Minced Pork in Brinjal Boat

Sometimes we need to put on our thinking cap and think of ways to make our dishes more presentable and unique and, thus, more appetising. It may not be a totally new dish. But with a unique presentation it can be. An idea which came up was to use the brinjal as a  food receptacle. Seems unique enough as I have not seen any of such food presentation before. But pineapple as a receptacle, YES! The difference is that brinjal is softer and does not hold so well as compared to the pineapple. Thus, we have to be more careful when handling the brinjal.

Ingredients:

• 1 brinjal
• 200 g minced pork
• 4 stalks of spring onion, cut into short pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• light soya sauce
• pepper
• salt
• cooking oil

Method:

• Wash and half the brinjal, lengthwise.

• Scoop out the flesh of the brinjal. (Be careful not to scoop too deep and make a hole in the skin.)

• Put the brinjal receptacle on a metal plate.

• Boil some water in the steamer.

• When the water is boiling place the metal plate into the steamer.

• Steam the brinjal receptacle for about 15 minutes.

• Remove the metal plate from the steamer when the brinjal is just soft and can hold up.

• Let the brinjal cool down.

• Heat up the wok with 3-4 tbsp of cooking oil.

• Saute the garlic.

• When the garlic is fragrant, add the minced pork and fry it till it is 3/4 cooked.

• Add in the flesh of the brinjal.

• Fry until the brinjal is soft and the minced pork is cooked.

• Season with light soy sauce, pepper and salt according to taste.

• Scoop the ingredients up into the steamed brinjal receptacle.

• Sprinkle the spring onion on top.

• Place the brinjal boat onto a serving plate.

• The dish is ready to be served.

Mee Koo

Mee Koo are buns made of flour with skin coloured pink or red; they are fluffy with a slight sweet taste. They are usually shaped in the figure eight (as shown in the photos above) and sold in pairs. Or, they can be found in the shape of the tortoise. peaches or dome. Those tortoise-shaped mee koo are usually bought to be offered to the deities on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar months. Peach-shaped mee koo are usually made to order for the birthdays of the elderly members of a household. Nowadays, we can see dome-shaped mee koo; these are also for offerings to the deities.

I love eating mee koo; most of the time I just steamed them and ate them plain or with a spread of pure butter. However, sometimes I dunked them into piping hot coffee while at other times I coated them with beaten eggs and pan-fried them. Mee koo can be easily bought from where I came from. However, when I moved to KL forty years ago, it was very difficult to buy them. Thus, whenever I went home, I would buy at least ten pairs to bring back to KL. They were then frozen and eaten slowly. Nowadays, mee koo are available in KL especially on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar months for prayers to the deities.

I have learnt to make mee koo and I would say that making them is easy. It requires few ingredients and can be made manually. The following recipe is from Ms Lisa Yip, a member of Daily Homecook Meal.

Ingredients:

• 500 g pau flour (Will produce 4 pieces of mee koo. Scale up to yield more.)
• 100 g sugar
• 1 tsp yeast
• 240 - 250 ml water
• 3 tbsp corn oil
• 4 pieces of parchment paper, 20 cm x 14 cm
• Pink/red colouring.

Method:

• Mix flour, sugar, yeast and corn oil in a large mixing bowl.
• Add water slowly to the flour mixture. Do not add all the water at one go as the dough may be too watery and sticky.
• Knead the ingredients until a smooth dough is formed and that it no longer sticks to the fingers. (Add more water, spoonful by spoonful, if the dough is dry and hard.)
• Knead for at least half an hour so that you will obtain a very fine crumb after the dough is steamed.
• Divide the dough into 4 parts.
• Shape each part according to your preference.
• After shaping, place the dough onto the parchment paper.
• Cover the dough with a towel and let it proof until it doubles in size.
• Apply the pink/red colouring on the surface of the dough just before steaming.
• Boil some water in the steamer.
• Place the dough into the steamer when the water has boiled.
• (You may wrap the cover of the steamer with a cloth to prevent water from dripping onto the dough.)
• Steam the dough over high heat for about 20 minutes.
• Remove the mee koo immediately from the steamer when they are cooked.
• Let the mee koo cool down completely before keeping them in an air-tight container.

