Steam Pork Rips 豆豉蒸排骨

Hi everyone. =)

Today I'm gonna share with you this delicious yet simple steam pork ribs. Yes I know, it's pork ribs again haha.

One of the reasons I like to use pork ribs is that it is easy to prepare and won't take too much time mincing or cutting it. When I buy the pork ribs, the butcher will cut it into small pieces for me so I don't have to cut anything at all. It also has less fat; if there is, it's only a little.

I did 2 versions just to see which one is nicer.

1st version: Steam only

2nd version: Fried and steam

Let's go to the ingredients.

Ingredients: 1 pork rib 肋排骨 (for each version), 5-6 cloves of garlic (finely chopped), 2-3 shallots/1 small onion (sliced), some finely chopped ginger, some finely chopped chili (normal red chili, don't use small chili, it will be too spicy), some 'dou chi' (salted black beans) 豆豉, some spring onions, cooking oil 

Seasoning: Oyster sauce, soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, sugar, sesame oil, white pepper, some flour (for the fried version)

Portion: 2 persons

1st version: Steam only

The seasonings that you need for both versions.

Firstly, wash the pork ribs and marinate it with some oyster sauce, some soy sauce, some cooking wine, some salt, some sugar, some sesame oil, and some white pepper.

The amount is really based on your preference. You will need to add a bit more than the seasonings that you usually use to marinate your meat because when you steam it, the water produced by the steam will dilute the seasonings.

Marinate it for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Prepare some 'dou chi'. Wash and soak it for a few seconds. 

Don't put too much as it's quite salty.

This is the 'dou chi' that I'm using.

You can get this in supermarket or wet market. I bought mine at the wet market for 70 or 80 cents only (a very small packet).

Prepare some red chili and ginger, chop it finely.

Then, add the 'dou chi', red chili, and ginger to the pork ribs.

Mix well.

Steam it over boiling water for 25 minutes.

While waiting for it, prepare some garlic and small onion (I run out of shallots, so I replace it with small onion).

Chop the garlic finely and cut the small onion into slices.

When it's around 15-20 minutes, sprinkle some spring onions on it and continue to steam.

This is how it looks after 25 minutes.

Then, heat some oil in the wok to fry the small onions and garlic.

Yumm~ Smell sooo nice!!

Put those small onions, garlic as well as some oil on the pork rips. This step is an important step to me as it adds a strong onion and garlic fragrance to the dish.

2nd version: Fried and steam

Wash and clean the pork ribs.

Marinate it. The longer you marinate it, the stronger the flavour.

Add some flour (all purpose flour).

Mix well.

Heat some oil in the wok.

Make sure your wok is hot before you pour in the oil and also make sure the oil is hot enough before you fry the pork ribs (so that it doesn't stick).

Let it fry for 3-5 minutes on each side.

Turn to the other side.

This is how it looks like after frying.

Chop the garlic finely.

I run out of shallots or small onions.

Fry until it's golden brown. Just love the fragrance of fry garlic!

Remove it from the wok and keep in a bowl first.

Add in finely chopped red chili and washed 'dou chi'. I run out of ginger as well. >.<

Steam it over boiling water for 10 minutes (as it's already half cooked, you don't need to steam it for too long time).

Add in some spring onions after 5 minutes. Take the previously fried garlic and put it on the pork ribs. It's done and ready to be served.

This version will be more oily than the 1st one. People who want to cut oil can try the 1st version. The difference in the 2nd version is that the pork ribs are more fragrant as you fried it before you steam.

Choose whichever version that suits you best.

I hope you like it and enjoy!

Do try it out. =)

Spring Onion Pancake Recipe 葱油饼

Hi everyone. =)

I'm gonna share a simple yet delicious Chinese pancake aka spring onion pancake recipe.

Ingredients: Chopped spring onions, flour, and water

Seasoning: salt

Portion: 1 person

You only need 4 things for this. Simple isn't it?

Firstly, place 8 spoons of all purpose flour (normal flour) in a bowl. 

I measured it using this kind of spoon (normal dining spoon). The amount of flour doesn't need to be precise as it depends on how thick you want your pancake to be.

If the flour is more than the water, then the pancake will be thicker or vice versa.

Prepare 200ml water.

Mix the water with the flour.

After it is well combined, add in the chopped spring onions.

Mix well. There shouldn't be any lumps in your batter. If there is, continue mixing it. The batter should be watery like. 

Don't forgot to add some salt.

Add some oil in a non stick pan.

Pour some of the batter to the pan. I didn't measure it with any tools, just pour accordingly.

If you wanna make bigger ones, pour more batter, or else pour lesser.

You know it's ready to be flipped when the pancake becomes a bit transparent in colour,

Press it with the turner so that it is flat enough. This is a crucial step if you want it to be thin and crispy.

2nd piece. You can also tell that it's ready to be flipped when the sides of it browned like this one.

I like my pancakes to be thin and crispy. This one is perfection!

Unlike Western style pancake which is thick and fluffy, I personally think that Chinese pancake should be very thin so that it's crispy.

Ta-da! Completed ones. This recipe makes 4 pancakes. Double up your ingredients if you wanna make more.

That's it. Hope you like it and enjoy.

Garlic Pork Ribs 蒜香排骨

Hi everyone. Today I'm gonna show you how to make simple, quick, and delicious garlic pork ribs.

I personally like garlic very much! It tastes superb especially when you fry it in hot oil. The fragrance is irresistible. 

Now, let's go to the ingredients. 

