Stir Fry Pork Belly Slices

葱炒三层肉薄片

Ingredients:

250g Iberico pork belly slices 

1 knob of ginger (sliced thinly)

Spring onions (cut into short strips)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. Heat the wok with 1 teaspoon of oil.

2. Fry the ginger slices over low heat until the edges have browned, about 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Push the ginger slices aside and add all the pork belly slices into the wok. Cook the belly slices undisturbed over medium heat until some of the pork fat oozes out. Flip the half cooked pork belly, add black pepper and salt, then mix in the fried ginger slices.

4. Stir fry until the pork belly slices are just cooked, turn off the heat, add the spring onions and mix in. Transfer to serving dish and enjoy hot with rice.

Bak Kut Teh

 肉骨茶

This dish, literally translated as "pork bone tea", is a soup with tender pork ribs cooked with Chinese herbs and spices. You can easily buy bak gut teh spice packets from supermarkets and wet markets in Singapore but most, if not all, contain MSG (monosodium glutamate) to enhance the flavour. We therefore prefer to prepare our own spice bag which is really very simple but just as delicious. Recipe below is adapted from guaishushu's Teochew Bak Kut Teh, where the soup is clear (instead of dark coloured) and contains less Chinese herbs/spices.

Ingredients (serves 3 pax)

700g prime pork ribs

3 garlic bulbs

1 - 2 licorice root

1/4 tsp black peppercorns

1/4 tsp szechuan peppercorns

1/2 tsp white peppercorns

1/8 tsp five spice powder

1.5 litre water

6 pieces of tofu puff (tau pok) - optional. Tofu puffs are actually deep fried in oil, use kitchen towels to press against each piece of tofu puff to soak up excess oil before using. 

Vegetables (Tang Orh / garland chrysanthemum, lettuce goes very well with bak kut teh) - optional

Method:

1. Blanch the pork ribs in hot water and set aside.

2. Heat up wok/pan and stir fry (without oil) peppercorns until fragrant. This takes about 5 mins. Transfer the peppercorns to a tea bag and crack the peppercorns to release flavour. Add five spice powder into the teabag.

3. Put pork, teabag, garlic, licorice root and water into a big pot. Add in tofu puffs if using. Bring to a boil and simmer until pork is tender, about 1 to 1.5 hours. Add vegetables (if using) to the soup.

Before

After 

4. Season with salt to taste and serve hot with rice.

Stonepressed Chicken Drumsticks

Mortar (and pestle) is used to grind or crush ingredients into powder or paste. But do you know the mortar can be used as a cooking tool too? I use it to flatten the chicken drumsticks during cooking to get crispy pan fried chicken drumsticks. If you don't have mortar and pestle, any heavy, flat-bottomed object (e.g. a brick) would also work.

Ingredients:

3 chicken drumsticks (deboned)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp white pepper or freshly ground black pepper

Lemon sauce (optional):

15g unsalted butter

50ml lemon juice (around 1 lemon)

20g sugar

1/4 tsp salt

80ml water

1 tsp cornstarch

1 tbsp water

Method:

1. Clean and wash the drumsticks. Pluck chicken feather if any. Dab dry. Debone.

2. Heat up the cast iron pan/skillet until smoking.

3. Meanwhile, sprinkle salt and white/black pepper on the meat side of the chicken and rub the salt and pepper in. 

4. Put the chicken, skin side down, into the cast iron pan. Lay a piece of aluminum over the drumsticks, followed by the mortar. Pan fry the drumsticks undisturbed over low heat for 5 minutes. Note that the length of cooking depends on the size of drumstick and the stove heat.

5. After 5 minutes, remove the mortar and aluminium foil. Use the wok spatula to lift the drumstick to check whether it has crisped up. If not, cover with aluminium foil and mortar,and continue to pan fry for a few more minutes.

6. Once the chicken skin has crisped up, remove the mortar and aluminium foil and flip the drumstick, meat side down. Pan fry for 5 minutes.

7. Transfer the cooked drumstick to the chopping board and cut into thin slices.

Serve hot!