Bak Kua/Chinese Pork Jerky Recipes

This is another must have snack for Chinese New Year. Who doesn’t like Bak Kua? Maybe if you are a health nut than you might stay away from it. For me Chinese New Year is the time to indulge into all the sinful food, cookies and other luxury snacks that we don’t eat often. Bak Kua variously translated as dried meat, grilled Chinese Pork Jerky or BBQ meat slices.

Back in Malaysia you can get this jerky all year round but strangely, most people will eat this only during CNY. Many people are willing to queue for hours during this time of the year just to get their hands on the BBQ meat from their favorite store. My family is very picky over our bak kua. We only eat the bak kua from a certain store and it has to be lean and doesn’t have the rancid porky smell.

Living here I don’t have the luxury of eating Malaysia Bak Kua. I am able to buy them in New York but they do not taste good at all. They claimed to be made by Malaysian but it just doesn’t have the taste of the one from home. I tried making this once but it didn’t turn out too well either. It was too oily (because of the fatty ground pork) and the taste was out. I didn’t like it at all. So I stay away from making this for a few years.

I tried making it again this year by tweaking the recipe and lo and behold, it turns out really good. The meat was well marinate, a great balance of sweet and savory with a hint of fruity orange. I used mostly lean meat and I made everything in the oven. No more grilling it outside in the super cold winter. You should see me when I first made this. I was standing at the grill in my heavy winter clothing. My neighbors must be thinking this woman was MAD ha ha… If you want a healthier bak kua with no chemicals and preservatives why not try to make it at home. Since this bak Kua has no preservatives, try to consume it within a few days. I don’t recommend you make too much of it at one time unless you want to give it away to family and friends. These keeps well in the fridge and just reheat it in the toaster oven before consuming.

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground pork –with a bit of fat on it
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
Juice of half orange (about 4 tbsp)
Zest of one orange

1. Line 2 baking pan with heavy aluminum foil and set it aside.
2. Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using a big spoon mix it really well. Cover with plastic wrap and let it marinate in the fridge for an hour.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 220 degree F. Spread the marinate meat thinly onto the baking sheets. Use a spatula or the back of the spoon to do this and dipping it in water occasionally. This way it will prevent the meat from sticking to the spoon or spatula.
4. Place the baking pan in the oven and let it bake slowly for 35-40 minutes. At this stage you can see juices appear, the meat will shrink and the edges dry out.
5. Remove from oven and cool it down a bit and cut it into square with pizza cutter or scissors. Turn the oven to broil.
6. Line the cut meat back on the tray. Broil the meat on both side until brown and sizzle . This will only take 5-6 minutes (you have to watch this as it turn dark pretty fast)
7. Let it cool and keep it in an air-tight container.

Note: I put a bit too much of black soy sauce that is why the bak kua look a bit dark. I already adjust the quantity of the black soy sauce in the recipe. If you like to grill this, you can do so. Just cut and grill it after step 5.

Asian Style Ribs Recipes

These are one finger licking ribs. The meat is so tender and juicy that it falls off the bones easily. The sauce is sweet, tangy and with a light hint of 5 spice powder. The secret of cooking this tender ribs is wrap it up in foil and let it cook long and slow in the oven. Normally we will grill it on the BBQ after the baking part but since we already clean up BBQ set so I did it all in the oven. The results are just as good except minus for the smoky flavor.

Ingredients:

3 pound of ribs
1 tsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
1/4 cup light soy sauce
3 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Spare Ribs sauce
1 large orange juice and zest
½ tsp 5 spice powder
1 tsp pepper
3 tbsp dark brown sugar

1. Clean, trim off excess fat from both side and remove the removed the membrane from the back side of the ribs (Insert a knife under the membrane, then your fingers ,work a section loose, grip it with a paper towel, and peel it off)
2. Combined all the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pat the ribs dry and season both sides generously with marinates. Set it aside to marinate for at least 4 hours.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degree F. Wrap the ribs up with a large piece of aluminum foil. Place the ribs in a large sheet pan and let it bake for 1.5 hours. The ribs should be done and fall off the bone by now and if not let it bake for another half an hour.
4. Open up the foil and pour out all the sauce/juice from the baked ribs into a small saucepan. Skim off the fats if there is any and bring the sauce up to boil it let it thickens. Brush the sauce all over the ribs.
5. Switch the oven to broil, and broil the ribs until caramelize and golden brown. Let it cool down for 15 min before cutting into it.

Note: Keep a close watch on the ribs when you broil them as they get burn pretty quick.

Braised Mushroom Meat Sauce Recipes

Weather is getting cold now and the days seem to be shorter, dark and dreary. Today is another cold and rainy day here in PA and it makes me crave for some comfort food. What can be more comforting than a bowl of meaty noodles? When I first saw this interesting recipe at Kokken 69 back in August I was intrigued by it and bookmarked it right away. Since I have all the ingredients in my fridge I cook this for our lunch. Just like Shirley said this sauce is meaty, flavorful and versatile. You may used the sauce on your steamed rice, noodles, blanched vegetables, porridge, etc. This is my quick version of the meat sauce but for the original recipe and version please refer here .

