Stewed Pork Belly in Dark Soya Sauce (before slicing)

This recipe is VERY EASY and DELICIOUS. You have no reasons why you should not try it (unless you do not eat pork), even if you are a beginner. The ingredients are simple and can be obtained almost everywhere. In fact, I used to cook this dish during my university days in England and it was really nice to have it with steaming hot rice on a cold winter’s night!

This is my recipe for Stewed Pork Belly in Dark Soya Sauce

Ingredients

• 300 grammes pork belly (whole)
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 whole bulbs garlic (separate into individual cloves)
• Approximately 15 - 20 white peppercorns
• Warm water
• 1 piece star-anise (optional)

Seasoning

• 3 to 4 tablespoons dark soya sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Method

Add sugar into a wok / saucepan which has been heated up. Let the sugar caramelise (turn liquid and brown).

Once sugar fully caramelised, add pork belly and let it “sear” for 1 minute on each side. Add water to cover the pork belly by 1 to 2 cm. Add the rest of the ingredients and seasoning. Once water begins to boil, reduce to medium low heat, cover lid and let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

To serve, separate gravy from the rest of the ingredients. Slice the pork belly to desired thinness.

Mui Choy, which is preserved mustard cabbage, comes in two variants - salty type as well as the sweet type. It is normally sold in sundry shops and wet market grocers (unsealed) or in sealed bags in supermarkets. In Malaysia, it is usually sold in wet market grocers. Whichever type you use, make sure you wash and soak them (especially the salty type).

This dish is great eaten with mantou (a type of bun) or with plain white rice. In fact, it even tastes better overnight as the meat would have soaked all the exquisite sweet-salty taste from the cabbage.

This is my recipe for Mui Choy Bak (Mui Choy with Pork Belly)

Ingredients

• 1/3 piece salty mui choy (washed thoroughly, soaked for 30 minutes and chop to small pieces)
• 2/3 pieces sweet mui choy (washed thoroughly, soaked for 15 minutes and chop to small pieces)
• 500 grammes pork belly without skin (also known as three-layered pork, cut to small cubes)
• 2 whole garlic (smash it a bit with the side of a cleaver / chopper)
• 1/2 tablespoon cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
• Warm water

Seasoning

• 2 to 3 tablespoons of dark soya sauce (or more if you prefer)
• Sugar and salt to taste (if necessary)

Method

Heat oil in pot and stir-fry pork belly till beginning to brown. Add mui choy and garlic and continue stir frying for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add water to cover all the ingredients by at least 1 cm and seasoning.

Simmer for at least 1 hour or more till meat is flavourful and slightly soft, checking that the dish does not dry out occasionally. You can also add dried chillis at the stir-frying stage if you want a little spiciness to this dish.

For picture of mui choy and a quite similar method of cooking, click here.

Mee Hoon Kueh (Flour Cake Soup)

Contrary to the word Mee Hoon being rice vermicelli, the Mee Hoon here is actually a Hokkien word which means flour. This is a soupy dish made using flour dough which has been flatten pancaked-style to small pieces. Some may even identify it as Pan Mee, but this is a home-cooked version and the flour cake is torn into pieces rather than machine-rolled to noodle form.

It is actually quite a healthy dish combining carbohydrates (flour), protein (pork) and fat (little oil is used), fibre (vegetables) and calcium (ikan bilis / dried anchovies). The most important part of this dish is the ikan bilis stock as it gives much flavour to the overall dish. I like to have this for lunch.

This is my recipe for Mee Hoon Kueh (Flour Cake Soup)

Ingredients

• 200 grammes of flour (add some water and knead into a dough, allow dough to stand for 30 minutes and then separate them into balls about half the size of an egg)
• 3/4 bowls of ikan bilis (boil in 5 soup bowls of water for 30 minutes to make ikan bilis stock. Discard ikan bilis thereafter)
• 1/2 bowls of ikan bilis (rinsed)
• 50 to 100 grammes of sliced pork tenderloin (marinate with 2 teaspoons light soya sauce)
• 200 grammes or more of chinese mustard leaves (choy sum / sawi) (washed and cut to bite sizes)
• 5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked in 1 bowl of water till soft and cut into strips discarding the stalk / stem. Retain water for cooking)
• 5 cloves of shallots (sliced thinly)
• Oil for frying (preferably palm oil)
• 2 pinches of chinese salted vegetable (tung choy)

Seasoning

• Light soya sauce
• Salt to taste

Method

Fry the 1/2 bowls of rinsed ikan bilis in sufficient oil till crispy. Remove and set aside. Discard oil.

Heat up wok and fry the shallots in about 3 tablespoons of oil till golden brown. Remove fried shallots and set aside. With remaining oil, saute pre-soaked mushrooms for 1 minute (add 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce whilst you saute the mushrooms). Add sliced pork tenderloins and stir-fry till almost cooked.

Add ikan bilis stock and water (used to soak mushrooms) and bring to boil. Meanwhile, using a rolling pin or bare hands, flatten the balls of dough invidually to make flour cake.

When soup is boiling (and keep it boiling throughout), tear flour cake to bite sizes (say approximately 5cm x 3cm) and throw them into the soup. Stir occasionally. Once you’ve finished with the flour cakes and with soup boiling, chuck in the chinese mustard leaves and stir for about 30 seconds whilst adding seasoning and salted chinese vegetables to taste.

Dish up in bowls (you’ll get about 4 bowls here) and sprinkle fried shallots and fried ikan bilis over the soup prior to serving.

Got left over rice in the fridge? Got luncheon meat in the kitchen cabinet? Why not fry them together for a delicious plate of Luncheon Meat Fried Rice? Throw in some carrots for added taste and colour and a couple of slices of cucumber as garnish and you will have a beautiful plate of fried rice to dig in.

This is my recipe for Luncheon Meat Fried Rice.

Ingredients

• 3 bowls of cooked rice (preferably overnight cooked rice) [bowl denoting rice bowl]
• 1/2 to 1 tin of luncheon meat (diced)
• 1/2 bowl of carrots (diced)
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 5 shallots (sliced thinly)
• 1 stalk spring onions (chopped)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Seasoning

• 3 teaspoons of salt or to taste
• White pepper powder to taste
• teaspoon light soya sauce
• 1 pinch of msg (optional)

Method

Heat oil in wok and fry shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots and set aside.

With remaining oil in wok and at high heat, fry luncheon meat till beginning to brown. Set aside.

Stir-fry onion till aromatic, add carrots and stir fry for 1 minute. Add salt and pepper. Mix well.

Add rice and fried luncheon meat and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Make a “well” in the wok by pushing the rice mixture aside. Break eggs into the “well” and fry it till semi-cooked. Cover with rice mixture and continue frying whilst adding light soya sauce. If wish to, add a pinch of msg. Fry for another minute and add chopped spring onions.

Dish up and sprinkle fried shallots over the fried rice before serving.