Five Layer Roast Pork

Ingredients

500g of pork belly (3-layer)

1 tbsp coarse salt

1 tsp five-spice powder

2 tbsps rice vinegar mixed in with 1/2 tsp regular salt

 Method

1. Firstly, rinse the pork belly well and pat dry with kitchen towels.  You have to make sure that the pork belly is really pat dry enough as we don't want moisture that will create steam inside the oven, this will not allow to skin to get all crispy and crackly and that's the opposite of what we want.  Next, rub the coarse salt into the pork well. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes at least.

2.Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to about 220 C (428 F).  Prepare a tray for the pork to roast on by lining with some aluminium foil.  Lightly grease the foil.

3.After the pork has marinated in the salt, rub the five-spice powder onto the pork.  Place the pork belly on the tray and roast for 5 minutes skin-side up.  Remove from oven and pierce the skin all over with a fork or skewer, the piercing will enable the skin to turn crackly once roasted.  Brush the vinegar mixture on top of the skin.

4.Roast for another 25 minutes in the oven.  Remove from oven and allow to rest for about 10-15 minutes.  Slice and serve.

 

Mooncake

Mooncake recipe - A recipe for mooncakes, the Chinese snack traditionally served during the Moon or Mid-Autumn Festival.

 Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes


Ingredients:

Filling:
1 pound red azuki beans
water
3/4 cup lard or oil
1-3/4 cups sugar
Water-Shortening Dough:
2 cups flour
5 tablespoons lard
10 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt
Flaky Dough:
1 cup flour
5 tablespoons lard
red food coloring for design
Preparation:

Filling Instructions: Soak red beans in water to cover 2 hours. Drain and discard the water. Cover with 8 cups fresh water and bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat 1-1/2 hours or until skins open. Strain the beans and discard the skins. Place the strained beans in several layers of cheesecloth and squeeze out any excess water.
Place in a saucepan with the lard or oil and the sugar. Cook, stirring continuously, until almost all the moisture has evaporated. Let cool.

Dough Instructions: You will need 2 cups of filling for the mooncakes. Divide this into 20 portions and shape into balls.Mix ingredients for the water-shortening dough and the flaky dough separately until smooth. Divide each dough into 20 equal portions.
Wrap one portion of flaky dough inside each portion of water-shortening dough. Roll out each piece of dough, then fold in thirds to form three layers. Roll out again, and once more fold in thirds to form three layers.
Flatten each piece of dough with the palm of your hand to form a 3" circle. Place one portion of filling in the center. Gather the edges to enclose the filling and pinch to seal. Place the filled packet in the mold, gently pressing to fit. Invert and remove the mold.
Dilute red food coloring with water and pour onto a damp paper towel on a plate. Take some food coloring onto the cookie-design stamp, then press on top of the mooncake.
Repeat process for remaining mooncakes. Arrange mooncakes on a baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool before serving.

Shrimp With Spicy Chinese Greens

Introduction
The Chinese greens in this recipe are bok choy, the most popular vegetable in Chinese cooking. Serve Shrimp with spicy Chinese greens over cooked rice for a complete meal.

Ingredients:

1 pound peeled, deveined shrimp, medium to large, tails left on or removed as desired
3 to 4 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch, divided
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons light Soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons water, divided
3 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil, for stir-frying, divided
3 thin slices fresh ginger, divided
1/4 teaspoon chili paste or to taste, optional
1 pound bok choy, ends trimmed, stalks cut diagonally and leaves cut across into 1 to 1 1/2-inch strips
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

Preparation:

Place the shrimp in a bowl and add 3 to 4 teaspoons of Chinese rice wine or dry sherry, pinch of salt, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Marinate the shrimp for at least 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the red wine vinegar, sugar, light and dark soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons water. In a separate small bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon cornstarch in 2 teaspoons water. Set aside.

Heat the wok and add 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add 1 slice of ginger. Let it brown for a few seconds and add the shrimp. Stir-fry the shrimp until they turn pink. Remove from the pan.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in the wok. When the oil is hot, add the 2 slices ginger and the chili paste if using. Let the ginger brown for 20 to 30 seconds then add the bok choy stalks. Stir-fry for 1 minute, sprinkling with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add the leaves. Continue stir-frying until the leaves are wilted and dark green (about 1 1/2 more minutes). Note: Sprinkle the bok choy with water, or a bit of Chinese rice wine or dry sherry if it begins to dry out.

Push the bok choy to the sides of the wok. Whisk the sauce and then pour it into the middle of the pan. Bring to a boil. Re-stir the cornstarch and water mixture and add to the sauce, stirring quickly to thicken.

Add the shrimp back into the pan. Stir to mix everything together. Remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil. Serve hot.

Taiwanese Salted Crispy Chicken

Ingredients

500 g of chicken thighs, cut into 2 ~ 3 cm pieces

1tbs Chinese cooking wine

3 tbs of soy

2 tsp of castor sugar

1 tsp of five spice powder

1 spring onion (white part only), minced

2 pieces of ginger, minced

1 tsp of sesame oil

a bunch of Thai basil, picked

coarse sweet potato flour for coating

peanut oil for frying

 

for the salt and pepper dip;

1 tbs of salt

1 tbs of white pepper

mix salt and pepper well and set aside

 

 

How can we make it?

