Steamed Preserved Vegetables with Pork Belly (梅菜扣肉)

Mainly adapted from Noobcook (http://www.noobcook.com/mei-cai-kou-rou/)

                            

Ingredients:

300g salty preserved vegetables (Mei Cai)
100g sweet preserved vegetables
4 cloves garlic
350-400g pork belly (cut into chunks and marinate with 1 tbsp of thick dark soy sauce)
1 tbsp cooking oil


Sauce:
1 tbsp thick dark soy sauce
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp cooking wine
400ml water


Preparation to wash the vegetables:

1. Rinse the salty vegetables. Using a big pot, soak for 30 min and rinse the vegetables few times until the water is clear. Squeeze dry and set aside.

2. Do the same for the sweet vegetable except that no need to soak for long time.

3. Using a big pot, boil some water. Once the water starts to boil rapidly, put in the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables and let them cool.

By doing the steps, the vegetables should be thoroughly cleansed off all the sand particles. After the vegetables have cooled, cut into 1cm length.


Methods:

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a non stick pan. Pan fry the pork belly. Set aside.

2. Using the same pan, sauté the garlic. Add the vegetables and stir fry for a minute.

3. Add the sauce and stir well. Cook for 10 minutes and the sauce have reduced by now. Turn he heat off.

4. Place the pork belly on the steam bowl. Then add the vegetables and the sauce to cover the pork. Steamed for 2 hours.

After steaming for 2 hours, I continue to cook the dish with crock pot for another 2 hours. The pork belly would be very very tender and flavorful by then.

                       

Snow Pear with White Fungus Soup

                                   

Serve 6

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast with bone (chopped into 4 chunks. Blanch with hot water)
3 snow pears (cored and quartered)
3 white fungus (soaked till soften. Cut away the harden parts. Cut the rest into bite pieces.)
14 seedless red dates
$1 of Chinese almonds (2/3 sweet almonds, 1/3 bitter almonds)
1 handful wolfberries
Water
Sea salt


Methods:

1. Boil a big pot of water. Once the water starts to boil rapidly, put all the ingredients except white fungus into the pot. Cook for 10 minutes then reduce to low heat and simmer for 1.5hr.

2. Add the white fungus and continue to simmer for 30 mins. Add the sea salt and stir well.

Steamed Papaya With White Fungus Sweet Soup

Serve 2

Ingredients:

1 slice of papaya (cut into 6 pieces)
1 white fungus (soaked till soften. Cut into bite sizes)
4 seedless red dates
2 tsp wolfberries
8 dried longans
Hot water


Methods:

1. Using 2 small double boil pots, divide the ingredients equally into the pots.

2. Pour hot water just enough to cover the ingredients. Cover the pots.

3. Steam for an hour. The soup should be sweet enough. Add rock sugar if you want it to be sweeter.

Egg Tarts

Mainly adapted from Christine's Recipe. Visit her website for the original recipe. (http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2009/03/cantonese-egg-tarts-recipe.html#.URtSKxEaySM)


Ingredients for the crust:

225g plain flour
125g butter
50g icing sugar
1 egg, whisked
1 tsp vanilla essence


Ingredients for the custard:

3 eggs
90g caster sugar
225g hot water
85g evaporated milk


Methods for the crust:

1. Place butter at room temperature until softened. Whisk the butter and sugar until the mixture is smooth, fluffy and light in color.

2. Add in whisked egg, half at a time, whisk slowly. Add vanilla extract, mix well.

3. Sift in flour and make sure all ingredients combine well. Knead into dough.

4. Roll out the dough to a 1/2 cm thickness. Cut dough with a cookie cutter that is just a bit smaller than your tart tin in size.

5. Line dough in the middle of tart tins, one by one. Lightly press the dough with your thumbs, starting from the bottom then up to the sides. While pressing the dough, turn the tart tin clockwise/anti-clockwise in order to make an even tart shell. Trim away any excess dough.


Methods for the custard:

1. Add sugar into hot water, mix until completely dissolved. Let the water cool.

2. Whisk egg with evaporated milk. Pour in sugar water. Mix well.

3. Sift egg mixture to get rid of any foam into a tea pot. Carefully pour egg mixture into each tart shell.


Baking methods:

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Bake tarts for 10 to 15 minutes until the edges are lightly brown.

2. Lower the heat to 180C. Keep an eye on them. Once you see the custard being puffed up a bit, pull the oven door open about 2 to 3 inches. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the custard is cooked through. Just insert a toothpick into the custard. If it stands on its own, it’s done.

Snow Pears and Apples Chicken Soup

Serve 6

Ingredients:

3 snow pears (cored and cut into quartered)
2 Fuji apples (cored and cut into quartered)
1 whole chicken breast with bones. (Washed, cut into 4 pieces and blanched with boiling water)
$1 worth of mixed Chinese bitter and sweet almonds
2 carrots (peeled and chopped into chunks)
10 seedless red dates
Water
Sea salt


Methods:

1. Boil a big pot of water.

2. Once the water starts to boil rapidly, put in the chicken breast. Cook for 10 minutes.

3. Add the pears, carrots, Chinese almonds and red dates. Cook with high heat for 10 minutes before reducing the heat and simmer for 1 hour.

4. Add the apples and continue to simmer for another 1-2 hours.

5. Add some sea salt as desired.


Do not peel the fruit so that they will stay intact during the simmering. May add snow fungus too.