肉干 Bak Kwa －－－新年快乐、万事如意

新年的脚步又逼近了。最近看到越来越多人自己动手制作肉干，而且看起来一点也不比外面买来的逊色。他们都说制作过程简单，这也让我蠢蠢欲动想亲自动手试试看。今天刚好和几个新加坡朋友有个聚会。我就决定做肉干让他们解解“乡思之愁”和提早庆祝新年。

制作肉干的确一点都不难。我在网上找到两种做法。两种做法的材料都差不多一样，只是方法上有点不同。一种是先用烤箱用低温烘干肉干，然后剪成小块再用高温烤(grill)至旁边稍微焦香。还有另一种做法是直接用烤箱用高温烤(grill)至焦香。我尝试了两种做法，其实味道没有什么不同。我这个懒惰的人当然是比较喜欢第二种做法。我做的第一批肉干（用第一种做法），一个不小心烤焦了点。我没有加红色色素，但是我用了红麴酱油，加上有点焦黑所以肉干颜色较暗。

颜色难看了点，但味道还可以;p

第二批我差点又搞砸了，因为觉得第一批有点厚，所以就弄薄一点。但是，好像太薄了，翻面烤时有点难。结果第二批的形状很丑;p。

用酱油、蚝油、糖、蜜糖、鱼露、五香粉、胡椒粉、盐及花雕酒腌肉。最好腌隔夜。

将腌制好的肉放在烤盘用汤匙压扁

用烤箱用低温烤干的肉干。还需要剪成小片再烤。

第一种做法（烤两次）：请参考http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.com/2012/01/homemade-chinese-pork-jerky-bak-kwa.html

第二种做法（只烤一次）：请参考 http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/news/bak-kwa-kitchen-110056570.html

我自己觉得这次肉干的味道只是勉强合格而已。我的那些新加坡朋友都说很不错。我看他们是太久没有吃肉干了所以只要味道有一点像，他们就觉得很好吃。哈哈！不然就是他们太客气了，不好意思说味道还好 ;p

Ayam Pong Teh (Nyonya Style Braised Chicken with Potatoes)

 

Bought some chicken thighs and potatoes for cooking curry but both my husband and myself caught the flu and cough virus so my plan is spoiled. Hmm so I have to change my plan. Initially, I wanted to cook braised mushrooms with chicken but than I wanted to have a change as I have cooked that many times (cos my husband loves to eat that). Searched the net for cooking Chinese style braised chicken with potatoes but in the end the nyonya style caught my attention. To be frank I have never eaten Ayam Pong Teh before. But the ingredients used for cooking this dish are all my favourite-- garlic, shallots, taucheong and gula melaka, and I have all these at home! I must give this dish a try! 

The end product is just delicious! I love it! Just give me a bowl of rice and it will be a yummy meal. Oh by the way I get this recipe from http://www.houseofannie.com/ayam-pong-teh-nyonya-style-braised-chicken-with-potatoes/

 

Ingredients:
1) 2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped (the author suggested to double this amount as she like the flavor of shallots. I totally agree! Must add more the fragrant is just so so nice)
2) 5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
3) 1/4 cup peanut oil (or vegetable oil will work too), and I have used a little less oil
4) 1/4 cup tau cheong (brown bean sauce)

5) 3 tablespoon of dark soya sauce. I have used Cheong Chan cooking caramel (you can refer to http://jiajiajiuathome.blogspot.com/2011/08/part-2.html to have a look at what it is)

6) 1 tablespoon of soya sauce

7) 2 Tbsp gula melaka, chopped

8) 1-2 chicken thighs, chopped into pieces
9) 1-2  red potatoes
10) 1 1/2 to 2 cups water
11) salt to taste

Method:
1) Pound shallots and garlic into a coarse paste. Set aside.
2) Heat oil over medium heat, add shallots and garlic paste and fry for about 2 mins, making sure not to burn the paste.

3) Add tau cheong, dark soy sauce and gula melaka. Stir until sugar has dissolved and liquid has thickened, about 30 seconds.
4) Add chicken and potatoes and the water. Bring to a boil.
5) When the water boils, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1-1 1/2 hours.
6) Season with salt and soy sauce to taste. Depending on how sweet your brown bean sauce is (some brown bean sauce is sweetened), you might need to add a bit more salt/soy sauce to balance out the sweetness. The end flavors should be a nice marrying of savory saltiness with undertones of sweetness.

PS: I still have quite a bit of left over. So I kept it for the next day and I add tou pok, mushrooms and some white radish and cook it again for 30 minutes and turn off the heat let the ingredients sit inside to absorb the sauce. It really taste fantastic too!

Tomato Basil Soup

My husband and myself like to eat in this Italian restaurant called Carrabbas.  We love the grilled pork chops there. And of course the pasta there has never failed my expectations. One of the news things my husband has tried and love is their tomato basil soup. My husband is not very adventurous with food. Once he likes some food he will always eat that. Very predictable. So one day he ordered something different which surprises me. And he loves it. You might have guessed it, the next few times we went Carrabbas, he will definitely order the tomato basil soup.


Since he like it so much and his colleague just gave us a basil plant, I shall try to cook this. It is actually very simple. I have gathered two recipes on this soup and merged them together based on what I have at home.


Ingredients:

1)  1 cup fresh tomatoes, cored, peeled, and chopped  or 1 cup canned whole tomatoes , crushed

2)  1 cup tomato juice (or part vegetable or part chicken stock) I do not have tomato juice, so I use half a small can of tomato paste (not ketchup) and mixed with the chicken stock.

3)  3 -3 1/2 basil leaves , washed fresh

4)  1 chopped medium size yellow onion

5)  3 cloves garlic, minced

6) 1/16 teaspoon cracked black pepper

7) 1/4 cup heavy cream. (I use milk instead)

8) 1tablespoon unsalted butter

9) 1/4 to taste salt

10) 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

11) 1/4 to taste lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1) Saute the onions and garlic with the butter and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown.

2) Add in the tomatoes, juice/and or stock in saucepan.

3)   Simmer for 30 minutes.

4) Puree, along with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender, food processor (or better yet, one of those handy hand-held food blenders, right in the cooking pan). Return to saucepan and add cream (i use milk) while stirring, over low heat. 

5) You can garnish with basil leaves and a dash of black pepper before serving.