Voilà & bon appétit !! 

Chin's notes:

1. No added salt / light soya sauce  is added because I find that the oyster sauce is quite salty. 

2. Normally food colouring is added to give the meat the reddish touch. You can add some red colouring if you wish. :) 

Golden Syrup

An important ingredient needed to make moon cake. This year I am going to try to make traditional moon cakes after I received my moulds!!!

Golden syrup cannot be used immediately it needs to be aged for at least 2 weeks.

I managed to prepare a batch just before I leave for my vacation & when I returned, it will be ready! :) 

Colours transition from initial to end. About 45 minutes process. 

Here is a simple recipe from Asian Delights - All Time Favourite Recipes by Betty Yew, one of my oldest recipe book ;) 

Ingredients: 

600g sugar 

1 & 3/4 cup of water 

Lemon juice from 1/2 of a large lemon 

Preparation steps:

1. Put all the ingredients in a pot & bring to boil. 

2. Switch the heat to med-low & slow bubbles until the mixture turned golden in colour. 

3. Turn off the heat & leave to cool. Transfer to a bottle for storage.

4. Set aside for at least 2 weeks before use. 

Voilà! 

Chin's notes: 

1. Don't forget to label the date on your bottle. 

Light Butter Cake

I love butter cake & today there is a craving for butter cake & decided to try a new recipe with my 8"x8" pan.  A recipe from Rasa Malaysia.  It turned quite good, light & not too oily with buttery taste. Yum!

And I have always wanted to make lines prints on my cake top.  Finally there is a reason to try it.  It was really easy, lightly rub cold butter on the cooling rack, carefully, place the cake top resting on the cooling rack. Let it cool completely before flipping over. Place a plate at the cake bottom & flip it gently. Voilà! The lines were printed on my cake!! 

Bon appétit !! 

Here is the link to the recipe:

http://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-butter-cake/2/

Chin's notes:

1. I used buttermilk instead of fresh milk / yoghurt. 

2. To make butter milk - 4tbsp of fresh milk + 1 tbsp of lemon juice, give a gentle stir & set aside for 10 minutes. 

3. For the lines print, need to rub butter on the cooling rack so the cake won't stick to the cooling rack. 

Prawn Otah-otah

Adapted the recipe from theMEATMENsg's recipe. I replaced all the fish meat with prawns. I prefer the prawn's version ... :p

Mixture of all the ingredients in the food processor.

All wrapped up in banana leaves.

Chin's notes: 

1. Here is the link to original recipe

Video tutorial by theMEATMENsg

http://youtu.be/aRS73J1NLDk

Recipe from jiaksimi.sg

http://jiaksimi.sg/index.php/recipe/otah-otah/

2. My first attempt with tilapia fish & prawns. http://fromchinshome.blogspot.fr/2015/07/otah-otah.html?m=1

Quick Homemade Satay Sauce

This is an improved satay sauce which was very well received by my Singaporean guests. I made once in made in December 2014. I think I have finally got it to the taste that I wanted.

I did not made from scratch because I have a wonderful ready nasi lemak chilli from Singapore. Most of the ingredients for satay sauce is the same as the nasi lemak chilli, so it saves me some preparation time & I can quickly get my sauce ready before my guests arrives ;) 

Fried raw peanut, with skin removed.

Chopped red onions.

Cucumbers & red onions to dip into sauce

Here is a picture of the nasi lemak chilli that I used. 

Quick Homemade Satay Sauce. 

1 bottle of nasi lemak chilli 

3 red onions ( finely chopped ) 

400g of peanuts ( grounded coarsely )

500ml of coconut milk ( I used 2 pkt of ready coconut milk )

5 lemon grass ( bruised )

2 tbsp of sugar ( more if you like sweeter sauce ) 

2 tbsp of curry powder ( I used the curry powder for meat ) 

15g tamarind pulps mix with some water 

2 tbsp of cooking oil

Salt to taste ( I did not add salt ) 

Preparation steps: 

1. Heat up the oil in the pot & fry the onions until fragrant, add in the nasi lemak sambal, coconut milk, peanuts, sugar, lemon grass, curry powder & tamarind paste. 

2. Mix well, simmer about 30 minutes on medium heat. Simmer until the peanuts are soft but still a little crunchy. Stir the mixture frequently to prevent burning of the sauce at the bottom.

3. If sauce become too thick, add some water. 

Voilà! 

Chin's notes:

1. I like my satay sauce crunchy, hence I'll will lightly ground my peanuts with my food processor with lots of chunky peanuts. 

2. If you like the peanuts softer, cook a little longer. 

Cœur de Bœuf Tomate

Literally translated as "heart of the beef" . The American calls them beefsteaks tomato & they British calls them beef tomato. They are bigger than the usual tomatoes, with very little seeds & have a very firm texture. Ideal for salads. Pretty to look at too!! ;)  They are in season now!  

Made some salsa with it.. :D

I only new about this tomato from the cooking demo classes that I attended & also tried a few salads served from the restaurant in Paris! They are very yummy!!! 

Freezing Meat

I don't do my groceries every day, usually once every 3 to 4 weeks. I will divide my meat & freeze them. Used to take me a while to divide my minced meat into cooking portion. Saw this method from the internet sometime back, it's quite useful when you have lots of I don't do my groceries every day, usually once every 3 to 4 weeks. I will divide my meat & freeze them. Used to take me a while to divide my minced meat into cooking portion. Saw this method from the internet sometime back, it quite useful when you have lots of sorting to do with large quantity. Transfer into a clean bag, flatten & remove all the trapped air, divide & sub-divide & further sub-divide into the portion for each cooking. Lay them flat in the freezer. It also saves freezer space. ;) NB: In this picture, there is 1 Kg of minced meat. Bigger bag may be needed. to do with large quantity. 

Transfer into a clean bag, flatten & remove all the trapped air, divide & sub-divide & further sub-divide into the portion for each cooking. Lay them flat in the freezer. It also saves freezer space. As you can stack them neatly ;) 

NB: In this picture, there is 1 Kg of minced meat. Bigger bag may be needed.