Ko Lo Yuk

咕嚕肉

This is a classic Cantonese dish that goes by many translated names: Go Lo Yok, Koo Lou Yoke, Ko Lo Yok, Koo Lo Yok, Ko Loh Yok, Ku Lou Yuk ...and of course, Sweet and Sour Pork. 

The recipe I am sharing here is my late mother-in-law's. 

Ingredients (serves 4-5 pax)

1kg pork belly slab

Marinade: 3/4 teaspoon (3g) salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder, dashes of white pepper, 1 egg yolk

Sauce: 

1 capsicum/bell pepper (sliced into wedges)

1 cucumber (cut into small pieces)

1 large onion (sliced into wedges)

1 or 2 fresh tomatoes (boil in a pot of water, drain, peel off the skin, cut the tomatoes into cubes)

1 slice of pineapple (cut into small pieces) or jackfruit

2 tablespoon rice vinegar (or 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice)

2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

6 tablespoon ketchup (or tomato sauce)

1 tablespoon chilli sauce

1 tablespoon water

Method

1. Remove skin from pork belly slab, cut pork belly slab into 3cm strips and then cut each strip into bite sized pieces. Add in marinade and set aside for at least 1-2hours.

2. Heat wok with enough oil for deep frying. Use a chopstick to test the oil temperature. When there are bubbles around the chopstick, it is ready.

3. Lightly coat each piece of pork with corn flour and shake off excess flour. Gently place them into the hot oil. Deep fry the pork pieces straightaway in batches on high heat until golden in colour. Place the pork pieces on a wire rack. After each batch of frying, scoop up the crumbs of flour from the oil using a fine-mesh sieve.

4. Next, prepare sauce. Heat a small pot with some oil. Put in large onion and stir fry until edges are brown. Add in capsicum and stir fry for 1 minute. Add fresh tomatoes, followed by the sauce mixture and water. Mix thoroughly and bring to boil. Stir in cucumber and pineapple.

5. Serve the pork pieces and sauces in separately dishes so as to retain the crispiness of the pork pieces.  

Spaghetti Bolognese

 意大利面

This recipe serves 4

Ingredients

300g spaghetti noodles

350g minced beef (you can mix in minced pork. Recommended quantity is 25% of total minced beef, e.g. for 200g minced beef, add in 50g minced pork)

1 bottle of tomato sauce (Barilla brand)

3 medium size tomatoes (I like to use fresh tomatoes to make the sauce more flavorful - skip step 2 if you are using only bottled tomato sauce.)

1 medium size large onion

1 tablespoon mixed herbs (oregano, basil, thyme)

1 tablespoon butter (to make the sauce creamy)

10g tomato paste

50g red wine 

Method

Cooking the sauce

1. Dice the onion for frying with beef later.

2. Core each tomato (i.e. remove the spot where the stem used to attach to the tomato) and cut a cross on the bottom of each tomato. Boil the tomatoes in a small pot of water for a few minutes until the skin peels away from the tomatoes. Drain the tomatoes and set aside to cool. Once cooled, slice the tomatoes into half and remove the seeds. Then, cut the tomatoes into small pieces and set aside. 

3. Heat 1 - 2 tablespoon of cooking oil in the wok. Add the diced onions and saute under low heat. Stir fry the beef, breaking them up as you cook. Transfer the beef to a plate and set aside.

4. In the same wok used for cooking the beef, add in the tomatoes and stir fry for 1 minute. Then pour in the whole bottle of tomato sauce and red wine. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of mixed herbs and stir to mix. Add the beef to the tomato sauce, mix in and simmer for 15 minutes. Finally (optional step), add 1 tablespoon of butter to the sauce and give it a good mix. The spaghetti sauce is ready!

Cooking the pasta

5. Bring a pot/wok of water to boil. Add some salt in it and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta. Note: If you are not serving right away, drizzle some olive oil over the pasta so that the pasta will not clump together. 