1.      Marinate chicken pieces for at least half an hour with Chinese cooking wine, soy, sugar, five spice powder, ginger, spring onion and sesame oil.

2.      Coat marinated chicken with sweet potato flour.

3.      Picked Thai basil leaves.

4.      Fry chicken in hot oil in batches til light golden (50 ~ 70% cooked) and drain well.

5.      Fry chicken a second time til golden and crispy. Drain well.

6.      Fry Thai basil leaves 10 ~ 15 seconds and drain well on absorbent paper.

7.      Scatter fried basil around the chicken pieces and serve immediately with the salt and pepper dip.

Taiwanese Oyster Omelet

Ingredients:

     1/4
cup tapioca starch

     1/2
cup cold water

     1
cup Chinese greens

     3
eggs

     1
pinch ground white pepper

     1
pinch salt

     4-6 fresh oysters

     3
tablespoons canola oil

Instructions:

1.           Stir tapioca starch and water together in a small bowl until you have a slurry. Set aside.

2.           Chop A choy or Romaine leaves into 1/2 inch pieces and set aside.

3.           In another bowl, beat eggs. The tried and true Taiwanese method is using chopsticks. Add salt and white pepper. Set aside.

4.           Heat oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat.

5.           When oil is shimmery, add the tapioca slurry (careful, it may splatter a bit) and reduce heat to medium. Cook for a minute or two until the color changes from white to translucent (kind of like a jellyfish).

6.           At this point, reduce heat to low and add beaten eggs. Stir for 10 seconds with chopsticks until coarsely combined.

7.           Quickly add oysters and greens on top of eggs and press gently to set. Allow to cook, undisturbed, until slightly golden around the edges.

8.           Using two spatulas, carefully flip omelet over in pan. Bring heat back up to medium and allow to cook until oysters are fully cooked and omelet is set, about 5 minutes.

Basic Beef Stir-fry

Packaged stir-fry vegetables and pre-made stir-fry sauce do most of the work for you in this easy recipe. Basic Beef Stir-fry is a great choice for newcomers to Chinese cooking - the packaged vegetable mix gives you a good idea of the types of vegetables used in stir-frying and how they are prepared, while the stir-fry sauce adds flavour.

Ingredients:

 3/4 - 1 pound flank steak

1/2 cup stir-fry sauce (such as Kikkoman)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 tablespoons canola oil or peanut oil, divided

3 – 3 1/2 cups frozen stir-fry vegetable mix

Preparation:

1. Use a sharp carving knife or a cleaver to cut the steak into thin slices that are about 1/8 inch thick and 1 1/2 - 2 inches long. If you like, go one step further and lay the strips on top of one another and cut again into thin strips.

2. Measure out the stir-fry sauce into a small bowl or a measuring cup. Chop the garlic.

3. Heat a wok or heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it is almost smoking. Add 2 tablespoons oil into the wok, tilting the pan and drizzling the oil so that it coats the sides of the pan. When the oil is hot, add half of the chopped garlic. (You can test to see if the oil is hot by dropping in a small piece of garlic. If it sizzles, the oil is ready). Stir-fry the garlic for 10 seconds, and then add the beef.

4. Lay the beef flat in the pan. Let it brown briefly, then stir-fry the beef until it loses its redness and is nearly cooked through (if you are using 1 pound beef it's best to divide it in half and cook in two batches). Remove the stir-fried beef and drain in a colander or on paper towels.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon oil of oil in the same wok or skillet. When the oil is hot, add the remainder of the garlic. Stir-fry for 10 seconds, then add the frozen vegetables. Stir-fry for 3 – 5 minutes, or according to package directions. Splash the vegetables with a bit of water if the vegetables begin to dry out while you are stir-frying.
6. Add the stir-fried beef back into pan. Add the stir-fry sauce and bring to a boil. Stir-fry for 1 – 2 more minutes to mix everything together. Serve hot over cooked rice.

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
Chocolate Filling:

50g whipping cream

50g milk

25g sugar

100g dark couverture

Chocolate Cake:

100g dark Couverture(65%)

90 g butter

50g Sugar

3 eggs

12g plain flour

4g baking powder

Cooking Steps:

1.Boil cream, milk and sugar in a small sauce pan. Then pour the mixture into chocolate and gently stir until the chocolate completely melts. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a round tip with the ganache.

2.Place dark couverture in a bowl. Stand the bowl in hot water. Add soft butter and gently stir until well mix.

3.Mix sugar and egg and add in to the batter in 2-3 portions. Fold in sifted flour and baking powder.

4.Pipe cake batter inside silicon mould bottom and side. Fill with chocolate ganache in the middle. Lastly, pipe in cake batter over the chocolate ganache.

 

5.Bake at 180℃ for 10 minutes.

