What is Kong Bak? I suppose you can generally call it Pork Belly Slices in Dark Sauce. What sets it apart is that it is wedged between a bun called Ho Hup Pau (Pau meaning Bun) and eaten just like a kebab. Simcooks has been pestering (reminding, ahem!) me for this recipe. She has a good looking pork belly recipe but my family method of cooking is different. There are actually 3 steps to cooking this dish.

 

 

The first step involves “blanching” the pork belly in boiling water for approximately 30 seconds. This will make the meat slightly cooked on the outer side and makes it firm. Otherwise, it is rather wobbly. I think it also removes a bit of unpleasant “porky” smell or taste.

 

The next step is to prick the pork belly skin with the pointed end of a knife. A fork won’t do unless you’ve got a really sharp fork. Prick it just like how you would prick the skin of a potato. After pricking the skin, fry the whole piece of pork belly for about 20 seconds on each side (skin side and meat side). Then slice the pork belly before marinating it and followed by steaming.

 

 

It all sounds like an awful lot of work to do but trust me, it is actually VERY SIMPLE. And you will absolutely love it to bits as long as you don’t mind the smooth as silk fat and meat melting in your mouth as your chomp on the sweet-tasting bun. I am not kidding, the fat can actually melt in the mouth! We had this for Chinese New Year’s Eve and breakfast the next day. Superlicious! Oh by the way, you can get the buns from the cold storage section of bigger supermarkets.

This is my family recipe for Kong Bak with Ho Hup Pau

Ingredients

• 1 kg of pork belly (approximately 1 feet long x 3 inches wide) - cut into 2 pieces for ease of blanching and frying
• 20 pieces of chinese dried mushrooms (pre-soaked till soft, remove stalk)
• Water for blanching
• Oil for frying (semi-deep frying)

Marinade

• 5 tablespoons dark soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
• 2 teaspoons white pepper powder
• 2 teaspoons five spice powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chinese cooking wine
• 3 to 5 cinnamon sticks
• 5 to 8 pieces of star anise
• 2 whole bulbs of garlic

Method

Bring water to boil in wok or pot and blanch the pork belly for approximately 30 seconds. You will notice that the meat is slightly cooked and the skin is slightly toughened. Remove from water and drain. Prick the skin with the sharp end of a knife or sharp fork.

 

Next, heat up oil in wok and fry the pork belly 20 seconds on each side (skin side and meat side). Remove and place on a rack for to cool and to let excess oil drip. You will notice that the meat and skin is now slightly browned and the whole piece of pork belly is slightly firm.

 

Cut the pork belly into 1 to 1.5cm-width slices. Place the pork belly slices together with mushrooms in a suitable container and marinade them with the marinate above for at least 2 hours or longer.

 

After marinating, arrange the pork belly slices on a tray (suitable for steaming) and pour all the marinade over it. Steam it for at least 1 1/2 hours.

 

To serve, steam to heat up the buns. Prise open the bun just like a kebab bun and place a slice of the kong bak (belly slices) and mushroom into the bun. Savour the most delicious pork belly slice you’ll ever find! I’m drooling just writing about this!

Technorati Tags: pork, bun, recipe, chinese, belly

 

I am quite fond of celeries. This vegetable is highly fibrous and good for health. When made into celery juice, it does reduce the bad cholesterol of some patients. But I don’t really like celery juice because it tastes rather funny. Saltish, I would say. Most of the time, I would just stir fry the celery with carrots, mushrooms and prawns.

 

I really did not intend to cook the straw mushrooms on this occasion. That morning, i bought a can of straw mushrooms only to drop it whilst driving and thus causing a dent on the can. Since the can is dented, I cannot be keeping the can of straw mushrooms longer for fear of possible leaching of iron (I am still struggling to understand this bit). Anyway, the dish turned out well and we truly had an enjoyable meal. The crunchiness of the celery and carrots were balanced by the smoothness of the mushrooms. The prawns lended its sweetness to the dish. Voila!

 

This is my recipe for Stir Fried Celery with Prawns and Straw Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 stalk celery (cut to 4 cm lengths)
• 1 medium sized carrot (sliced)
• Half can of straw mushrooms (about 10 pieces - you can use more, it doesn’t really matter)
• 8 pieces of medium sized prawns (deveined, leaving shell intact)
• 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
• Corn starch (mix 1 tablespoon corn flour with 100 ml water)
• 50 ml warm water
  
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil (palm oil)

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon of fish sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of MSG (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of chinese cooking wine

Method

 

Heat oil in wok and saute garlic till beginning to brown. Add prawns and stir for 15 seconds. Remove prawns and set aside.

 

Add celery, carrots and straw mushrooms into the wok and continue stir frying for 1 minute. Add seasoning and water and bring to boil. Return prawns into the rest of the ingredients.

 

Cook for another 2 minutes and add corn starch to thicken gravy (if necessary).

 

Serve hot with white rice.

 

Technorati Tags: Recipe, Food, Malaysia, Chinese, Celery, Prawns

 

This is a dish cooked in a slow cooker without adding water. I mustered courage to cook this dish after Babe_KL did her version. The first version I read about was from Food Haven. The marinade used by both of them are different from mine as I was keen on experimenting with something new.

 

Cooking pork ribs in a slow cooker appears easier than it sounds. There is no fear of the slow cooker (also known as Crockpot) cracking even though no water is added to the cooker prior to or during cooking. The meat and vegetables will provide the necessary juices to make the dish moist. Since no water is added, you can bet that the gravy will turn out really flavourful! And the meat is so tender that it just slips off the bone. Yummy!

 

This is my recipe for Pork Ribs in Plum Sauce

Ingredients

• 300 to 400 grammes of pork ribs (cut to desired size)
• 1 to 2 large onions (quartered)
• 1 large carrot (cut into chunks)

Marinade

• 4 teaspoons of plum sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 1 heaped teaspoon of corn flour

Method

 

Marinate the pork ribs for at least 1 hour. The longer the better.

 

Lay onions and carrots on bottom of slow cooker. Then, lay pork ribs on top of the onions and carrots. Turn on slow cooker to high for 3 hours. If you have left over marinade, baste the ribs halfway through cooking.

 

Technorati Tags: Recipe, Food, Malaysia, Chinese, Pork

 

Chilli Garlic Tofu Snack is just a name I use to describe this dish because I am unaware whether there is an original name to this dish. Just like the Ikan Bilis Snack, this is another one of those easy to cook yet delicious food. And extremely affordable too.

 

The garlic gives this dish an aromatic flavour whilst the use of chilli and white pepper powder gives this dish a slight spiciness to it. If you intend to serve this dish to kids, just omit the use of chillis and white pepper powder. It tastes just as great. Try it will ya?

 

This is my recipe for Chilli Garlic Tofu Snack

Ingredients

• 2 pieces of firm tofu (cut into small slices)
• 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 to 2 pieces red chilli (remove seeds and chopped finely)
• 4 tablespoons cooking oil (palm oil)

Seasoning

• At least one heaped teaspoon of sugar (or to taste)
• At least one teaspoon of dark soya sauce (or to taste)
• A pinch of salt
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder

Method

 

Heat oil and fry tofu till golden brown and crisp using high heat. Remove fried tofu and discard oil.

 

The wok should still be coated with oil at this moment. Add garlic and chilli and saute till aromatic. Return fried tofu to the wok, add seasoning and stir well to coat evenly prior to serving.

 

Technorati Tags: Recipe, Food, Tofu, Chilli, Beancurd, Snacks, Malaysia