Fried Bean Curd Spring Roll 春卷

Bean Curd Spring Rolls

The dishes is coming in HOT!! And this time around it is even hotter cause for the first time in my blog, I will be featuring a Video!! And its a video demonstrating on how to wrap the spring roll using the bean curd skin!! Are you ready to make some yummylicious and meaty spring rolls?!

The vege ingredients finely cubed and chopped

Unlike the normal spring roll which is mainly vegetables, my dad's spring roll or 春卷 where he normally calls it contains meats and vegetables and uses bean curd skin to wrap the ingredients around like a shape of a cylinder or a shape of a "popiah". Actually, I am not even sure if it is called as spring roll or meat loaf in English, but I know we call it 春卷 in my family. =)

The size of the bean curd skin

This spring roll is a favorite among my family especially me and my brothers partly because of the crispy and salty fried bead curd skin once you deep fry it. The preparation of this dish do require some effort but once everything is done, you can store it inside the freezer and bring it out to fry every time you wanna eat it!

Ingredients: (Around 12 rolls)
1.5kg minced meat (pork or chicken based on your preference)
300~500g of Prawns (Minced or chopped to small pieces)
8 to 10 Water chestnuts (cubed)
1 Spring Onions
1 Carrots (cubed)
1 stalk of Coriander Leaves
3 Bean curd skins (cut into 4 pieces each)

Put all seasoning and mix well

Oil for frying

Seasoning:
1 tsp of Five Spice Powder
3/4 tsp of Pepper
1/2 tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Sugar
2 tbsp of Soya Sauce
3~4 tbsp of Oyster Sauce

Directions:
1. Placed the minced meat in a big bowl and put all seasoning in it.

2. Mix the seasoning and the meat evenly and set overnight in the fridge.
3. Put in the prawns and mix well.
4. Pour in all finely chopped water chestnuts, carrots, spring onions and coriander leaves into the minced meat and mix well.
5. Prepare the bean curd skin by cutting it nicely into a rectangle shape. (around the size of a cutting board but smaller)

Placing the meat mixture onto the bean curd skin

6. Place a certain amount of the meat mixture onto the bean curd skin and roll it into a shape of a cylinder. (you can refer to the video below)
7. After using up all the meat mixture, place all the spring roll into a steamer and steam it for 15 minutes.

Steamed Spring Rolls

8. Let the spring roll cool down.
9. Bring a wok and pour in oil and fry it under high heat.
10. Once it turn golden brown, scoop up and make sure to drain off the excess oil.
11. Cut nicely and serve!

The cubed water chestnut makes it crunchy and tasty!

Pork Trotters with Radish (Hakka Style)

Braised Pork Trotters Hakka Style

My dad told me that this dish was taught to him by my late grandma (mother side) and the tomato sauce based pork trotters is uncommon compare to those black vinegar that you can find in the hawker center. Personally for me, I am not a big fan of vinegar hence, this dish beats the latter hands down!!

Besides that, my siblings and me have been eating this since we were kids and it is an all time favorite for ALL of us especially my brothers!! I have this rare opportunity to witness my dad cooking this dish recently and I was quick to snap up some pics and not forgetting the recipe for this wonderful dish! It is a pretty easy dish and the ingredients are easily available at your nearest supermarket.

Ingredients:
2 White Radish
A handful of Dried Chillies (as shown on the picture above)
8 to 9 Shallots
500g of Pork Trotters
8 tbsp of Tomato Sauce
2 Bowls of Water (around 1000ml)
3 tbsp of Oil

Directions:

1. Prepare a big pot and pour in some oil under medium heat
2. Pour in the pork trotters, shallots and dried chillies and stir fry till the pork's surfaces turn golden brown.
3. Add in the water
4. Add in the tomato sauce and let it simmer for 30 minutes under low heat.
5. Finally, add in the radish and let it simmer for another 90 minutes or until the meat turn soft and radish is soft at the outside but crunchy in the inside.
6. Dish out and serve!! (Easy right?!!)

