Hainanese chicken chop rice

ok, purists can stop yelling at me about how it's supposed to be Hainanese PORK chop rice. I just happened to have chicken in the fridge, ok? just substitute the chicken for pork chops lah! A couple of weeks ago I have some great Hainanese Pork Chop rice at this restaurant in Georgetown. It cost me RM12, along with a three-hour journey from my home outside USM to Georgetown. So, I decided to make my own, which cost me half price, although it still takes an hour to prepare because there's so many stages to cook. But worth it.

Hainanese Chicken/Pork Chop Rice
1 chicken cutlet (I used store-bought... what?! they're convenient!)
1 potato, cut in rounds
1 onion, sliced
3 tbsp frozen peas
optional) 1 broccoli stem, cubed

1/4 cup water or unsalted stock
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp dark soy
5 tbsp ketchup
pepper to taste
(optional) hot sauce to taste

1. Steam peas and broccoli (if using). Set aside.
2. Shallow-fry potatoes, onions and chicken. Drain and set aside.
3. In a hot wok, mix in the rest of the ingredients together. Add chicken/pork and veggies, and simmer sauce to reduce by half. Serve immediately, with rice.

Breakdown:
Total Cost: RM6
Chicken chop: RM 3.50
Potato: RM0.70
Onion: RM 0.30
the rest were lying around in the pantry....

Bag and Tag - Pork

Ever since watching Alton Brown's episode on pouch cooking, I've been experimenting with a few pouch configurations myself - starting with the timeless combination of pork and asparagus. You could of course use aluminum foil instead of greaseproof paper, but I think some acids react with aluminum, so if you do take care not to use acids like lemon.





Pork and Asparagus Pouch

1 pork chop, deboned
5 asparagus spears
3 lemon slices
2 tbsp chopped spring onions
Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp stock (home made preferred, of course) or water
1 tbsp oil

Special Equipment:
Toaster or Microwave oven
Oven tray
Greaeproof paper - make sure it's oven and microwave safe!

1. Preheat toaster oven (if needed). Tear out a square of greaseproof paper twice as big as your oven tray. Fold in half.

2. On one half of the paper, lay out asparagus, topped with pork which has been seasoned with salt and pepper. Pour on liquid seasonings (soy sauce, oil and stock) over pork and asparagus before covering with lemon slices and spring onion.

3. Fold other half of paper to form a pouch (see image), fold the sides and staple shut - but not airtight. Or, if you don't have a stapler like me, just crimp the sides as best you can. It's won't be an airtight seal, but that's ok.

4. Bake in the toaster for 12 min, or in a microwave for 10 min. Remove from oven, let it sit for 5 minutes (and relish the wonderful smell), cut open the pouch and enjoy. Watch out for hot steam!


Cost Breakdown:
Total Cost: approx RM5++ - a little pricey, but well worth it!
Pork chop RM2
Asparagus RM2
Lemon RM0.50

Tags: Pork and Asparagus, Bag Baking

Toaster Oven Ribs

The secret to fall-off-the-bone ribs is a long, slow cooking process facilitated by an oven - which I don't have. What I do have is an oven toaster, which basically has two settings: on and off. But with an insatiable craving for pork ribs and a little kitchen hack knowledge, here's how you can make grilled pork ribs using a toaster oven...

Lest I get cried foul, I do have to add that this dish is finished off in the toaster. You'll need a steamer to cook the ribs first. And the meat won't fall off the bone, but it will be juicy and tender. The big pro to cooking this way is that your ribs will be done in half an hour, and not two.

Toaster Oven Ribs
Two pieces of whole pork spare ribs, or half a slab of baby back ribs (whichever is cheaper, duh)
One onion, sliced thin

Marinade
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp worcester sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
(You could of course use store bought bbq sauce, but where's the fun in that?)

1. Mix marinade ingredients and divide in two portions. Marinade ribs in fridge for at least an hour using one portion.

2. Steam ribs for 10 min. In the meantime, preheat toaster oven. Grease oven tray with butter and layer with onion slices.