Onion Pork

Pork is the most commonly consumed meat in my family. One of the pork dishes which I created for my family is Onion Pork. It is a naturally sweet dish with the sweetness coming from both the onions and the pork. Sometimes I maintain the crunchiness of the onions in the dish while at other times I cook till the onions are soft. Sometimes I buy pork loin while at other times I use pork tenderloin (also known as pork fillet) which is softer as compared to the pork loin. (Please refer to the diagram below for the various pork cuts. If you wish to know how to cook the various cuts, kindly visit https://modernfarmer.com.)


Ingredients:

• 300 g pork loin or tenderloin, sliced thinly across the grains
• 1 big onion, sliced into rings
• a few stalks of spring onion, cut into 1-inch length
• sesame oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• water
• salt
• pepper
• light soy sauce
• dark soy sauce

Method:

• Heat up the wok with sesame oil.
• Saute the garlic till it is fragrant.
• Add the pork and fry till they are almost cook.
• Add 3-4 spoonfuls of water so that the meat is not too dry.
• Add the onions. (If you want them to be crunchy, add them when the pork is almost cooked. If you want the onions to be very soft, add them when the pork is half-cooked.)
• Add salt, pepper and light soy sauce according to taste.
• Add 1 quarter of a teaspoon of dark soy sauce to give the dish some colour.
• Add the spring onion and stir for 1-2 minutes.
• Dish out the pork and onions and serve them hot with white rice. 

Source: https://modernfarmer.com/2014/03/pork-cuts-101-diagram/

Oats and Bran Healthy Loaf

No two loaves of bread that I bake are the same. When I am kneading I like to add this ingredient and that to change the flavour of my bread. However, the ingredients that I add are those that make the bread a healthy one. I never bake any white bread which consist of purely high protein flour. 

The Oats and Bran Healthy Loaf is easy to bake. You can knead the dough either manually or using a stand mixer. I always double-proof my bread so that they remain soft as long as possible.


Ingredients:

• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 1 cup special wholemeal flour 
• 1/4 cup of high protein or bread flour 
• 1/2 cup rolled oats 
• 1/2 cup of wheat bran 
• 2 tablespoons of brown or cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 2 teaspoon of instant yeast
• 1 cup of warm milk 
• 1 egg at room temperature 
• 2 tablespoons of oil (I use corn oil. Sometimes I use pure butter.)

The method:

• Grease and line a loaf pan 8 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch. Set aside. 
• Put the flours, oat, wheat bran and yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer.
• Put the sugar on one side of the bowl and salt on the opposite side of the mixing bowl.
• Start your mixer on low speed.
• Slowly add the warm milk into the bowl. 
• Break the egg into a bowl and whisk it slightly. Add the egg into the mixing bowl. 
• Add in the oil if you are using oil. However, if you are using butter, it should be added at a later stage of kneading process after the dough has formed into a ball. 
• Increase the speed of your mixer to start kneading the ingredients into a smooth dough. This will take about 20 minutes or slightly more by machine. (It does not matter if you do not have a machine. You may do it manually.) 
• When the dough has formed into a ball, add the butter (for those using butter). 
• Grease a clean bowl with oil. 
• Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and put it into the greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap. Cover with a towel 
• Leave the dough to proof until it doubles in size. 
• Once it has doubled in size, remove the dough from the bowl onto a slightly floured table-top. 
• Knead it manually for about 5-10 minutes. 
• Then form it into a oval shape to fit the loaf pan. (You may also shape them into buns. Weigh the dough and divide it according to the number of buns that you wish to have. I usually divide my dough into 9 parts to obtain 9 buns.) 
• Cover the loaf pan with a cling wrap. 
• Let the dough double in size. 
• While the dough is proofing, pre-heat oven to 175 degree Celsius. 
• Bake the dough in the oven for 25-30 minutes. (If you have made into buns, bake for about 20-25 minutes.)
• If the top of your bread brown too fast, tent it with a piece of aluminium foil.
• Once the bread is baked, remove the pan from the oven. 
• Remove the bread immediately from the pan and let it cool down on a metal rack. (For buns, let them cool down on the metal rack.) 
• Slice the loaf only when it has completely cool down.

