Braised Taro With Pork Belly

Taro is easy to grow in the damp and cold area surrounding the mountains. In my own village you will easily see it everywhere, especially in the areas of fertile land. Some of it grows on its own without the need of intensive care and some are planted by farmers. There are various way to cook taro... you can simply boil it before add in some vegetable and a handful of anchovies or any kind of fish or meat (kampung style).  That is one of my father's favorite dishes... he said it has become a complete meal when you cook the taro along with the vegetable and fish or meat in it.

Taro are called Lolondu by Dusun People

Preparing taro is quiet easy.  You just need to peel it before cut it into pieces.  But make sure to put on your hand glove or use paper towel to hold it to prevent itchiness.  Just wash it into running water after cut into pieces. 

I really love Hakka recipe for steamed taro, Woo Tao Kau Yuk.  But the method to cook it is so complicated. It does involve boiling, deep frying, and steaming process and require a few hours to be done.  Using the same ingredients I manage to cook my simple taro dish but I'm not sure whether it is still eligible to be called Woo Tao Kau Yuk or not. So just call it braised taro with pork belly instead... :) 
It takes a shorter time to cook compared to the actual recipe of Kau Yuk but the taste is just as good. Scrumptious and you should try it!

Ingredients: 

1. 500g pork belly 
2. 400g taro 
3. 2 cloves garlic, mince 
4. 500ml water

Seasoning:  

1. 3 pieces fermented red bean curd 
2. 10g rock sugar 
3. 1tsp 5 spices powder 
4. 1/2tsp pepper 
5. 1tsp dark soy sauce 
6. 1tbsp light soy sauce 
7. 1tbsp oyster sauce 
8. A dash of sesame oil

Method: 

• Peel the taro and cut into 2 inch per pieces.  Deep-fry in hot oil over high heat until golden brown. Dish out and set aside. 
• Wash and rinse pork belly.  Cut into pieces.   
• Heat up 2 tbsp oil in a preheated wok.  Sauté garlic and fermented bean curd until fragrant.   Put in pork belly pieces.  Stir-fry briskly over high heat until the color of the pork belly pieces are changes. 
• Add in rock sugar followed by all seasoning ingredients except the sesame oil.  Cook until rock sugar is completely dissolved. Pour in water and bring to boil. Covered and allow simmering over low heat for about 30 minutes. 
• Add in taro, continue to simmer for about 15 minutes or until the taro has become tender and absorb the flavor.
• Sprinkle with sesame oil before turn off the fire. 
• Dish out, garnish with chopped red chili and Chinese parsley. Serve hot. 

Young Cempedak with Smoked Pig Belly Soup

Cempedak is also called the ugly cousin of the jack fruit. Indeed, it’s a two different fruits in the same species. Even the form of fruit and trees are almost the same. The fruit of the cempedak also has a sausage-shape body but smaller in size when compared to the regular jack fruit. It has a green color when it is young and turns slightly yellowish when ripen. The fruit contains a bright yellow pulp covering the large brown seeds. The surface of the ripen Cempedak flesh is soft, sweet and haves a strong aroma which can even be compared to the smell of durian.

Young Cempedak

 

The unripe fruit is used as a vegetable or can be made into pickle. Ripe fruit can be eaten fresh but also delicious when deep-fry to made kueh. Some also use it in baking a cake or mix into syrup. It is a seasonal fruit hence it will be available only during fruit seasons.
 

Since we have plenty of it on this fruit season, I use the younger one to cook as a soup. So, try out this Sabahan simple style of cempedak soup.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium size of young cempedak
• 500g smoked pig belly
• Some sliced ginger
• Salt and pepper to taste

Smoked Pig Belly

 Methods:

1. Rinse smoked pig belly well, slice into small pieces.
2. Peel cempedak skin and rinse well. Halves and then slice into 1.5cm thick.
3. Fill pot with 60% full of water. Bring to boil then add smoked pig belly and ginger. 
4. When boiling, add in sliced cempedak.  Continue to cook until the cempedak become tender.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Ready to serve.

Stir-Fry Bitter Gourd with Smoked Pig Belly

Wow... it's been a year since my last post on this blog. Longing for sharing my cooking with you all makes me feel like cannot wait to start it over again. My cooking not as good as a chef, but cooking is my passion and I really love simple cooking... easy cooking with simple ingredients.

