A guilt-free dinner

Pork tenderloin and chicken wings marinated with molasses

Cauliflower mash

1. Steamed cauliflower
2. Steamed bulb of garlic
3. Half a tbs of butter
4. Parmesan cheese
5. Seasoning

Whipped all in the food processor to reach awesomeness!


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oven baked pulled pork!

served with homemade coleslaw !

why?

LR and myself love the taste of pork! Also, the times we go to Blooies or Hard Rock Cafe, we would order the Pig Sandwhich, which essentially is pulled pork. I've always put off attempting to cook pulled pork because I don't have a slow cooker, but then one day I chanced open a recipe online that suggested that cooking whatever dish in an oven at a low temperature very similar or almost the same as cooking using a slow cooker! So I was pretty excited and of course it's time to experiment some pulled pork! I also made coleslaw even though am not a huge fan of this salad but it does go well with pulled pork. So i searched through my cookbooks and decided to improvise on Jamie's version :)

failure?

Too flavourful! I think I should have not been too generous with the BBQ sauce, it did steal the thunder of the natural taste of the pork.

success?

The pork was so tender even after only 3 hours in the oven when most recipes called for at least 6 hours and 8 to be perfected! The coleslaw was really refreshing with the addition of fruits and a splash of apple cider, unlike the usual ones I eat that are drowned in mayo. LR really loves the pulled pork but personally I would tweak the recipe more, therefore will just include the recipe for the coleslaw only.

Coleslaw (serves 8)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 red cabbage

2 red apples

1 china pear

3 carrots

2 tbs of apple cider

5 tbs of mayo

METHOD:

1. Thinly slice the cabbage, carrots, apples and pear
2. Mix the apple cider and mayo
3. Incorporate the above sauce with the sliced vegetables and fruits
4. Refridgerate till ready to serve

Vietnamese pork chop rice

why?

LR just simply cannot live without pork and Vietnamese cuisine. It's the sweet and savoury combination that he adores. Whenever we visit Le Viet, we would both order the Grilled meat with vermicelli and douse the dish in the fish sauce without fail, unless on a really cold and rainy day (very unlikely in Singapore), I might go for the Beef Pho! So anyway, I wanted to do the 'exact' dish that we always order, but LR who is so particular about textures in food, insist that the usual beehoon is not the same as Vietnamese vermicelli *sigh* So to get around this, I will focus on the Grilled Meat and serve with rice!

success?

Yummmmyyyyy!!! LR gave his stamp of approval and even LR's mom who eats really little, finished up the 4 pieces given to her.

Here's the recipe:

Vietnamese Pork Chop (serves 3)

INGREDIENTS

400g of pork loin sliced 1/2 an inch thick

3 tomatoes, sliced

1 Japanese cucumber, sliced

(A)

3 stalks of lemongrass, use the bottom half and save the top part of the stalk

5 cloves of garlic

5 small shallots

(B)

2 tbs of brown sugar

1 tbs of fish sauce

1 tbs of light soya sauce

A dash of pepper

2 tbs sesame seeds

(C)

1 carrot, very thinly shredded

3 tbs of lemon juice

3 tbs of water

1 tbs of white vinegar

White sugar to taste

METHOD

1. Use the back of a cleaver, hammer gently the pork slices to tenderise them
2. Pound (A) together in a a mortar and pestle
3. Mix (B)
4. Marinate the pork slices thoroughly with (A) and (B)
5. Leave in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
6. Cook rice with the top half of the lemongrass stalk for fragrant rice
7. Prepare the sauce with (C) and refrigerate.
8. Fry/ Grill the pork till slightly charred on each side
9. Serve with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, rice and sauce at the side

failure?

My sauce still needs tweeking... maybe it's the fish sauce, I've been using the Thai fish sauce instead of the Vietnamese one. Don't know!

all things colourful and Brit...

pork & apples (after)

pork & apples (before)

mint peas

cold shabu shabu

hakka pig trotters

why?

My grandma cooked it every year for Chinese New Year, and then my mom took over the reigns to produce this so yummy dish and now that my mom is with the Lord, I have either the option of missing and hoping or I attempt to re-produce the dish!

success?

YUMMY!!!!!!! Of course as the saying goes, nothing beats mom's cooking, but I think my mom would be proud of me! The taste of sourness with sweet pork flavour is like the combination of bak kwa with kecap manis and drinking a cup of lemon juice! Haha... I tried to explain the taste but truly, if you are a huge fan of the confinement pig trotters dish, you would love this!

Ingredients

2 kg of pig trotters chopped into pieces (get the butcher to do this)

1 kg of white radish, peeled and chopped into big pieces (see the picture)

5 hard boiled eggs, deshelled

20 dried chillies, soaked for 1hr and drained

10 cloves of garlic, minced

3tbs of chinese cooking wine

5 tbs of light soya sauce

5 tbs of dark soya sauce

200g gula melaka

1 big bottle of white rice vinegar (add depending on ur preference of sourness)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Blanch the pig trotters in boiling water for 5 min

2. Dish up and rinse well

3. Heat up 1 tbs of cooking oil

4. Saute the garlic and dried chillies till fragrant

5. Add the pig trotters and fry till slightly brown

6. Add the light and dark soya sauce and wine and fry

7. Add in 2litres of water and bring to a boil

8. Add the gula melaka to dissolve

9. Pour in 300ml of white vinegar and add seasoning

10. Add in the radish and stir

11. Simmer for 1 hour

12. Put in the hard boil eggs and let the dish cool completely over the stove

13. Refrigerate for at least 2 days but make sure that all the radish, trotters and eggs are submerged in the sauce

14. When ready to eat, bring to boil and add more seasoning or vinegar till desired taste. I actually use up an entire bottle!

failure?

Mommy, you are not here to give me your comments :)

Rolled plum pork

babi ponteh

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