Pork Jerky (Bakkwa / 肉干）

Ingredients:

600g minced pork/chicken
135g sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce (optional)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp Shao Hsing wine
1 tsp Mei Kuei Lu Chiew (rose wine)
1/8 tsp liquorice powder
1 tbsp oil


Method:

• Marinate minced pork with all the above ingredients. Leave it overnight in the refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
  
• Place marinated meat on a piece of baking paper and cover with clingwrap. Using a rolling pin, roll the meat to a thickness of about 2mm.
• Remove the clingwrap and place the baking paper with the meat on a tray.
• Bake the meat in the preheated oven for about 20 mins. Turn it over and bake for a further 15 minutes. Take it out from the oven.
  
• Cut the meat with scissors into smaller squares and grill the meat on both sides until you achieve the desired colouring.

Buttermilk Hotcakes

This recipe was adapted from MasterChef Australia

 
Ingredients:

125g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg, lightly whisked
250ml buttermilk
80g butter, melted
4 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of salt 
1tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp ricotta cheese or natural yogurt


Method:

• Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt. Stir to combine.
• Combine buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and butter.
• Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Using a hand-held mixer, beat until smooth. Fold in ricotta cheese.
• Pour the batter into a jug and let it rest for 30 minutes.  If it is too thick, a little milk can be added. 
  
• Lightly grease a frying pan over low heat.
• Pour about ½ cup of batter into the pan and cook until small bubbles appear on the surface. Turn over the hotcake and cook for another minute or until golden and cooked through.
• Remove from the pan and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter.
• Place the hotcakes on serving plates. Top with a scoop of ice-cream and some fresh strawberries. Serve immediately.

Tomato Fish

Ingredients:

550g firm white boneless fish fillets, cut into pieces
2 tomatoes, sliced thickly
5 cherry tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 stalk spring onion, sliced diagonally
plain flour, for dusting
olive oil

Sauce: Combine together -

2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
3 tbsp tomato sauce
4 tbsp water
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp sugar


Method:


Pat the fish dry with paper towel. Sprinkle pepper and salt and dust fish with flour, shaking off any excess.
Heat oil in a pan. Pan fry the fish on both sides until cook. Remove from pan and drain on kitchen paper towel. Transfer on to a plate.
Using one tablespoon of oil in the pan, saute onions, garlic and ginger until aromatic.
Add tomatoes and pour in the sauce. Bring to the boil.
Pour over fish and garnish with spring onion. Serve immediately.

Spaghetti Bolognaise

Serves 4 - 5

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 rashers bacon, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 stick celery, diced

1/2 red capsicum, diced
100g button mushrooms, sliced thinly
500g beef mince
1 cup red/white wine
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 x 425g canned tomatoes
2 cups beef stock/water
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
3 bay leaves
salt & pepper, to taste


Method:

• Heat oil in a large deep pan. Add bacon, onion and garlic fry for about 5 minutes over medium heat.
• Increase heat; add mince, breaking up any lumps with a fork as it cooks. Cook until meat is well browned.
• Add wine and stir well.
• Add carrot, celery and mushroom and stir well.
• Add in tomatoes, stock, sugar and parsley.
• Bring to the boil; reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper.

  

Note: Sauce can be also used for layering in lasagne or in cottage pie.

Cottage Pie

Spoon hot bolognaise sauce in a dish and cover with mashed potato.  Sprinkle some grated cheese over the potato and grill or bake for 10 mins. 

Rainbow Butter Cake

Ingredients:

5 oz butter, softened
5 oz caster sugar
5 oz self-raising flour, sifted
5 eggs, separated
1 tbsp milk
2 tbsp cocoa powder
red food colouring
1 tsp vanilla extract


Method:

• Lightly grease a 19cm cake tin. Line the base with baking paper.
• Preheat oven to 160 degrees C for about 15 minutes.
• With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy (mixture should looked pale).
• Beat in egg yolks, one at a time and make sure that each egg is completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding the next one. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined.
• Fold in flour alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir until just combined and the batter is smooth.
• Beat egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until stiff peaks form.
• With a rubber spatula, gently fold about a third of the beaten egg whites into the batter to lighten it; then fold in the remaining whites until just combined. Do not over mix.
• Divide the batter into 3 portions. Add a few drops of red food colouring to one portion and stir until well combined. Add cocoa powder into another portion and stir to combined.
• Place alternate spoonfuls of the 3 mixtures into the prepared tin.
• Bake for about 45 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.
• Leave the cake in the pan for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

Roast Pork

Ingredients:

2 x 800g of belly pork with the skin
1 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp sea salt
2 tsp five-spiced powder
2 pieces of red fermented bean curd (nam yue) - mashed
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp Shao Hsing wine
Oil


Method:

• Clean the pork and then pour hot water over the skin. Wipe dry. The skin needs to be very dry before putting into the oven, so clean the pork several hours before cooking so that it could be dried properly.
• Combine white pepper, five-spiced powder, ‘nam yue’, sugar and wine in a bowl.
• Turn the pork flesh-side up on a rack and rub the spice mixture all over the meat (only marinate on the flesh-side). Turn the pork skin-side up and set it aside tor several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 230 degrees C for 20 minutes.
• Place the pork, skin-side up on a rack over a roasting pan. Drizzle oil all over the skin and sprinkle salt all over the top.
• Roast the pork for 20 minutes. Then take the pork out and use a sharp instrument to prick the whole surface of the skin. Reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees C and roast it for a further 45 – 50 minutes.
• Remove pork from the oven and let the roast rest for 15 minutes before cutting into pieces.