3. Baste ribs with second portion of marinade. Finish off cooking in the toaster for 10 min. Makes one serve.

Cost breakdown
Total cost: RM4 (One serve)
Pork ribs RM3
Onions and Marinade RM1

Tags: Toaster oven, pork ribs

Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi is a pickled vegetable salad unique to and ubiquitous in Korea. The stuff is obviously salty, and generally spicy and usually served cold. A bottle of kimchi can be a little pricey, but it goes a long way because it can last a while in the fridge. It makes a great addition to the fridge as instant food, because it can be eaten with just about anything. Late night snack? Enliven your instant noodles with a side of kimchi! =D

I was walking through a food court yesterday when I saw a menu offering kimchi fried rice. Having some kimchi stored in my fridge, here's my version of the dish. You can use any meat you like, although I imagine the white meats go better with this dish than the red ones. And char siew (Chinese barbecued roast pork) might also not go well with the dish as the sweetness of the char siew will interfere with the kimchi.


Noel's Kimchi Fried Rice
(serves 2-3)

2 cups of cooked rice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tomato, chopped
1 spring onion, chopped
Cooked meat: for this dish I had sliced chicken breast and roast pork.
2 servings of kimchi - bear in mind that it should be 1/3 a regular serve of vegetables because of the salt.
1 tbsp of kimchi "juice" (the liquid that is left from the kimchi)

1. Fry egg on wok. Bunch on side of wok while adding rice to heat.
2. Mix cooked scrambled egg with heated rice, add spring onions and tomatoes, followed by meat.
3. Turn off heat. Add kimchi and kimchi juice last, stir in warm wok (without the fire on). Serve.

Tags: kimchi fried rice budget recipe

Noel's Spiced Embutido

An embutido is, strictly speaking, a sausage (complete in its intestine-encased glory) - but in the Philippines it's become more like a steamed meatloaf. I adapted this recipe from a Filipino cookbook lying around the house. It's a little more spicier, but on hindsight it could also have been a little more sweeter by adding sultanas in the mix.


Noel's Spiced Embutido


1 cup of croutons
500g minced pork
2 hard boiled eggs
Milk
Pepper
Chili powder



1. Run the croutons through a blender until fine (breadcrumb) consistency. Pour enough milk to just cover the crouton-crumbs.

2. Mix pork, crumbs and spices together well. Split into two portions.

3. Spread each portion on a piece of aluminum foil. Lay sliced hard-boiled egg on each portion, the roll foil to form a meatloaf cylinder.

4. Steam for 20 min. Served warm or cold. =D

Tags: meatloaf pork embutido budget recipe

Satay Beef Skewer

Easiest dish ever.

Ingredients:
+ 250 g of diced beef/chicken/pork/lamb
+ 4 bamboo skewers
+ satay sauce
+ honey (optional)

Steps:
1. marinate meat with 1 tbsp satay sauce
2. stick the meat on the skewer
3. baked it for 15-20 minutes at 210 degree
4. add honey to finish (optional)
5. serve with satay sauce (optional)

Ta-da!

*

Tags: satay beef pork chicken skewer budget recipe

Oh BOy its hot!

Heat from rays of the unforgiving sun brings out the many beautiful sights in and around campus.
Not just lush greenery and full bloomed posies...
Sun kissed tans and sexy shades on many,
The boys strip down to their shorts, hot surfies in tank tops...
Pretty girls in strappy bikinis..sexy legs in mini shorts,...

too much eye-candy for this shy little Chinese girl to handle! *giggle*

What does she do to Celebrate? ....a summer-y new recipe of course! *wink*
Nothing says summer more than watermeLON! red, juicy, sweet and refreshing ...MmMMm... the perfect afternoon snack to help soothe the heat!DIg in with a huge monstrous BITE! there's nothing like a satisfying mouthful of refreshing watermelon. *sigh* I cant think of any better way to savor a watermelon.
But if you MUST eat it with something...here's a strange but delicious suggestion. Hehe...I love mixing flavors and trying new combinations.
This is another one of my recommended medleys. For those with daring tastebuds and a love for all things fruity and tangy; you've GOT to try this! Pork+fruit is a killer combo!
You might raise an eye-brow as you go through the list of ingredients...don't gasp...it wont poison! haha...I had 2 taste testers who survived as well. This dish gets my satisfied nod of approval and a "I reaLLy LIKE It!" from another fussy eater.

Watermelon balls (chilled)- make balls with a melon baller and skew them in cute kebabs.