6.  Scoop the spaghetti sauce over the pasta and serve. Enjoy!

Fish Tempura

 炸鱼片

Ingredients

600g fish (I use grouper, can use big prawns -deshelled)

100g plain flour

12g corn flour

12g wheat starch

160g ice cold water

12g cooking oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

3g baking powder

Method

1. Sieve plain flour, corn flour, wheat starch and baking powder. Mix in salt. 

2. Slowly pour in water and stir in one direction with a pair of chopsticks. The batter should be thick. Chill the batter in fridge until ready to fry the fish.

3. Slice fish and rinse with salt solution (1 teaspoon salt with 200ml water). Drain the fish slices and dry.

4. Heat up wok with sufficient oil. Take out the batter from fridge and gently stir in cooking oil. When the oil in wok is heated to 180 degree celcius, dredge the fish slices through the batter, let the excess batter drip off for a few seconds and lower it into the oil. Repeat this for a few more fish slices. Fry until light golden brown in colour.

5. Serve hot! 

Pumpkin Soup

南瓜浓汤

This is a healthy and nutritious soup which I made for my children after they had their wisdom teeth removed. Pumpkin is naturally sweet, and is a good source of iron, vitamins A, B and C.

Ingredients:

300g pumpkin (within skin)

40g large onion

250ml water

150ml milk

100ml heavy cream (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (optional - for creamier soup)

Dashes of freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Cut pumpkin into thin strips (cooks faster)

Chop onion into small pieces.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the wok  and saute onions over medium heat until fragrant and edges are browned. 

Add pumpkin and stir fry until pumpkin is soft.

Add water and bring to a boil.

Lower heat, cover the wok and simmer for 15minutes or until pumpkin is mushy. Let it cool down a bit.

Use hand/stick blender to blend the pumpkin to a smooth paste.

Add milk (don't add all at once, adjust according to your preferred soup consistency) and salt, and stir over low heat to mix in. Add butter (if using) and stir until butter has melted.

Turn off the heat, stir in heavy cream.

Ladle the pumpkin soup into bowls, garnish with chopped parsley and serve. Crispy bacon bits and croutons can be added as toppings too.

Steamed Yam Paste (Orh Ni)

 芋泥

I use pork lard for my orh ni to make this dessert more fragrant. Try it! You will love it.

Ingredients

1 yam (1 kg yam can yield around 10 small servings of orh ni)

rock sugar (16% of weight of yam) - crushed to very small pieces

water (16% of weight of yam)

6 to 8 tablespoons pork lard 

200ml coconut milk (packet or freshly squeezed)

200g Pumpkin - optional topping

100g Gingko nuts (de-shelled, de-skined and centre pit removed) - optional topping

Method:

1. Peel the pumpkin and cut into small wedges. Add 30g rock sugar to the pumpkin. Mix them up and set aside for at least half hour. Steam them for 30 minutes or until soft. You can keep the pumpkin as-is or mash them up during serving. Keep the liquid that oozed out from the sugared-pumpkin (for step 4).

2. Prepare the gingko nuts by boiling them with water (around just enough to cover the nuts) and 30g rock sugar until the nuts are soft. Alternatively, coat the gingko nuts with rock sugar one day before, and pouring hot water into the nuts the next day. 

3. Prepare the coconut milk by heating it up (do not boil) with a pinch of salt. Then chill in fridge.

4. Peel the yam and take the weight so as to calculate the quantity required for rock sugar and water. Cut the yam into small pieces and steam for 30 minutes or until soft and mashable. Mash the steamed yam when it is still hot by pressing them through a sieve. Heat wok with pork lard on medium-low heat. Add the mashed yam, remaining rock sugar, and water (including the pumpkin liquid from step 1, if using). Stir using wooden spatula until you get a smooth yam paste. 

5. To serve, scoop the yam paste into a small bowl, add pumpkin (if using) and gingko nuts. Then drizzle coconut milk over. Enjoy!

Roasted Bone Marrow

 烤牛骨髓

Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue found inside a bone. It is loaded with good saturated fats, minerals and proteins like collagen. Once cooked, the bone marrow can be eaten straight out of the bone, spread on bread like butter (it is also known as "butter of the gods"). 

Recipe credit: Sous Vide Everything

Ingredients

3-4 beef bone marrows

Herb mix (grated/miced garlic, herbs e.g. rosemary, parsley, olive oil) - 1 garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/4 tsp herbs for two bone marrows.