 

Cookies and Cream

Ingredients:

4 table spoon flour

2 cups milk

1/4 table spoon salt

2 table spoon sugar

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 small vanilla pod

5 Oreo’s

Directions:

1.Pour 2 cups of milk (I used 2%) in a sauce pan. And stir in 4 table spoons flour.

 

2. Open up 1 small vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds and add them to the milk. Alternately you could use 1 or 2 table spoon vanilla extract in stead, but substituting one for the other is like comparing a Harley Davidson to a scoot-mobile.

3.Add 1/4 table spoon salt. Somehow the ice cream needs the salt, it tastes ‘off’ when I don’t add it. And throw in 2 table spoon granulated sugar.

 

4. Put the pan on the stove and slowly heat it until the milk starts to thicken. This will take a few minutes. Keep stirring! The ice cream base will now be much thicker but still pourable. You don’t want it to be too thick or your ice cream machine will jam. Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool off.

 

5. As soon as the vanilla milk has cooled off, stir in 1/2 a cup sweetened condensed milk. This will give your ice cream plenty of flavour, sweetness and richness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Transfer it to the ice cream maker and let it do its thing. This machine turned out to be a less than stellar buy, let me tell you that. Right before the ice cream is done, crumble up 5 Oreo’s and add them to the machine. Don’t let the machine mix them up too long, you want coarser pieces as well.

 

7.Freeze it for 2 hours. And that be the stuff that dreams are made of, cookies and cream.

Vanilla Peach Cakes

Ingredients:

 

4 oz butter (I use salted)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup self-rising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 peach (canned)

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

 

Directions:

1.      Combine 4 oz soft butter with 1/2 a cup sugar and beat until pale and creamy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.      Add 1 egg (room-temperature), beat until fluffy. Pour in the vanilla extract, salt (1 tsp when using unsalted butter) and the remaining egg and beat until it’s all really smooth. Add 1 cup self-rising flour and 1/2 a tsp baking powder and stir until just combined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.    Mince the peaches in 2 halves. Stir in the peaches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.      Line a standard muffin pan with cute liners. Fill them 2/3 of the way with the batter. Bake them in a pre-heated oven at 350F (180C) for 15 to 20 minutes. Until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

 

Boiled Dumplings

Dumplings are essentially cooked balls of dough which can contain all different kinds of filling such as meat, fish and vegetables. Dumplings can also be cooked in many different ways such as boiled, steamed, fried and baked. Today we look at how to make a boiled Chinese pork dumplings.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (use microplane grater)
• 1/4 cup minced Chinese chives or green onions (white and green parts)
• 2/3 pound ground pork
• 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper (or freshly ground black pepper)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 package frozen round dumpling wrappers (gyoza/potsticker wrappers), defrosted at room temperature for 30 minutes
• for the slurry: 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1/2 cup water

How to Make Filling:

1. To make the filling, put the cabbage in a food processor and process until cabbage is finely minced. Remove the cabbage to a large bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Let cabbage sit for 10 minutes. In the meantime, return the food processor bowl to the stand and add the ginger, chives, pork, pepper, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil. Pulse 4 times to mix the ingredients well. Set aside.
2. Use your hands to grab a handful of the cabbage and squeeze and discard the excess moisture out into the sink. You can also spoon all of the cabbage onto a cheesecloth and then squeeze all the water out. Place the dry cabbage back into the large bowl and add the pork mixture. Fold the cabbage into the pork mixture then mix and put a spoon of mix into a dumpling wrapper.

It should now look like this

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Now to the dumpling:

1. Fold the dumpling from the top and bottom so the all the edges meet.
   Note: make sure that there are no holes or the filling will leak and there are now air bubbles or the dumpling will break when boiled

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   2. When ready to cook, boil a large pot of water and then bring it down to a simmering level

       then gently place the dumplings in and cook for 6-8 minutes

 

Enjoy!!! ^^

 

 

 

Sources: http://www.steamykitchen.com/5849-chinese-boiled-pork-dumplings.html

1st image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2465/4047912381_0074d13d19_o.jpg

Last image: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8423/7614851010_94e7082e85_z.jpg

Minced Pork Rice

Minced pork rice is a Taiwanese style dish, which is very common to seen in Taiwan. Normally, it is rice covered in sauce with basic ingredients.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

•   1/2 lb ground pork

•   4-6 pieces of dried shitake mushroom

•   1/2 tbs cooking rice wine

•   3 tbs soy sauce

•   1 tbs rock sugar

•   1/4 tsp five spices powder

•   1 cup of water

•   1 tbs oil, pinch of salt and pepper

 

Instructions:

1. Soak the shitake mushroom in water.

2. Heat oil in wok on medium heat. Add pork and slowly stir fried

3. Add cooking rice wine and stir fired until alcohol is cooked off.

4. Stir in soy sauce, rock sugar, five-spice powder and the mushroom water.

5. Turn heat down to medium low and simmer until sauce thicken.

6. Serve hot on bowl of steam rice.