1 tbsp citrus peel (check the dessert aisle at the supermarket for this)
Mint leaves (I didnt have these ...but i wish i did )
1 apple cored and diced roughly
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp pure honey
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
cracked pepper

Meat: Marinade
3 pork lion chops for at least 2 hours in
1 tbsp yogurt
2 tsp whole grain mustard
1 tsp lea+perrins sauce
1 tsp salt
cracked pepper
1/2 tbsp oregano flakes

Mix honey, lemon juice and vinegar in a small bowl. Heat a flat nonstick pan and smear with a light drizzle of olive oil. Add in the apples and the honey mixture. Throw in the citrus peel and add dashes of ground cinnamon. Stir well to combine. Add sugar and pepper and cook till liquids are reduced to 1/2. Should take about 20 minutes. Be careful not to burn the sugar in the pan. Lay in the slices of marinated pork and pan fry on both sides till cooked through. Dish out the stewed apples half way thru if they start to soften too quickly. Drizzle remaining sauce in pan over watermelon skewers and toss with mint leaves + extra bits of citrus peel.

Did your jaw drop? *laughs* be relieved that I didn't attempt to cook the watermelon!

Tags: melon skewers pork budget recipe

Babi Tarik

or, if you would rather know it by its ang-mor name, Pulled Pork!

I must admit that Pulled Pork has always existed as a concept in my mind until now - I've only known vaguely what it is while dining at the occasional burger joint like Blooies or Hard Rock, where Pulled Pork is served in sandwiches. I also know that the traditional way to prepare pulled pork is over a barbecue. But not having a barbecue on the ready, some other recipes I've searched up on also mention that you can use a slow cooker, which won't give exactly the same results, but would be good enough if you know how to add the flavours in at which points of the cooking process. Besides, we're on a budget, right? I spent $8 on the meat, which is enough to last me for four or five meals (two, if you're Hobart) and the rest of the ingredients I picked out from what I had lying at home, so it is pretty cost efficient. You'll need a slow cooker for this recipe, along with plenty of time. I mean, overnight cooking plenty.

Babi Tarik AKA Pulled Pork

For the pork:
Twee Bak - ok, lost in translation here. Most recipes call for a shoulder cut of meat or something called a "Boston Butt". But I'm in freaking Singapore here! All my cuts are in Chinese names. Go for a thick chunk of meat that has a layer of fat on one side. Over here, I got two pieces of Twee Bak, which my dad says is a loin meat.
1 onion, sliced
4-5 cloves garlic, whole, smashed but intact
2 cinnamon sticks
3 tbsp Worcester sauce (I just agar-rated)
3 tbsp red wine vinegar (I also agar-rated)
1 tbsp cloves
Water

For the sauce:
Tomato ketchup
Tabasco sauce
Honey
Worcester sauce
Fresh black pepper
Liquid from pork

1. Stud meat with cloves. Line bottom of slow cooker with onions, followed by the rest of the ingredients except the meat and water.

2. Lay meat on top of the ingredient mess and then pour water to cover. Slow cook for 12 hours. (Go and sleep. I did this after dinner, and worked on it for lunch the next day.)

3. [12 hours later] Drain the meat on a rack and pull out cloves, as much as you can. They'll be soft after all that cooking, but then again, so will the meat. You can also easily peel off the layer of fat and return it to the liquid to let the flavours infuse. Place meat on a large plate to rest.

4. Strain the remaining liquid to get rid of the solids. Skim the surface to remove as much fat as possible. (Throw the solids away. They're no good for anything anymore.)

5. Mix the sauce! I didn't put any quantities because a lot of agar-ration is required. The sauce should be at least 2/3 ketchup, with worcester, tabasco and the honey added to your taste of honey and sweetness. Finally, the cooking liquid should make the third of the sauce to form a syrupy consistency.

6. Using two forks, "pull" the meat apart so that they form fine shreds. That's where the name comes from. Once meat is separated, pour sauce over and mix well, taking care not to form a paste and keeping the shredded meat consistency.

