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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Siew Yoke (Roast Pork with crackling)
My mother adores The Boy. She also loves to feed him. To give you an example: Once, he casually mentioned that he loves roast pork with crackling. Immediately, the wheels started turning, and she started researching and experimenting with her old recipes for siew yoke* (if you were wondering where I get it from...). My poor father was (happily) the guinea pig of at least three versions of roast pork before it was good enough to be presented to The Boy. Being a true believer that the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach (contrary to popular belief), she kindly shared her perfected recipe with me.
* Siew yoke = Chinese roast pork with cracking, often served with rice and other roast meats
Anyway, fast forward to last week. The Nutritionist Nazi informed us that we should not consume, on a normal day, any food that contained more than 20% of fat from calories, and sent us away with a list of information. Perusing the list in the car, I should tell you that almost no beef or pork or lamb of any sort made the cut (excuse the pun). The forced conclusion was that we would have to live with a diet of chicken breast and fish during the week.
But this also meant that there was now cause to celebrate our weekend "cheat" meal. Hence, this post - a tribute to my mother's culinary endeavours and a reward for a week of "good" eating.
Roast pork with crackling is wonderful. You can have it for an Asian meal - it goes well with Braised Cabbage. You can have it for Thanksgiving or Christmas in place of ham, served with apple sauce - children always love the crackling. It is one of those versatile roasts that can be both prosaic and celebratory.
There is much debate what is the best way to achieve crackling. Some like Ellis Handy tout vinegar as their secret ingredient. Others like Gary Rhodes would exhort crackling the rind separately. In our family, we believe simply that the simplest way to achieve the best and tastiest crackling is salt and patience: giving the rind hours and hours to dry out. Hence, this dish should be prepared the day before. We also like to keep the seasoning simple: just pepper and five spice powder. The perfect roast pork should be crispy and crunchy on the top, pink and tender on the inside.
Note: You can get a slab of pork belly with the rind still on at most Asian grocery stores. In Houston, I recommend H-Mart (I-10/Blalock), as always.
RECIPE: SIEW YOKE (ROAST PORK WITH CRACKLING)
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 mins
1 roasting dish with rack
A - Meat
1 slab pork belly with rind
B - Seasoning
2 tsp salt
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp pepper
C - Vegetable oil
*****
A - Wipe the meat dry with kitchen paper. Score the rind of the pork belly with a sharp knife.
B - Dry fry the seasoning ingredients for a few minutes. The portions are for 2 lb / 1 kg of meat. Depending on how much meat you have, you may adjust the portions, always keeping the proportion of 2:1:1.
When cooled, rub the seasoning all over the rind of the meat. If there is excess seasoning, leave it - do not rub over rest of meat as, in my experience, this makes the final product too salty.
Leave uncovered in the fridge overnight.
C1 - Heat oven to 290F / 200 C. Put pork with rind facing up on a roasting dish with rack, and roast for 10 minutes.
C2 - Turn temperature down to 320 F / 160 C and roast for a further 1 hour.
C3 - Crackling: Increase temperature to 480 F / 250 C. Using a long spoon, spread some oil on the skin. Don't worry about quantity because the excess oil will just drip and collect below the rack in the roasting dish. Roast for a further 15-20 mins to crackle the skin.
Remove and cool. Alert: Make sure you have all your kitchen windows opened, the kitchen vent turned up to the max and the fire alarm turned off - because a lot of smoke will be coming out of the oven when you open it!
* Siew yoke = Chinese roast pork with cracking, often served with rice and other roast meats
Anyway, fast forward to last week. The Nutritionist Nazi informed us that we should not consume, on a normal day, any food that contained more than 20% of fat from calories, and sent us away with a list of information. Perusing the list in the car, I should tell you that almost no beef or pork or lamb of any sort made the cut (excuse the pun). The forced conclusion was that we would have to live with a diet of chicken breast and fish during the week.
But this also meant that there was now cause to celebrate our weekend "cheat" meal. Hence, this post - a tribute to my mother's culinary endeavours and a reward for a week of "good" eating.
Roast pork with crackling is wonderful. You can have it for an Asian meal - it goes well with Braised Cabbage. You can have it for Thanksgiving or Christmas in place of ham, served with apple sauce - children always love the crackling. It is one of those versatile roasts that can be both prosaic and celebratory.
