Recipes

Menu

1. A rich meat dish. Either pork belly, as described below, or Cambodian caramelized pepper pork. (For the latter you’ll need to adjust the time)
2. Tofu salad, e.g. this recipe from a really great mostly Chinese themed recipe collection.
3. Cucumber salad, e.g. this recipe from another blog
4. Green vegetable (e.g. gai lan – a mustard family plant, goes best with the pork – or bok choy) stir fry or steam, with a thickened, sweetened soy sauce (with optional fried garlic and mushrooms blended through).
5. Soy glazed pumpkin
6. White rice
7. Egg custard tarts, e.g. modified from this other blog’s recipe

For the pork belly, I vaguely followed this recipe from thewoksoflife. It was mostly good, but resulted in a very salty rind. Somewhere I read to broil the rind at the end on low, far from the heat, but I think it would be better on high (I alternated between the two). But I also remember another technique where it is roasted over a tray of water, and I think next time I might combine the two. That is:

• marinate the meat side in cooking wine for a few hours or overnight
• coat the meat side with a spice rub (5 spice, pepper, salt, sugar)
• thoroughly dry and prick the skin side, massage in a little bit of salt
• roast for 1.5 – 2 hours on ~160 – 180 C on a trivot above a tray of water (and the extra marinade), all tucked up in a little box of foil like in the woksoflife recipe.
• then, brush off excess salt, and use foil to level the skin side out, before broiling – with constant attention and rotation – relatively far (about 20cm) from the heat, but with the broiler on high, until the crackling is done. I also used some long tongs to raise certain sections on the edge which needed a little more.
• Rest before serving. A 1 kg belly can serve about 4-5 people (but I do recommend doing a size where you will get leftovers!)

For the egg tarts, I use huaiyang pastry. I had some leftover, so I’m not quite sure on the volumes required. But the pastry needs to be rolled out quite thin, thinner than you think (about 3 mm). It expands quite a lot when baked. It is MUCH easier to work with cold dough, hence recommending freezing or thoroughly chilling it. To fill, 1/2 c sugar and 1/2 c water (boiled to a ‘soft-ball’ then cooled). Then whisk 4 eggs for several minutes, add the syrup slowly, and 60ml cream (or milk). Then strain into a jug to pour into the 12 tarts (smaller muffin size) that this amount perfectly fills. Oh, and when putting the pastry in the tins, make sure to have the exposed edge cut with a sharp knife, so it can puff and show all the layers (i.e. cut the circles of pastry with a knife and push them into the trays without squishing the edges too much).

Timing

Day before. Rinse and wipe down pork, and marinate pork flesh in wine, but don’t get any on the skin (leave this side open to dry). Make the pastry for the tarts, and leave it in the fridge or freezer.

2.5 hours before serving. Prep pork belly and do the initial 2 hour roast. Make the pastry for the tarts (or take it from the freezer). Prep the table and serving dishes.

• Pork belly
  • 1 kg pork belly serves 4-5. wipe down.
  • flesh rub – get in all the cracks
    • 2 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp sugar
    • 2 tsp 5 spice powder
    • 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • turn it skin side up, and prick skin all over with a bunch of skewers, go through the skin to the fat, but don’t get the flesh
  • place on a trivot, on top of water and marinade, in open foil ‘box’, with edges 1″ above the skin
  • brush with 1 tsp vinegar, and massage in a little salt
  • bake 1.5 – 2 hours in a 160 – 180 C oven

2 hours before serving. Prep the tofu salad and the cucumber salad, as far as possible (i.e. don’t dress them yet). Prep the sauce for the green veggies, and the ingredients for the pumpkin sauce. Prep the syrup for the egg tarts.

• Syrup for egg tarts
  • 120 ml water
  • 1/2 c white sugar
  • boil until ‘soft ball’
• Tofu salad
  • medium-soft tofu, 1 block
  • cilantro leaves and green onion to garnish
  • Dressing (but don’t dress just yet!):
    • 1 tbs light soy sauce
    • 1 tbs sesame oil
    • 1 tbs water
    • 1 tsp black vinegar (or other vinegar is ok)
    • 1 fresh thai chilli or chilli oil
    • 1/2 tbs toasted white sesame seeds
    • 1/2 tsp sugar
    • 1 garlic clove, chopped
    • 1 tsp minced ginger
    • 1 green onion, finely chopped
    • 2-3 coriander stems, finely chopped
• Cucumber salad
  • 2 cucumbers, peeled, chopped, and salted to drain some water
  • Dressing (don’t dress yet!)
    • fresh chillies, chopped, to taste
    • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (again white vinegar is fine)
    • 5 cloves garlic, finely diced (or less is ok too)
    • 1 tsp soy sauce
    • 1 tbs sugar
    • 2 tbs sesame oil
• Pumpkin sauce prep
  • 5 cm ginger
  • 6 tbs soy
  • sugar (not so much as the full recipe)
  • prep pumpkin, par cook
• Prep garlic oil for the green vegetable sauce

1.5 hours before serving. Prep pork belly. Continue with salad prep / go onto custard tart filling. Clean up.

• Pork belly
  • remove excess salt
  • place onto a roasting rack, on a tray, removing foil. Can use foil to prop up to even the skin surface.

1 hour before serving. Broil the pork. Prep the vegetables. Make the filling for the custard tarts. Clean up.

• Pork belly
  • Broil on high, ~ 20 cm from the heat, until skin is crisped
  • rest for 15 mins before cutting, keep warm but maintain the crispy skin
• Egg tarts
  • 4 eggs, beat for 1 minute, combine this with
  • syrup from before, now cooled
  • 60 ml milk
  • strain and put into a jug to fill the pastry
• Pre-heat oven to 200 C

30 mins before serving. Put rice on to cook, then keep warm. Cook pumpkin. Cook tarts. Prep appetizers. Clean up.

• Pumpkin
  • Place all into a fry pan, and cook stirring gently until sugar is dissolved. Simmer gently, partially covered for ~15 mins, then keep warm.
• Egg tarts
  • fill the tarts to 70%
  • Bake for 15 mins at 200 C then reduce to 180 C for 5-10 mins (or until pastry is done and custard is slightly puffy)
  • Leave the door ajar until ready to eat (warm)

When almost ready to eat. Stir fry/steam the green vegetable once people arrive (so it stays warm). Dress the salads. Cut the pork. Serve.