7. Serve in a sandwich! Or with a mash and coleslaw. It's a long cooking process, but rather quite worth it.

Tags: pulled+pork sandwich filling budget recipe

pot belly pork

note : some preparation time required and those lacking appreciation for fat need not attempt haha .



i personally love pork and i reckon the most exquisite part is *drum roll* belly pork . to me , it has the perfect constitution of meat and fat (although the amount of fat will disgust most) . perhaps it's because i grew up having pork leg rice with my family for brunch on sundays...but i am confident that no other meat is capable of substituting the taste of slow-cooked pork .

what you need ar?

3 pieces of belly pork (mine amounted up to just below 500g)
2 cups white chicken stock/water mixture
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
4 cm piece of ginger
1 cinammon stick
2 tablespoons of chilli flakes (via grounding about 8 dried chillis...somehow i feel i should have added more...i guess it depends on how spicy you want it)
3 star anise
6 cloves
1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds
2 tablespoons brown sugar

oh...and just a tablespoon of honey

how liao ?

simply marinate the belly pork in a pot with the listed ingredients (except the honey) and chuck it into the fridge overnight (you can tell it's a classic aromatic combination...so...i guess a couple of hours will suffice...but being somewhat a perfectionist , overnight better lar hor ?) . after having it rest to room temperature , slow-cook it in a pot (don't need slow cooker lar har) with a low fire (obviously) . it should be done in about an hour hor and you'll find the sauce significantly reduced . if you want more flavour , simply make more of the sauce for adding when the mix in the pot dries up and let the pork cook longer . personally , one hour is enough to make me drool and gobble it up in minutes . oh oh...and just to make it even more tempting , drizzle the pork with the honey to provide not only a lustful glaze , but an accentuating contrast to the spices...and have you licking your fingers later .

perfect with a nice warm bowl of rice .

Tags: stewed belly fatty pork budget recipe

The Ribs of Beer and Honey

Sometimes, you just gotta indulge. And after hearing about Hobart's latest foray at the all-you-can-eat ribs night at HRC, i felt like making ribs of my own. This recipe is based on the ribs recipe by Alton Brown. Alton Brown hosts the show Good Eats, which is the *only* cooking show that I watch - You should check it out if you have the chance. Yeah, so while this recipe is based on Alton Brown's, you'll find that I've switched around a lot of the ingredients because, hey, I am on a budget. Warning: this isn't one of those meals you can fix in a jiffy. Cooking time is about 3 hours, plus plus! But I'd say, finger-licking worth it.



The Ribs of Beer and Honey

The Rub
8 parts brown sugar
3 parts salt
1 part chili powder

The Sauce
1 can cheap beer
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp honey

The Rib
2 racks of ribs. Spare or prime, depending on budget and availability

Step 1: The Rub
Combine the proportions of brown sugar, salt and chili powder (8:3:1) and mix well. On a heavy sheet of aluminum foil, lay out ribs (one rib per sheet) and pat both sides with a generous amount of the rub. Pull sides of foil together to make a pouch with the ribs in the middle, and fold ends of puch to make the pouch watertight. Place in fridge for at least an hour - better if overnight.

Step 2: The Sauce, part 1
Preheat oven to 110 degrees (celsius). Whisk all the ingredients of the sauce together. Remove ribs from the fridge and open one end of each pouch. Divide the sauce base into two portions and pour a portion into each pouch. If you're using only one rack of ribs, use half the amount of liquid. Make sure liquid is evenly distributed along the each entire pouch before placing in the over for two and a half hours.

Step 3: The Sauce, part 2
After two and a half hours, remove ribs from oven. Drain liquid of both pouches onto a saucepan (you might want to place a pouch over a saucepan and snip a hole in the middle to let the sauce drain out). On high heat, reduce sauce until thick. Baste sauce onto ribs and broil for a minute. Cut ribs and toss in the remaining sauce. Eat and enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Tags: beer oney ribs budget recipe

May's Porky Pork

Uh...Ok, I must admit the picture of Porky Pork doesn't look too appetising (I am, after all, not famed for my lavish presentation style). However it does taste good and it is quite cheap to make! Yes!

This is a Chinese dish and it is very simple to make, believe it or not. Very good party food because you can make loads of it.

Vat you need:

Mince pork
Potatoes, peeled and sliced
Eggs
Cornflour
Oyster Sauce
Garlic, chopped finely

How now, brown cow?