There is much debate what is the best way to achieve crackling. Some like Ellis Handy tout vinegar as their secret ingredient. Others like Gary Rhodes would exhort crackling the rind separately. In our family, we believe simply that the simplest way to achieve the best and tastiest crackling is salt and patience: giving the rind hours and hours to dry out. Hence, this dish should be prepared the day before. We also like to keep the seasoning simple: just pepper and five spice powder. The perfect roast pork should be crispy and crunchy on the top, pink and tender on the inside.
Note: You can get a slab of pork belly with the rind still on at most Asian grocery stores. In Houston, I recommend H-Mart (I-10/Blalock), as always.
RECIPE: SIEW YOKE (ROAST PORK WITH CRACKLING)
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 mins
1 roasting dish with rack
A - Meat
1 slab pork belly with rind
B - Seasoning
2 tsp salt
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp pepper
C - Vegetable oil
*****
A - Wipe the meat dry with kitchen paper. Score the rind of the pork belly with a sharp knife.
B - Dry fry the seasoning ingredients for a few minutes. The portions are for 2 lb / 1 kg of meat. Depending on how much meat you have, you may adjust the portions, always keeping the proportion of 2:1:1.
When cooled, rub the seasoning all over the rind of the meat. If there is excess seasoning, leave it - do not rub over rest of meat as, in my experience, this makes the final product too salty.
Leave uncovered in the fridge overnight.
C1 - Heat oven to 290F / 200 C. Put pork with rind facing up on a roasting dish with rack, and roast for 10 minutes.
C2 - Turn temperature down to 320 F / 160 C and roast for a further 1 hour.
C3 - Crackling: Increase temperature to 480 F / 250 C. Using a long spoon, spread some oil on the skin. Don't worry about quantity because the excess oil will just drip and collect below the rack in the roasting dish. Roast for a further 15-20 mins to crackle the skin.
Remove and cool. Alert: Make sure you have all your kitchen windows opened, the kitchen vent turned up to the max and the fire alarm turned off - because a lot of smoke will be coming out of the oven when you open it!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Fresh Purple
A friend of mine in London has set up her own online jewelry store, named after her favourite colour. Being impeccably dressed herself always, I'm eager to go check it out myself now. See you at Fresh Purple!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Flowers from the Cotswold, England
Roses and carnations brought all the way from a cottage in the Cotswold, England, by visiting friends and their three beautiful children. Charming!
We cooked over the weekend - first, the Asian experience on Saturday, then a little bit of the South on Sunday. Roast pork with crackling, braised cabbage, kung pao prawns, as well as beans and tasty cornbread - topped up by a belated homemade chocolate cheesecake birthday cake! There was feasting and laughter, fellowship and prayer. What a wonderful thing friends are!
Wind the bobbin up, wind the bobbin up,
Pull, pull, clap clap clap.
Wind it back again, wind it back again,
Pull, pull, clap clap clap.
Point to the ceiling, point to the floor,
Point to the window, point to the door.
Clap your hands together, one two three,
Put your hands upon your knee.
~ An English children's song ~
Pull, pull, clap clap clap.
Wind it back again, wind it back again,
Pull, pull, clap clap clap.
Point to the ceiling, point to the floor,
Point to the window, point to the door.
Clap your hands together, one two three,
Put your hands upon your knee.
~ An English children's song ~
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Navy Bean Soup
Following up on the theme of easy home cooking, I'm starting a series called 'One Pot Fits All' (OPFA) - check out the Table of Contents on the right hand column.
Today's contribution to the OPFA (otherwise known as "op-fah") family is known simply as "Beans". Like when The Boy would ask his momma what was for dinner, she would quite often say "Beans".
That is code for Navy Bean Soup - a good 'ol Southern dish.
Incidentally, you would never believe what Southern boys talk about when they're gathered around the dinner table. That's right, food - like their momma used to make it. Fried okra, fried chicken, fried catfish, cornbread... the list goes on. Southern boys are uniquely good-looking too, quite beside the point.
So yesterday, The Boy and I are trailing the aisles at our local Whole Foods, and suddenly I lose him. I retrace my steps, only to find him standing, almost stupified, in front of a big silver pot poised on a nice table with some paper tubs and lids. What's wrong? I ask. He points to the big silver pot. I look inside.
Yes, you got it right. It was Beans.
Now, to be honest, we both found the Whole Foods version quite awful. But it did get The Boy going. He couldn't sleep last night, and the first thing he did when dawn broke (and it was a decent time) was to call his momma back home to get the recipe for Beans.