So, this is my first recipe for the year... Stir-fry bitter gourd with smoked pig belly. I really like bitter gourd although the bitterness of this melon might turn some people away... even though it taste bitter, the nutrient content in it can really give sweetness to the health. To those who have diabetes, I advise you to try consuming this melon because it will benefit you.

 

The ingredients:

• 1 medium size bitter gourd 
• 400g smoked pig belly 
• some minced garlic and ginger

Seasoning:

• salt to taste
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce 
• 1 tbsp lihing or shao hsing wine 
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil 
• a pinch of MSG (optional) 
• a pinch of pepper powder  
• 1 tbsp cornstarch solution

Methods:

1. Halve lengthwise and scoop out all the seeds of the bitter gourd. Slice into 1/4-inch thick and set aside.
2. Clean and slice smoked pig belly.
3. Heat up 1 tablespoon oil in a preheated wok. Add in minced garlic and ginger.  Stir for about 15 seconds or until aromatic.
4. Add in the smoked pig belly. Pour in soy sauce and stir-fry until almost cook.
5. Then, put in the sliced bitter gourd; add in all seasoning followed by a few tablespoon of water.  Stir briskly for a few second until well combined.  Simmer for about 20 seconds or until the water almost evaporate.
6. Finally, add in the cornstarch solution. Bring to boil and then turn the fire off. Serve with hot plain rice.

Braised Pork in Soy Sauce

I have tried many version of this dish since my childhoods. It is actually a popular Chinese Hokkien dish known as Tau Yue Bak. The Chinese version is always cooked with some boiled eggs and sometimes with some mushrooms. There are many ways to cook this dish.  Some like it with lighter sauce, some like thicker sauce and some even like it in spicy version. Actually there is no regulation on how it should be; the important thing is how the taste will satisfy your taste bud.

KadazanDusun modern cuisine is more influenced by the Chinese cuisine especially in pork dishes.  My mother's version for this dish is very simple in which the ingredients needed are only soy sauce, pork and some other simple ingredients.  As far as I remember, she never adds hard boiled egg to her braised pork.  

My kids doesn't really likes spices such as cinnamon stick and star anise, so  I made some modifications in my version by adding some type of ingredients that I feel fit and able to add more flavor and fragrance to the dish.  My version is slightly dry with a bit of oil out of the meat.   I'm also accustomed to not adding boiled eggs into it.

Ingredients:

1. 1kg pork shoulder
2. 2 whole bulbs of garlic
3. 1inc galangal (mashed)
4. 1tsp Chinese 5 spices powder
5. 5tbsp dark soy sauce
6. 5tbsp light soy sauce
7. Some rock sugar
8. 2 cups of water

Methods:

• Rinse and cut pork shoulder into bite size.
• Combine all ingredients (except water) in a pot. Marinate for a about 30 minutes.
• Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the meat juice are slightly dried out.
• Pour in water and let to boil.
• Once the water boils, lower the heat and braise for 40 minutes or until the meat is cooked thoroughly and become tender. Stir occasionally to prevent it from burning.
• Serve with rice.

*** This dish is very flexible. You can adjust the taste if more light soy sauce or dark soy sauce are needed and add more water if you like it with more gravy ***

Sweet & Sour Pig Trotter

Dusun modern cuisine is more influenced by Chinese cuisine especially in meat dishes. For this recipe, I get inspiration from Nyonya Cuisine. The original recipe is too spicy so I slightly modified it to suit with the taste of my family members who doesn’t really like spicy food.

Sweet & Sour Pig Trotter

Ingredients:

1. 2kg pig trotter
2. 1 ripe pineapple
3. 5 dried chillies (not spicy)
4. 4 cups water
   

Seasoning:

1. 2tsp dark soy sauce
2. 2tbsp light soy sauce
3. 1tbsp vinegar
4. 1tbsp rice wine (lihing)
5. 2tbsp brown sugar
   

Marinate ingredients:

1. 100gm shallot
2. 50gm garlic
3. 50gm ginger
   

Methods:

1. Clean and cut pig trotter into small sections and enter into a pot filled with hot boiling water for 1 minute. Drain.
2. Peel pineapple skin and cut into cubes, remove its pith.
3. Cut the tip of dried chilies and remove seeds.
4. Pound all the marinate ingredients. Then mix well with pig trotter. Marinate for 5 minutes and then put into cooking pot.
5. Put in all the seasonings ingredients, dry pepper and water. Bring to boil, then lower the heat and stew for about 1 ½ hours.
6. Add pineapple and cook until tender and clear. Done