1. After peeling and slicing the potatoes, throw them in a pan and fry em' till they are cooked and nice and brown. Set aside.
2. Mash up mince pork with a fork. In a separate bowl, beat a few eggs and season with pepper.
3. Mix the pork and eggs together. Mix well! Add a little cornflour (about 2 teaspoons).
4. Heat oil in a pan. Using a spoon, spoon out the pork. Arrange your cute porky cutlets well so that they don't stick to each other.
5. Turn porky cutlets over to cook through. Once cooked, set porky aside. Repeat until all the mince is used up.
6. Add chopped garlic into the pan and fry until fragrant. Throw in the potatoes. Add some oyster sauce and stir well.
7. Mix some cornflour and water and add it to the potato mixture. This will thicken the oyster sauce gravy. Season to taste with some salt.
8. Throw in your porky cutlets and toss well.

Dig in!

Tags: chinese pork gravy budget recipe

yakitori

And now, the first recipe using the white meatballs! Yakitori is a Japanese kebab, a kind of informal snack that one goes to enjoy after a long day's work. You can also use other types of meat, although I'm quite partial to the chicken meatball version you see here. And yes, ideally a *real* yakitori should be skewered and cooked over hot coals, but we're on a budget, yes?

Yakitori
White meatballs
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp dark soy
4 tbsp light soy
6 tbsp mirin, or chinese rice wine

1. Create the sauce dip by mixing everything (except the meatballs) together and heat in a pan until sugar is melted. Pour into a bowl.

2. Using a little oil, brown desired amount of meatballs.

3. Once browned, dip each meatball into sauce dip and continue frying. Take care to keep the meatballs rolling because the sauce browns easily. Repeat the process as many times as you like.

Oh well, if you really want the atmosphere, you can skewer them and serve...

Tags: chicken pork yakitori Japanese meatball skewers budget recipe

White meatballs

Ok, before you think this post is something vulgar - it's meatballs made with white meat. As in chicken and pork. (Shame on you and you should go wash your brain with soap!) Now that we've got that out of the way...



This is what I'd like to call a Base recipe - it forms the base of other recipes that i'll whip up for my packed lunches throughout the week (more on that later). Of course, the meatballs are good enough to eat by themselves! I've based it a little on Swedish meatballs, and of course, the choice of spices here are purely optional. I just raided whatever I had in my spice rack at the time (tarragon and chilli powder) and you can opt to put in what you like.

White meatballs
500 gm minced chicken
250 gm minced pork
1 cup breadcrumbs
milk
Spices - 1 tbsp black pepper, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tbsp tarragon

1. First, the breadcrumb mix. Put 1 cup of breadcrumbs into a bowl and pour just enough milk to soak the mix. At this point, add in your spices. The breadcrumbs serve as a binding agent to keep the shape together.

2. The basic proportion for chicken to pork to breadcrumbs is 2:1:1. If you'd lke to use only one type of meat (like say, for Muslim readers who cannot eat pork) then the proportion of meat to breadcrumbs is 3:1.

3. Form into meatballs and cook in boiling water. When fully cooked, the meatballs should turn white and float to the surface of the water. Because milk is an ingredient in the binding mix, you should cook all the meatballs and not leave them for later. Store in fridge or freezer until required.

Tune in later in the week to see what I have in mind for the meatballs!

Tags: chicken pork meatball skewersbudget recipe

Zen Ramen

This recipe's inspired by watching an episode of Japan Hour. It's really simple to do, really cheap to make, although it takes some time to prepare because it's best used with home-made stock. It's Zen because it's so simple - just stock and noodles, and what you use as toppings is really up to your preference.



Zen Ramen
Pork bone - Use one for a litre of water, or two for up to three litres of water. Get your butcher to split the bone open, too, so that all the flavour comes out.
Egg noodles - or use instant noodles if you don't want the hassle.
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
pepper
salt
Pork cutlet
Breadcrumbs
Spring onions, chopped.

1. THE STOCK: Is the most important part to this recipe. None of that msg nonsense, if you want to do this right, you get a big pot of water, throw in the bones, a dash of salt and pepper, and simmer for at least two hours. This picture was taken at two and a half hours, but I only actually cooked the Zen Ramen at 4 hours. The liquid should turn murky white. Top up with water where necessary.