Purple Sweet Potato Angkoo Kuih with Mung Bean Paste Filings

I have made Angkoo kuih from orange sweet potatoes before (see recipe in August 2018) and I just got to try making them from the purple sweet potatoes. The purple sweet potatoes are harder to find in the market. When steamed they are harder and drier in texture. However, the taste of the Angkoo kuih made from the purple sweet potatoes are the same as those made from the orange ones. The colours of both the purple and orange Angkoo kuih are equally vibrant. 

Ingredients:

For the base:

• banana leaves
• some cooking oil (I use corn oil.)

For the fillings:

• 200 g mung beans
• 100 g castor sugar (Can be reduced to 80 g for those who do not want to take too much sugar.)
• 2 - 3 pandan leaves
• 100 ml water
• 4 - 5 tbsp shallot oil

For the dough:

• 300 g purple sweet potatoes
• 250 g glutinous rice flour
• 1 tbsp rice flour
• 160 - 180 ml hot water

Method:

For the base:

• Cut the banana leaves according to the size of your mould. My mould measures 6 cm x 6 cm so I have cut the leaves into 7 cm x 7 cm sq. - approximately 60 pieces (30 pieces to be used prior to steaming and the remaining 30 pieces for changing the leaves after steaming.
• Wash the cut banana leaves and wipe them dry.
• Grease the banana leaves with cooking oil so that the dough doesn't stick onto the leaves.

For the fillings:

• Wash and soak mung beans for about 3 hours.
• Put the mung beans into a metal plate.
• Wash and cut the pandan leaves into 6-7 cm length.
• Place the pandan leaves in between the mung beans.
• Bring water to boil in a steamer.
• Place the metal plate in a steamer and steam the mung beans for an hour or until the beans are soft.
• Once the beans are soft, transfer them into the food processor.
• Blend the beans with water, sugar and shallot oil until the beans are fine.
• Pour the beans mixture into a non-stick pan and fry them until it becomes a thick paste which can be rolled into a ball.
• Remove from the fire and let the mixture cool down.
• Once the mixture has cool down, shape them into balls. The weight of your fillings depends on the size of your mould. With my 6 cm x 6 cm size mould, I made the filling  into 12 g so that when it is wrapped inside the dough, the whole dough ball with the filling will fit nicely into the mould. So, you have to experiment a bit before deciding on the weight of your filling.
• Once the fillings have been shaped into balls of the size that you want, cover them with a damp towel and set them aside until you need to use them.

For the dough:

• Wash and cut the purple sweet potatoes.
• Place them into a metal plate.
• Bring water to boil in a steamer.
• Once the water has boiled, place the metal plate of purple sweet potatoes into the steamer.
• Steam until the sweet potatoes are soft.
• Remove the sweet potatoes from the steamer and mash them while they are hot.
• Put the glutinous rice flour and the rice flour into a mixing bowl.
• Put the mash sweet potatoes into the mixing bowl. Use a spoon and mix the sweet potatoes and the flours until well combined.
• Add in hot water, bit by bit, until they can be shaped into balls. To fit my mould, the weight of my dough ball is 24 g. So, you have to experiment to get the weight which can fit into (with the filling wrapped inside) your mould nicely.