Ingredients:

300 gram ground pork (you can replace it with ground chicken, beef or turkey)
3 pcs dried shitake mushroom – soak until soft and cut into small cubes
3 shallots – sliced thinly
100 -150 ml chicken stock (depend on how saucy you like)

Marinate for meat

1 tbsp soy sauce
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch

Seasoning

1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 ½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp 5 spice powder
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

1. Season the ground meat and set it aside. Heat up the wok with a bit of oil and fry the sliced shallots until lightly brown and crispy. Remove and drain the oil.
2. In the same wok and oil, stir fry the mushroom until fragrant. Add in the marinated ground meat; stir fry until the meat changes color. Add in all the seasonings. Adjust the seasonings according to your liking.
3. Add chicken stock and let it simmer on low heat for 15 min. Add crispy fried shallots. Continue to cook another 10 minutes or until the gravy thickens. Check seasonings.  Remove and serve with rice or noodles.

Tonkatsu Recipes

Tonkatsu is so popular in Japan that there are even restaurants that only serve tonkatsu and similar items such as kushikatsu (bite-sized fried bits of pork and other things on a skewer). Tonkatsu - ton is pig or pork, and katsu derives from the word cutlet. While Tonkatsu is typically served with a sweet brown sauce, we like ours drizzle with mayo.

Since Tonkatsu is a simple dish that requires very few ingredients, the quality of the ingredients are important. In this case it’s crucial that you use a good piece of pork, otherwise you may end up with a tough leathery meat. I like using  boneless center-cut pork chop. Another key ingredient for tonkatsu is panko. You can buy panko at the Asian store of any supermarket. Just look at the international section.

Ingredients:

4  pork chops (about 3/4" thick)
some flour for dredging
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg beaten
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
oil for frying

1. Remove the fats from the meat. Using a mallet or rolling pin, give the meat a few bashes to tenderized and flatten out the meat. Salt and pepper both sides of each cutlet then dredge them in flour, making sure to get an even coat on the sides. Shake off excess flour.
2. Get two shallow bowls and beat an egg in one, and add the panko to the other. Heat up the oil into a heavy bottomed pot and heat over medium heat.
3. Coat a cutlet in egg then transfer to the bowl with the panko. Shake the bowl to evenly coat the cutlet, and then press on the cutlet to get a nice thick coating of panko. Flip and press on the other side then repeat with the rest of the cutlets
4. Once the oil is hot, gently lower the cutlets into the oil, once the cutlets are golden brown on one side, carefully flip them over and brown the other side. Continue cooking until the golden brown and the meat is done. Transfer to a paper towel lined wire rack and let it rest of about 5 minutes before cutting into it.
5. Serve it with your favorite salad.

Fried Wonton Recipes

No one can resist this crispy appetizer. It is such a crowd pleaser especially in gathering or party. I will never order this dish at any Chinese restaurant or dim sum place as it is so easy to make it yourself. I’ve tried out so many version of it like stuffing it with beef, turkey, chicken and tofu but I still like the traditional kind which is pork and shrimps. I made these for Diana when she came home a few weeks ago.

Ingredients:

400 grm ground pork
200 grm shrimp - roughly chopped
3 spring onions – finely chopped
1 carrot – finely grated
10 water chestnut – cut into small cubes
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg white
1 packet of wonton wrappers

Seasonings:

1 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp sesame oil
Salt to taste

1. In a large mixing bowl mix all the ingredients together except for the wrappers. Mix well and set it aside to marinate for an hour.
2. There is a few ways of wrapping the wonton. For today I just wrap it in triangle shapes. Put a tsp of filling to the center of the wrapper, brush all the edges with a bit of water and fold it into triangle shape. Do the same to the rest of the filling.
3. Heat up you oil. Deep fry the wonton in badges until golden brown. Remove and drain the oil on some paper towels.
4. Serve warm or at room temperature with some chili sauce.

Roast Pork/Siew Yoke Recipes

**Non-Halal**

It is not easy to find tasty roast pork here in the US. They are either too salty or the skin is not crispy enough. The best siew yoke is still the one from Malaysia or the homemade ones. Making siew yoke is actually fairly easy. The most important is scored the skin of the meat, marinate it the day before and let the meat dry out in the fridge overnight before roasting it the next day. The last time I made this was over a year ago. Since we ladies is having a get together next week to make this so I had a test on this recipe again. Let me tell you the meat turn out perfect. The skin was crispy, the meat was juicy and it is definitely taste so much better than the one sold outside. Even Carlos who is not a fan of pork said it was really good.