Succulent pork.. Yummy~!

Braised Pork Bellies with Tofu and Egg

Looks like kway chap too!!

If you are a fan of pork bellies, this mouth watering dish will certainly win you over! And the best thing is it is very easy to prepare and it goes well with rice!!

Star Anise

One of the main seasoning that is used for this dish is star anise and five spice powder (五香粉).  Star anise is normally used in slow cooked dishes that characterize Eastern Chinese cuisines. And coincidentally, the five spice powder we are using for this dish contains star anise in it as well. Be careful not to put too much of the spice blend into your dish as the food gets bitter if too much of it is being used. Both of these seasoning are easily available in either Chinese drug store or dry good shop.

Ingredients: (For 4~5 person)
500gram of Pork Bellies (pan fried first - optional)
5 ~ 6 pieces of Tofu (sliced)
6 Hard Boiled Eggs
1 liter of Water (use stock if possible, it will enhance the taste of the whole dish!)
Caixin (pan fried with garlic)
Can choose to add in meat balls, fried bean curd or even pig intestine.

The seasoning

Seasoning: (rough estimation, do taste it to adjust to your taste preference)
4~5 cloves of Garlic
6~7 slices of Ginger
1 and a half tsp of Five Spice Powder (五香粉)
2 tsp of Sugar
1 tsp of Salt
4 pieces of Star Anise
2 tbsp of Black sauce

Once you have all the ingredients needed, you are ready to cook!!

Directions:
1.Heat up a pot under low heat and put in the sugar. (beware not to burn the sugar, it will turn to black color)
2. Melt the sugar until it turn brown.
3. Add in water/stock.
4. Add in the remaining of the seasoning and turn on high heat.
5. Taste the sauce and add in salt accordingly to your liking.
6. Let it boil before adding in the pork bellies.
7. Add in the tofu thereafter and follow by the eggs.
8. Let it simmer under low heat for around 90 mins to 120 mins depending how soft you want your pork bellies to be.
9. If you prefer the sauce to be thicker, add in some corn flour mixture (mix with water).
10. Scoop up and topped up with some cooked Caixin at the side.
Serve with plain white rice~~!! Yumeee~!!

This dish goes very well with the special chili sauce that was prepared by my dad which is quite similar to those you eat with beef noodles. I will be featuring the recipe for that chili sauce soon!!

Braised Pork Ribs in Black Bean (Teochew Style)

Braised Pork!!

Braised pork ribs is one of my all time favorite dish cooked by my dad. Yes, Aaron's dad can cook too! A pretty cook as well and I learnt a lot from him.

This is a pretty simple dish and I think there is a bit of "TeoChew" (a Chinese dialect) style in it because my dad is a TeoChew. I have this chance to cook this dish with my dad recently and I would like to share with you all and I bet you will love it as I do!! =)

Ingredients:
Pork Ribs (1kg)
3 Chilli Padis or Dried Chillies (depending on how spicy you like it)
750ml to 1000ml of water
1 Tsp Corn Starch (to thicken the gravy)

Black Beans

Plum Sauce

Seasoning:
2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 Tbsp Plum Sauce
1 Tbsp "Sweet" Sauce (甜酱)
1 Tsp of Black Beans (crushed)
1 Tsp of Black Beans Sauce

Oyster sauce

Directions:
1. Marinate the pork with all seasonings and keep it aside for an hour.
2. Pour in water and chillies and let it boil under high heat.
3. Once it starts boiling, reduce to low fire.
4. Add water if necessary.
5. Let it boils for an hour or until the meat turn soft. (If you are using pressure cooker it will be much faster)
6. Add corn starch and stir.
7. Garnish with coriander leaves (optional) and serve!!

This is really a simple dish and you can try using chicken (preferably breast meat) too!! Enjoy~!!