2. After that, it's real easy. Measure out the amount of soup you need and use it to cook your noodles. Meanwhile, add the soy sauce and sesame oil into your empty bowl. Pour everything - noodles and soup - into the bowl and let the flavours infuse.

3. Place your toppings. I fried a breadcrumbed piece of de-boned pork chop and then sliced it a la tonkatsu. Top it all off with a generous handful of chopped spring onions. The spring onions really make a difference.

4. The soup can be kept in the fridge for up to three days. After the first spell in the fridge, you can skimm the solidified fat from the surface of the stock.

5. Other toppings you can consider: egg (crack an egg while the soup is still boiling, turn off the heat and let it slowly cook); fried onions; sliced lettuce, seaweed.


ohmmmmmmm.......

Tags: Japanese pork stock ramen soup budget recipe

Heaven Bestows Land with Abundant Harvest

Yo! Wassup Babes & Dudes!!! I know I should be profusely apologizing to Noel for being MIA for so long, but what the heck, I guess I’ll just try to redeem myself by putting up new recipes for 2006. So here we go… Alright, my New Year resolution (you absolutely know that this never works, but since everyone does it anyway)… is to kick my bad habit of trying out recipes and not grabbing the cam before I shove into my mouth (or others for that matter). I’m counting you guys to keep me straight on this resolution, so keep supporting us!

Okay, to be true to the spirit of traditional Chinese culinary, I shall be naming my dishes using traditional, flowery language (just thought I oughta warn ya).

Heaven Bestows Land with Abundant Harvest (aka Sliced Pork and Greens)

This dish is so simple to make. It’ll blow your mind!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon of Teriyaki marinade (or teriyaki sauce)

2 tablespoon of Oyster sauce

2 tablespoon of water

1 teaspoon Corn flour

Sugar (to taste)

Carrots (julienne)

Long beans (sliced diagonally)

Garlic (you can put more if you prefer, but I’d recommend minimum of 2 cloves)

1-2 tablespoon of finely grated ginger (then again, adding more causes no one harm)

2 Scallions (aka spring onions)

Pork fillet (for 4 servings I’d recommend 200g- 250g of meat)

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

Cooking instructions:

1. Preparing the sauce: First, combine these ingredients in a bowl. Add the teriyaki sauce, oyster sauce, water and corn flour in a bowl. Also, add a pinch of sugar for flavouring. Mix well and put it aside. Note: if using teriyaki sauce that is watery rather than thick, add more corn flour to create a thicker sauce.
2. Next, mince the garlic and finely grate 1-2 tablespoon worth of ginger. Cut the scallions diagonally into 4-inch pieces. Put it aside as well.
3. Slice the pork fillets into thin slices (we really want them to cook fast). Heat up about 2-3 tablespoons of oil into a frying pan and swirl the oil around the inside of the pan to prevent the meat from sticking. Stir fry the meat until its brown or almost cooked. Be careful not to overcook it otherwise the meat will be tough. Dish out the cooked meat and put it aside.
4. Reheat the pan and add 2 tablespoons of oil and sesame oil. Stir the two oils. When the oil is reasonable hot, stir fry the garlic and shredded ginger for 1 minute. Add the scallions, green beans, carrots and stir fry it for a minute or two until it’s soften slightly. Throw in the pre-cooked meat and sauce and simmer it until the meat is done. Dish it out and ©Walah! you have your mouth-watering dish that smells just like the one served by that restaurant just down the road.

Tags: pork stir fry budget recipe

thai-style sausages and hash

Yup, folks, this is a make-it-yourself sausage recipe. Actually, I was rather surprised how easy it was to make your own sausages. Skinless, of course - I couldn't be arsed to get intestines to stuff sausages in anyway, and the sausage mix is good enough to make meatballs or meatloaf. I was toying around with the idea of sausages because well, i felt like it. Sausages get a bad name because sometimes they're made up of all the crud that one doesn't normally eat. But if you can control the composition of the sausage meat, then you've got one truly satisfying sausage. This Thai-style sausage was made with ingredients I had lying around in the spice racks and in the pantry. I call it thai-style primarily because of the lemongrass and the fresh chillis that I used to spice up the mix. Believe me, the end result isn't even remotely spicy.