So off we were to a butcher (I found one in Houston at last!) to get some smoked ham hocks, and then to the grocery store for some navy beans and cornbread ingredients. And for the whole afternoon, our apartment was filled with the lovely smells of Beans slow-cooking atop the stove.
It was delicious too, with cornbread and freshly churned butter (Central Market is selling the churned butter that used to be hawked at Borough Market!). We ate in silence (always a good sign). It was just what I needed after a long run - a healthy, hearty, navy bean soup.
RECIPE: NAVY BEAN SOUP
Equipment - One big pot
A -
2 lbs Navy beans
1 lb Smoked ham hock
1/2 Large onion (or 1 Small onion), diced
B -
2 Carrots, diced
1 Jalapeno, diced
1/2 Large onion (or 1 Small onion), diced
A - Put the beans, ham hock and onion in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer on low heat for at least 4 hours, if not the whole afternoon. The soup should be reduced to a thick consistency by the time you're ready to eat.
B - 40 minutes before serving, add the diced carrots, onion and jalapeno. The Boy does this right after he pops the cornbread into the oven.
Serve warm with cornbread.
Today's contribution to the OPFA (otherwise known as "op-fah") family is known simply as "Beans". Like when The Boy would ask his momma what was for dinner, she would quite often say "Beans".
That is code for Navy Bean Soup - a good 'ol Southern dish.
Incidentally, you would never believe what Southern boys talk about when they're gathered around the dinner table. That's right, food - like their momma used to make it. Fried okra, fried chicken, fried catfish, cornbread... the list goes on. Southern boys are uniquely good-looking too, quite beside the point.
So yesterday, The Boy and I are trailing the aisles at our local Whole Foods, and suddenly I lose him. I retrace my steps, only to find him standing, almost stupified, in front of a big silver pot poised on a nice table with some paper tubs and lids. What's wrong? I ask. He points to the big silver pot. I look inside.
Yes, you got it right. It was Beans.
Now, to be honest, we both found the Whole Foods version quite awful. But it did get The Boy going. He couldn't sleep last night, and the first thing he did when dawn broke (and it was a decent time) was to call his momma back home to get the recipe for Beans.
So off we were to a butcher (I found one in Houston at last!) to get some smoked ham hocks, and then to the grocery store for some navy beans and cornbread ingredients. And for the whole afternoon, our apartment was filled with the lovely smells of Beans slow-cooking atop the stove.
It was delicious too, with cornbread and freshly churned butter (Central Market is selling the churned butter that used to be hawked at Borough Market!). We ate in silence (always a good sign). It was just what I needed after a long run - a healthy, hearty, navy bean soup.
RECIPE: NAVY BEAN SOUP
Equipment - One big pot
A -
2 lbs Navy beans
1 lb Smoked ham hock
1/2 Large onion (or 1 Small onion), diced
B -
2 Carrots, diced
1 Jalapeno, diced
1/2 Large onion (or 1 Small onion), diced
A - Put the beans, ham hock and onion in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer on low heat for at least 4 hours, if not the whole afternoon. The soup should be reduced to a thick consistency by the time you're ready to eat.
B - 40 minutes before serving, add the diced carrots, onion and jalapeno. The Boy does this right after he pops the cornbread into the oven.
Serve warm with cornbread.
Beans, beans, the magical fruit,
The more you eat, the more you toot!
The more you toot, the better you feel,
So let's have beans for every meal!
The more you eat, the more you toot!
The more you toot, the better you feel,
So let's have beans for every meal!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Braised Cabbage
This is a winner. And it's easy. I make it at least once a week. Molly Stevens, whose book 'All About Braising' I have exhorted time and again, calls it the World's Best Braised Cabbage. It really is. It's healthy. It's delicious. It's easy. And it goes with all types of food, whether you are serving Chinese or a Pot Roast. We had it for dinner last night with Kung Pao prawns! We're eating it with Pulled Pork tonight. Try it to believe it!
RECIPE: MOLLY STEVEN'S BRAISED CABBAGE
Cooking time: 2 hrs 15 mins
Serves: 8
Equipment -
1 saute pan
Aluminium foil
A -
1 cabbage (approx. 2 lbs, so that it fits into the saute pan)
B -
2 carrots, chopped into small rounds
1 onion, sliced
3 dried red chilis OR Chili flakes
C -
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
D -
Splash of red vinegar
*****
Heat oven at 325 F / 163 C.
A - Chop the cabbage into 8 parts and arrange around the saute pan in a single layer. It's very important that it's in a single layer.