Baguette

Method

1. Remove excess meat and fat, if any, from the bones. This step is optional.

2. Place the bones in salted water overnight in the fridge. This step bleaches and removes the blood and impurities from the marrow. 

2. On day 2, drain the bone marrows and dab dry with kitchen towel. Place them on a pan (lined with parchment paper). Drizzle herb mix over the bones and roast in oven @ 180 deg celcius. It is done when garlic is golden brown, and the marrow is slightly pulled away from the bones. Remove from oven,  sprinkle with a bit of sea salt flakes and let it cool down.

3. Meanwhile, slice and toast a few pieces of baguette until nice and crispy. Scoop out the marrow and spread it on toasted baguette. Enjoy!

Duck Confit

 

Who doesn't love crispy duck skin with succulent duck meat? This is my go-to dish to impress my family and guests at home. 

Ingredients:

3 duck drumsticks

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

a few springs of fresh rosemary / thyme (or two teaspoons of dried herbs)

3 cloves of garlic (1 per duck), cut into halves, skinned on

a few slices of ginger

Method:

1. Clean the duck drumsticks and pluck duck hairs (if any). Dab dry.

2. Use the sharp end of knife to poke the skin of the duck drumsticks, including the fats on the meat side of the drumsticks. This is to help to release the duck fat during roasting. Avoid poking the meat beneath the skin. 

3. Place the drumsticks in a single layer (no overlapping) in baking/roasting dish. Rub the duck drumsticks with salt, black pepper and herbs (optional at this stage) , cover the dish in clingwrap and chill in fridge for at least one hour.

4. Gently rinse away the salt, black pepper and herbs (if using) from the drumsticks. Dab dry and place the drumsticks, skin side facing down, back into the baking/roasting dish. Place the garlic and ginger around and between the drumsticks. Sprinkle herbs on the drumsticks. Add some duck fat (if available) into the dish. Alternatively, add 100ml water into the dish to prevent the skin from sticking to the dish during baking.

5. Place baking paper over the drumsticks to trap the heat in the drumsticks. Then cover the baking/roasting dish with aluminum foil. Roast at 120 degree celcius for 4 hours. At the 2 hour mark, remove the dish from oven and flip the drumsticks around so that the meat side is facing down. Return the dish to oven and continue to roast for 2 more hours until the duck drumsticks are tender.

6. After 4 hours, remove the drumsticks from the dish and let it cool down until the drumsticks are sturdy.

7. Heat up a cast iron pan and some duck fat (from the baking/roasting dish) into the pan. Pan fry the drumsticks with the skin side down, over medium to low heat for 5 minutes. Gently press the drumstick flat so that more skin will be in contact with the hot pan, and therefore you will have more crispy duck skin! You can remove the thigh bone too in this step, for easier pan frying. Pan fry each side of the drumstick for 5 minutes or until the skin is crisp.

8. Serve hot with a plate of salad, or mashed potatoes.

9. You can reserve the duck fat for your next duck confit. Just strain the oil in the baking/roasting dish through a filter/strainer. If you had added water into your baking/roasting dish, follow this simple trick to separate the duck fat from water. Then store the bottle of duck fat in the fridge.

Steamed minced pork with salted egg

 咸蛋蒸肉饼

This dish is very easy to prepare and goes very well with plain rice.

Ingredients:

300g minced pork

2 eggs

1 salted egg

Warm water (volume = weight of eggs)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon cooking wine

Dashes of white pepper

3 water chestnuts (optional) - I replaced with Ngaku arrowhead tubers (慈菇) which are readily available in markets as it is Chinese New Year.

Method:

1. Add all ingredients except water chestnuts (if using) and lightly beat with a pair of chopsticks or fork until thoroughly mixed.

2. Add in water chestnuts, if using and beat the mixture again.

Transfer the mixture to a shallow dish/plate.

3. Bring water in wok or steamer to boil. Place the pork in the wok/steamer and steam for 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Garnish with spring onions and serve.

Cantonese Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken (Lo Mai Kai)

糯米鸡

My late mother-in-law used to prepare this dish for our breakfast. 