Ingredients: 1 pork rib 肋排骨, 8-9 cloves of garlic, some spring onions, all purpose flour/corn starch, cooking oil 

Seasoning: Oyster sauce, soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, sugar, sesame oil, white pepper

Portion: 2 persons

You can use any kinds of cooking wine. Rice wine, yellow rice wine, mirin or the one I'm using, 绍兴花雕酒. It's available in AEON Big and 99 Speedmart. 

The amount of it depends on your preference. If you like a stronger wine fragrance, then add more. I usually use the cap to measure. 1 cap should be enough for 1 rib.

Why do I say 1 rib? These are the bones around the chest area that are connected together. So when I buy, 1 rib is enough for 2 persons as it will have around 7-8 pieces.

The butcher will cut it into small pieces like this for me.

This roughly looks like the one that I usually buy.

Firstly, marinate the pork ribs with 6-7 drops of oyster sauce, some cooking wine, some soy sauce, some sesame oil, some white pepper, some salt, and some sugar (sugar gives a balance to the saltiness). 

Mix the seasoning well and keep it in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour to marinate it.

When you are ready to cook it, add 3-4 spoons of all purpose flour (normal flour) and mix well.

*You can use corn starch if you don't have flour.

Then, peel the garlic and cut it into small pieces. Don't mince it finely because we gonna fry it with the pork ribs. If it's too fine, it will burn by the time the pork ribs are cooked.

Add in the garlic and mix well.

When the wok is hot, add some oil. Coat the wok with oil so that the pork ribs won't stick on it.

When the oil is hot, fry the pork ribs. Fry one side until it's golden brown then turn it over to fry the other side.

This should take about 2-3 minutes for each side.

You can smell the strong garlic fragrance when you fry it. Yummm. Can't resist it.

When it's done, sprinkle some spring onions on it while it's still hot. Now, it's ready to be served.

It's simple isn't it? You only need 2 main ingredients, the pork ribs and garlic. That's it.

I hope you like it and enjoy. =)

Ideas for a Lazy Sunday Brunch

Hi everyone, it's the day of the week again - SUNDAY! 

Yeah Sunday is a day to enjoy and relax. If you feel a bit lazy but want to pamper yourself with some good food, why not treat yourself with some simple yet nutritious brunch?

Here's some ideas for you.

First idea

Ingredients: white bread, nutella, hot dogs, bacon, eggs, cherry tomatoes and potatoes, 4 shallots, 4 cloves of garlic

Seasoning: salt and black pepper

Portion: 1-2 persons

Spread your white bread with generous amount of nutella (it screams yummylicious!). You can also spread it with butter or any jam that you like.

I personally prefer Massimo over Gardenia, it's thicker and nicer. Compare both brands and you can feel the difference. 

These are the ingredients that you need. I like this "Wise" hot dog (chicken frank) very much! It's very nice! Try it out. For now, Econsave is the only place that I can get it. 

For the bacon, I usually get it from AEON Big and it's this "Meaty" brand. This packet has 15 pieces and it costs RM9.90. As you can see, I only have 3 pieces left haha. I love to eat bacon. =D 

Firstly, prepare some shallots and garlic for the potato hash.

Crush the garlic using the holder of your knife for easy peeling. Next, chop the shallots and minced the garlic.

Prepare some water and bring it to boil (to parboil and soften the potatoes). Parboil means to partially cook it first and continue cooking it fully in another way.

Then, peel your potatoes and cut it into small pieces like this.

Put the potatoes into boiling water and let it boil for 10-15 minutes (depends on how soft you want it to be). 10 minutes should be enough if you are making potato hash. For mash potato, you'll need to boil it for 20-25 minutes.

After 10-15 minutes, remove the potatoes and drain the water.

Add some oil in a non stick pan and fry the potatoes for 2-3 minutes. If you want it to be a bit crispy, fry each side of the potatoes for 1-2 minutes to let it form a crust.

Then, add in the shallots and garlic. Fry it until golden brown. Add some salt and black pepper.

Cook the potatoes for 2-3 more minutes and then it's done.

TIPS: Fry the potatoes first as it takes some time to form a crust. If you fry the shallots and garlic first, it will burn and you don't want that.

Crack 2 eggs into a bowl, add some salt and black pepper to make your scramble eggs.

Wash and soak the cherry tomatoes.

Fry the bacon and hot dogs.

Assemble everything and arrange it nicely on a plate. Now, your brunch is ready. =)

Second idea

Ingredients: bacon, eggs, tomatoes and corn kennels (I buy canned one)

Seasoning: butter, salt, black pepper

Portion: 1-2 persons

Fry the bacon first as it will release some oil that you can use to cook your tomatoes and eggs (no oil needed, yes 0). 

Slice your tomatoes into 4 halves and cook it on a non stick pan. Add some salt if you prefer it to be a bit salty.

Steam or boil your corn kennels for 5-10 minutes. Let it cool down and add some salted butter. If you use unsalted butter, just add some salt.

Make your scramble eggs and now it's done.

PS: The bacon look like it's a bit burn right? No it isn't. This is the way I like to eat my bacon, I like it to be crispy.

Third idea

Ingredients: eggs, hot dogs, white bread, cheese slices, lettuce, baked beans, milk, canned mushroom soup

Seasoning: salt, black pepper

Portion: 1-2 persons

The third idea is really simple. Pour your canned mushroom soup into a pot or non stick pan (it works for me haha). Add about 1 can of water, add more water if you want to make more servings. Bring it to boil.

Fry the hot dogs, make scramble eggs and cook the baked beans. Assemble everything and your brunch is ready to be served. 

Hope this helps and enjoy. =)