B - Scatter the onions, carrots and chili flakes around. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
C - Add olive oil and water into the pan, and cover tightly with aluminium foil. Braise in oven for 1 hour. Molly Stevens advises to turn the cabbage halfway, but that's messy so I usually leave it.
After an hour, turn heat up to 400 F / 205 C and remove aluminium foil. Braise for another 15 mins.
D - Before serving, splash a little red vinegar around - this brings out the sweetness of the cabbage.
Serve warm.
RECIPE: MOLLY STEVEN'S BRAISED CABBAGE
Cooking time: 2 hrs 15 mins
Serves: 8
Equipment -
1 saute pan
Aluminium foil
A -
1 cabbage (approx. 2 lbs, so that it fits into the saute pan)
B -
2 carrots, chopped into small rounds
1 onion, sliced
3 dried red chilis OR Chili flakes
C -
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
D -
Splash of red vinegar
*****
Heat oven at 325 F / 163 C.
A - Chop the cabbage into 8 parts and arrange around the saute pan in a single layer. It's very important that it's in a single layer.
B - Scatter the onions, carrots and chili flakes around. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
C - Add olive oil and water into the pan, and cover tightly with aluminium foil. Braise in oven for 1 hour. Molly Stevens advises to turn the cabbage halfway, but that's messy so I usually leave it.
After an hour, turn heat up to 400 F / 205 C and remove aluminium foil. Braise for another 15 mins.
D - Before serving, splash a little red vinegar around - this brings out the sweetness of the cabbage.
Serve warm.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
4th of July food: Potato Salad
We apparently have a great view of the downtown fireworks from the roof of our apartment complex. So this 4th of July, we had some newlywed friends over for a grill out - my first 4th of July!
Aaron was so excited about making his momma's famous potato salad that he dragged me grocery shopping at 10pm on Friday night. Momma Akins' potato salad lives up to its name indeed. It's pickly and eggy and potatoish. I personally dislike mayonnaise in large quantities, and always leave it out in my subways and then sparingly in salads and coleslaw - which is why I love this potato salad, which is relatively mayo-free. The only time I will eat mayonnaise in large quantities is with my fries (chips to my friends across the pond), which The Boy finds disgusting.
We had so much fun on Saturday evening. I love grilling out!
RECIPE: MOMMA AKINS' POTATO SALAD
A -
1 bag potatoes, approx. 1 per person
B -
4-5 eggs
C - Dressing
Mayonnaise
Hot dog relish
Dill pickles, chopped roughly
Scallions, chopped
Celery seeds
Black pepper
Onion powder
A. Peel potatoes and cut into cubes. Place in a large pot and cover with water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat and parboil potatoes, covered, until they are soft (but not mushy - test with a fork). Drain and place back on heat to boil off any remaining water.
B. While the potatoes are cooking, hard boil the eggs by placing them in a pot of cold water, add some salt, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Drain and peel eggs under cold running water. Dry with a paper towel and chop roughly.
C. In a large bowl, fork through the potatoes and mix in the cooked and chopped eggs. Assemble the rest of the salad dressing to taste: a few tbsps of mayo, several squirts of mustard, approx half the bottle of hotdog relish, the pickles, scallions and other condiments.
Serve chilled.
Aaron was so excited about making his momma's famous potato salad that he dragged me grocery shopping at 10pm on Friday night. Momma Akins' potato salad lives up to its name indeed. It's pickly and eggy and potatoish. I personally dislike mayonnaise in large quantities, and always leave it out in my subways and then sparingly in salads and coleslaw - which is why I love this potato salad, which is relatively mayo-free. The only time I will eat mayonnaise in large quantities is with my fries (chips to my friends across the pond), which The Boy finds disgusting.
We had so much fun on Saturday evening. I love grilling out!
RECIPE: MOMMA AKINS' POTATO SALAD
A -
1 bag potatoes, approx. 1 per person
B -
4-5 eggs
C - Dressing
Mayonnaise
Hot dog relish
Dill pickles, chopped roughly
Scallions, chopped
Celery seeds
Black pepper
Onion powder
A. Peel potatoes and cut into cubes. Place in a large pot and cover with water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat and parboil potatoes, covered, until they are soft (but not mushy - test with a fork). Drain and place back on heat to boil off any remaining water.
B. While the potatoes are cooking, hard boil the eggs by placing them in a pot of cold water, add some salt, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Drain and peel eggs under cold running water. Dry with a paper towel and chop roughly.