Assembly:

• Take a piece of dough ball, flatten it and put the filling onto it. Slowly bring the flattened dough to cover the filling and roll it back into a ball.
• Dust the mould with glutinous flour.
• Place the ball into the mould and press it down to cover the mould nicely. If there is any dough higher than the mould, it means that the dough is too big. So, you have to adjust accordingly.
• Knock the wooden block of the mould on a table. The dough will easily drop off if you have dusted the mould well.
• Place the moulded dough on the greased banana leave.
• Repeat this until all the dough balls and filling balls are finished.
• Bring the water in the steamer to boil.
• Once it has boiled, place all the moulded dough onto the steamer rack.
• Steam the moulded dough over high heat for 4 minutes. Open the steamer cover, quickly brush the dough with some cooking oil. Once completed, cover the steamer and continue to steam the dough at high heat for another 4 minutes. This process will help to maintain the design of the kuih. (I used to steam them for 10 minutes over high heat. But I have since reduced the duration to 8 minutes as I found that the dough have cooked by then.)
• Remove the kuih from steamer and let them cool down completely.
• Remove the kuih from the banana leaves and place them onto fresh ones. Cut the banana leaves around the kuih.
• The angkoo kuih are ready to be served.

Creamy Shrimp Pasta

Eating pasta outside is expensive. We can cook it ourselves as it is a very easy process. Cooking it ourselves means that we can put whatever ingredients and use whatever sauce we want. I remember once when I had pasta in a restaurant, my plate of pasta had to be sent back to the kitchen as it was so dry. Oh my, the chef was so stingy with the sauce. This will definitely not happen with my own cooking.


Ingredients:

• 120 g spiral pasta (2 servings)
• 6 pcs large shrimps (may add more)
• a handful of baby spinach
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 190 ml milk + 190 ml cream
• Seasonings - salt and pepper

Method:

• Boil the spirals according to instructions on the packaging. Drain and set aside.

• Shell, de-vein and wash the shrimps. Season with salt and pepper.

• Peel, wash and chop the onion.

• Peel, wash and chop the garlic.

• Remove the roots, and wash the baby spinach.

• Heat up 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. Add the shrimps and fry till they are just cooked. Remove and set aside.

• Using the same pan with remaining oil, add 1 tablespoon of butter and saute the garlic till they are fragrant and the onion are soft.

• Add the milk and cream. Let it boil.

• Add the shrimps back into the pan.

• Season the sauce with salt and pepper according to taste. (Remember, the shrimps were seasoned earlier.)

• Add the spirals and spinach and stir so that they are coated well with the sauce. Let them cook for a while.

• Scoop up the spirals onto a serving plate and serve.

Curry Leaves Pork

Sometimes we run out of ideas on what to cook for our meals. I think one of the best ways to think of some food ideas is to look around our garden - to see what greens we have and to use them in cooking our next meal. So it is good to do some gardening if you have the space and to plant some edibles like spinach, tomatoes, basil, curry leaves, sawi, brinjal, cucumber, ladies' fingers, etc. to make our cooking easier.

I had pork in my freezer but I did not want to cook it like I usually do. So, I went to my garden, saw lots of curry leaves there and plucked a few sprigs without knowing what to do with them yet. I put on my thinking cap and managed to come up with a new recipe - Curry Leaves Pork.

Ingredients:

• 300 g lean meat
• 2 cloves garlic
• 6 - 7 sprigs of curry leaves
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• salt to taste
• some water

Method:

• Wash the lean meat and cut it thinly cross-grain.

• Mince the garlic.

• Wash and removes curry leaves from the stalks.

• Heat the wok with cooking oil.

• Saute the garlic and half of the curry leaves till fragrant.

• Add the pork and fry it till half cooked.

• Add light and dark soy sauce, black pepper and salt.

• Add some water, if necessary.

• Fry till the pork is cooked.

• Add the remaining curry leaves and stir.

• Dish out the pork and serve.