Ingredients (makes 8 bowls):

4 cups (580g) glutinous rice

500g chicken meat (from thigh, breast, drumstick)

2 pieces of dried shiitake mushrooms

3 pieces of dried scallops (optional)

3 cloves garlic

Marinade for rice:

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Marinade for chicken (can include pork belly):

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon sesame oil

dashes of white pepper

2 teaspoon corn flour

Method:

1. Soak glutinous rice for 4 hours. Drain thereafter and marinate rice. Discard the soaking liquid.

2. Soak mushroom for 1 hour to re-hydrate, squeeze out water from the mushrooms and cut into small pieces. Retain the soaking liquid. Soak the scallops too if using, and similarly retain the soaking liquid for use later. 

3. Marinade chicken for 1 hour.

4. Mince garlic and fry until fragrant. Add the rice and stir fry for 1 minute under low heat. Set aside.

5. Top up the water for soaking mushrooms (and scallops) with more water to make up 250ml. 

6. Place chicken, mushroom and scallop (if using) into the bottom of individual bowl. Fill up the bowl (to 3/4 full) with glutinous rice and use the back of the spoon to gently press down the rice. Add 2 tablespoons of water (from step 5) into each bowl until water almost cover the top of the rice.

7. Steam the glutinous rice bowls under medium-high heat for 1 hour. Check water in the steamer and top up water accordingly.

8. Invert the bowls to turn over the rice onto a plate. Best serve hot!

Chicken Pot Pie

 

Crispy, flaky crust chicken pot pie is our family's comfort food.

Ingredients:

Chicken Filling

500g chicken meat (thighs or fillet) cut into bite size

2 medium size potatoes (320g)

1 carrot (140g)

half large onion

2 cloves garlic

240ml chicken stock

120ml milk

Short Crust Pastry (for 9" pie)

270g plain flour 

150 cold butter (55%)

1 egg yolk (18g)

50ml cold water

1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

A. Chicken Filling

1. Marinade chicken with 3/4 teaspoon salt and dashes of black pepper for 1 hour. 

2. Cut the potatoes and carrot into small cubes, boil in salted water until they are tender. Drain and set aside. Save the water for step 3 below if you are not using chicken stock.

3. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add chicken, potatoes and carrot, and mix in. Add 2 teaspoon herbs (thyme, oregano, parsley, basil), 1 teaspoon paprika, and dashes of black pepper. Stir fry until combined. Add 2 tablespoons plain flour and stir to mix in evenly. Add chicken stock (or water from boiling potatoes and carrot), milk and 20g butter, and mix in. Simmer for 5 minutes, and it is done!

B. Short Crust Pastry

1. Sieve flour into mixing bowl and add salt. Mix them up.

2. Add butter and use fingertips to rub into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can also use a dough cutter to cut the butter into the flour.

3. Combine egg yolk with cold water and pour into the flour mixture one tablespoon at a time, using a fork to combine gently. Stop adding water when the mixture forms clusters. Use your hands to gather the mixture gently to form a ball. Divide the ball into 2/3 (for pie crust) and 1/3 (for pie lid) and wrap them up individually with plastic wrap. Once wrapped, gently pressed the dough to make a disc (2cm thick), and chill in the fridge for at least one hour. Dough weight: 486g.

4. Place a silicon mat on work surface, and lightly flour the mat. Remove the dough from fridge and place it on the mat. Place a piece of plastic on the dough and roll the dough to fit the pie/tart pan. Gently transfer the dough into the pie/tart pan (preferably with removable bottom). Press the dough into the pan and trim off the excess dough from the edge. Prick the base with a fork. Chill the dough in fridge for at least 15 minutes. 

5. Preheat oven to 170 deg celsius. Place pie weights into the dough. Bake the pie crust for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Roll out the remaining 1/3 dough to make pie lid. You can cut the dough into strips to create lattice pattern. Chill in fridge.

C. Assemble

1. Spoon filling into the pie. 

2. Remove the pie lid from the fridge and cover the pie. Use a fork to gently press the edge to make a good seal. Make some cuts on the surface of the lid to help release steam during baking. Brush the pie lid with egg wash.

3. Bake at 170 deg celsius for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

4. Transfer the pie to wire rack for a few minutes before serving.