C. In a large bowl, fork through the potatoes and mix in the cooked and chopped eggs. Assemble the rest of the salad dressing to taste: a few tbsps of mayo, several squirts of mustard, approx half the bottle of hotdog relish, the pickles, scallions and other condiments.
Serve chilled.
The Best Banana Cake in the World
Everyone has eaten banana cake before. Banana cake is like the cake that you will bake (and eat) at some point in your life - if any baking happened at all, that is. It is the cake to bake if you are in a hurry. It is the cake to bake if you are not a confident baker. It is the cake to bake just to remember home, remember your mum, remember how to bake.
It is a very helpful way of using up those over-ripe bananas too. Our house designer was coming over for a meeting tonight, and I had bananas that were so black and squishy that my housekeeper worriedly pointed them out to me this morning with a tut tut. So, banana cake it was.
The perfect banana cake for me is fluffy and moist, with small scattered squishes of banana in between, and a toasty nutty caramelized shell. No nuts required.
This recipe is by Carrie Ho from A Treasured Collection (2001). A few years ago, the ladies of Covenant Community Methodist Church in Singapore gathered together to collate their time-treasured recipes. It's a dying tradition, but church gatherings used to be fed with food lovingly prepared by its members. Nowadays we cater (still lovingly) fried chicken, hotdogs and cookies. Call me old-fashioned, but I kinda miss those days and am fighting it tooth and nail!
RECIPE: THE BEST BANANA CAKE IN THE WORLD
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 mins
Serves: 8
Equipment -
1x 20 cm square baking pan (I used a pie pan last night. A decorative alternative is to use a bundt pan.)
Wax paper
A -
180 g / 6 oz Butter
180 g / 6 oz Sugar
B -
2 tbsp Sour cream
1 tsp Vanilla essence
C -
3 Large eggs (60g each)
D -
210 g / 7.5 oz Self-raising flour, sifted
4 Large ripe bananas or 8 Small ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
*****
Pre-heat oven to 170 C / 340 F. Grease and line baking pan. Dust with flour.
A - Cream butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. I use the flat paddle for this.
B - Add sour cream and vanilla essence to A.
C - Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. I switch to the egg beater for this.
D - Fold in sifted flour and bananas gradually into the mixture. I do this manually with a flat spatula. Pour mixture into baking pan and bake for 1 hour. Then cover cake with foil and bake for another 10 mins. Remove from oven and let cake stand for 5 mins before taking it out. Cool on wire rack for at least another 10 mins before serving.
You can serve it with dusted icing sugar or a simple sour cream frosting.
It is a very helpful way of using up those over-ripe bananas too. Our house designer was coming over for a meeting tonight, and I had bananas that were so black and squishy that my housekeeper worriedly pointed them out to me this morning with a tut tut. So, banana cake it was.
The perfect banana cake for me is fluffy and moist, with small scattered squishes of banana in between, and a toasty nutty caramelized shell. No nuts required.
This recipe is by Carrie Ho from A Treasured Collection (2001). A few years ago, the ladies of Covenant Community Methodist Church in Singapore gathered together to collate their time-treasured recipes. It's a dying tradition, but church gatherings used to be fed with food lovingly prepared by its members. Nowadays we cater (still lovingly) fried chicken, hotdogs and cookies. Call me old-fashioned, but I kinda miss those days and am fighting it tooth and nail!
RECIPE: THE BEST BANANA CAKE IN THE WORLD
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 mins
Serves: 8
Equipment -
1x 20 cm square baking pan (I used a pie pan last night. A decorative alternative is to use a bundt pan.)
Wax paper
A -
180 g / 6 oz Butter
180 g / 6 oz Sugar
B -
2 tbsp Sour cream
1 tsp Vanilla essence
C -
3 Large eggs (60g each)
D -
210 g / 7.5 oz Self-raising flour, sifted
4 Large ripe bananas or 8 Small ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
*****
Pre-heat oven to 170 C / 340 F. Grease and line baking pan. Dust with flour.
A - Cream butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. I use the flat paddle for this.
B - Add sour cream and vanilla essence to A.
C - Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. I switch to the egg beater for this.
D - Fold in sifted flour and bananas gradually into the mixture. I do this manually with a flat spatula. Pour mixture into baking pan and bake for 1 hour. Then cover cake with foil and bake for another 10 mins. Remove from oven and let cake stand for 5 mins before taking it out. Cool on wire rack for at least another 10 mins before serving.
You can serve it with dusted icing sugar or a simple sour cream frosting.
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