Thai-style sausages

2 big red chilli
1 stalk of lemongrass, cleaned and sliced finely
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp of onion powder
1 tsp of garlic powder
Olive oil
1/2 kg minced pork
1 cup of breadcrumbs (I used Japanese breadcrumbs, but only because they're the only ones i have in the pantry right now)


1. Blend everything except the minced pork and the breadcrumbs until it becomes a fine paste. Use olive oil to help with achieve paste-y consistency and make sure the lemongrass is chopped finely or you'll end up with strands.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix the the spice paste, pork and breadcrumbs together. Best to mix with wet hands so that it doesn't stick. Once mixed through and through, cover with cling wrap and leave in the fridge for an hour or so.
3. Shape sausage mix into, well, sausages. Or meatballs. or patties. Pan fry on each side until golden brown. Makes many many sausages. About 15 - 30 sausages, depending on the size you want them to be.


Hash

To go with the sausages (it was lunch time), I decided to make a quick and easy hash using thre two basic ingredients, potatoes and onions. Everything else was improvised and you can stir in your choice of spices.


1 large potato, cut in 1-cm cubes
1 onion, chopping in 1-cm pieces
1 clove garlic, mashed
Salt
Oil or butter for frying
Olive oil
Spices: I used oregano, chilli powder and black pepper

1. Heat a little oil or butter on low heat and toss in potatoes and onions. Sprinkle with salt. When onion becomes translucent, toss in garlic and continue cooking.
2. Cook for 20 min, stirring occasionally. When whole mix is soft, turn off heat, sprinkle with spices and let cook without direct heat.
3. Drizzle with olive oil, stir and serve. Generally 1 potato and onion per person.

Tags: Thai lemongrass pork sausages homemade hash budget recipe

May's sicky soupie

The other day I fell sick and was feeling sorry for myself.

Then I realised I had some dry peanuts and pork bones. So I made my happy peanut soup.

Vat you need:

Pork bones
Dry peanuts
Soya sauce

How now, brown cow?

1. Clean the pork first. Then pour hot boiling water over it so porky won't smell.
2. Soak peanuts in water.
3. Get a nice big pot and throw in peanuts and pork.
4. Boil for at least 2 hours.
5. Add soya souce for taste.

Easy peasy!

Tags: peanut pork bone soup budget recipe

cheesy pork chops

funny how i've been posting pork chop recipes nowadays. here's another one, inspired by my auntie Elsie, who is not really my auntie, but a family friend back home who used to cook for us all the time.



what you need:
pork chops
sliced cheese
pepper
breadcrumbs
minced garlic
basil

1. First, butterfly the pork chop so that it opens up in the middle. That, of course, is where you stuff the cheese and pepper in.
2. Coat the chop with a mixture of breadcrumbs, garlic and chopped basil.
3. Grill and serve. I ate it with wedges (store bought, too lazy to make my own. hahaha)

Tags: cheese pork baked budget recipe

Eunice's apple and pork bake

Eunice is my housemate, and this is kinda her signature dish. So here she is in her own words... (okay lah, i just cut and paste her email)



ingredients:
porkchops
apples
onions
cinnamon sugar
salt
herbs
pepper and chilli powder if you want.
olive oil.

(don ask me about the proportaions..its guesstimation..)

fry onions in olive oil.. use quite a fair bit of olive oil.cos you need to
drench the pork chops and apple slices with it...
just add salt, cinnammon sugar.. pepper and all the powder stuff to the
chops..
and only cinnamon sugar on the apple slices.. make sure eveything is covered
with olive oil..if not it'll get burnt in the oven.. bake for about 35-45
mins depending on how many chops you have...min 35 for one.. so.. just put everything on a baking tray and bake it!!!

thats it...

pork chops with chilli and orange glaze

Chilli? And orange? And pork? Sounds like a weird combo, but it works! Meats are all about the marinade, and here's one that works.

Pork chops
one and a half tbsp marmalade
one tsp light soy
two tbsp of olive oil
one or two red chillis, sliced thinly

Marinade the pork chops with the mixture and grill until the marinade becomes a nice glaze. best to get a little char, and to use chops with a fatty strip on the side. yummy...

Tags: pork chille orange baked glaze budget recipe