Ingredients:

A piece of pork belly – about 1.5 pound
1 piece fermented red bean curd (Nam Yee)
1 tsp of 5 spice powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of sugar

For the skin:

1 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of white vinegar

Scored the skin all over with a sharp knife

Removed the charring bits with a paring knife
1. Washed and pat dry the meat. Use a sharp knife, score the skin all over.
2. In a small bowl add in fermented bean curd, 5 spice powder, salt, garlic and sugar. Mix well and rub it all over the meat side of the pork.
3. Place the pork belly, meat side down on a baking tray. Then rub the other 1 tsp of salt all over the skin.
4. Place the meat uncovered in the refrigerator overnight until an hour before roasting. The air in the fridge will dry out the pork skin.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degree F. Place the meat on a rack, skin side up and put a tray underneath the rack with some water in it to catch the fat dripping while roasting so the drips won’t smoke up your oven.
6. Brush the skin with vinegar. Roast about 50 minutes and at this stage you can see the skin started to bubble and blister all over
7. Switch the oven to grill/broil, move the meat closer to the top and let the skin crackle all over. This will take another 10-15 minutes.
8. Let the meat rest for 15 min before cutting into it.

Look at the bubble and blister on the skin
Note: If the skin gets too charred you can always scrape it away with a paring knife.

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara Recipes

There are so many varieties of carbonara that it is hard to sort them out. Typically carbonara is made with pancetta (Italian bacon), egg yolks, and parmesan cheese mixed in spaghetti. In the US, sometimes cream is used in this pasta recipe, but this is not typical in Italy. I like to make this pasta dish when I ran out of idea of what to prepare for dinner. All you need is just a few ingredients to pull off this rich, cheesy and satisfying meal.

Ingredients:

½ packet of Spaghetti or pasta of your choice
4 slices of pancetta (you can substitute it with bacon) – cute into cubes
2 cloves garlic – smashed
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat; cook the pancetta along with the garlic until the pancetta is brown and crispy. Discard the garlic and add in the black pepper and stirring occasionally until fragrant.
2. Transfer the pancetta mixture into a big bowl and let it cool down a bit. Stir in the cheese and egg yolks. Mix until well combined and set it aside.
3. Meanwhile bring a pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta until al-dente. Reserve about ½ cup of pasta water.
4. Drain the pasta and toss it right into the eggs mixture. Toss till combined adding the pasta water a bit at a time to create a creamy sauce. Taste for seasonings.
5. Serve immediately.

Note: I didn’t add any salt to this dish as with the pancetta and parmesan cheese the pasta is salty enough. Since I have some roasted tomatoes I garnished the pasta with it.

XO Sauce Recipes

What is XO sauce? XO sauce is a spicy seafood sauce origin from Hong Kong Cantonese cuisine. It is made from dry scallop; dry shrimps, ham, chilies, shallots and garlic are cooked over medium heat for some time. It’s spicy, salty and sweet and if you’re a chili lover, you’ll find this sauce irresistible. XO sauce is also known as the ‘Caviar of the Orient’ is an essential flavor enhancer and a condiment. Not may people make this sauce as home as it is tedious and time consuming and it is easier to just head out to the Asian supermarket to buy one. I made this because I think it cost too much at the store. A tiny little bottle cost like $6.00. Since I have all the ingredients at home I tried making this at home. This sauce is very versatile. You can use it as dipping sauce or add it into your cooking or just eat it with rice or noodles.

By looking the all the ingredients I am sure you know how this sauce will smell like. I bought an electrical skillet just to cook this outside the deck. I don’t think Carlos can tolerate the pungent smell that will lingers around for days ha ha... I want to cook this sauce for a longer period of time but the smell attracts a huge swarm of flies to the deck and it was freaking me out. So I cut short the cooking time but nevertheless it still taste really good.

I was warming up the XO sauce in the microwave to eat it with my noodles and guess what my husband said. He said it smells so bad that he ran and hides in our computer room and he stays there for hours until the smell disappeared. He said I’ve cooked food that smells funky but this one takes the cake. To me it smells so good just like what his said about his stinky cheese ha ha… Since some of you request for the recipe so here it is. I hope you enjoy cooking and eating this great sauce

Ingredients:

10 fresh red chilies
15 dried chilies – soak in hot water
200g dried scallops – soak overnight until soft
2 head of garlic - peeled
10 shallots - peeled
200g dried shrimp – soak in hot water until soft
150g Chinese ham –I used the normal supermarket ham
3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp sugar
½ tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
Salt to taste

1. Drain scallops, tear them into find shreds, pat it dry on paper towel and set it aside. Drain .dry shrimps and chopped if finely and set it aside.
2. Put the shallots in food processor and chop it finely. Do the same to the garlic too, remove and set it aside.
3. Remove the steam and seeds of the fresh chilies and dry chilies. Chopped it finely in the food processor and set it aside. Next chopped the ham and set it aside.
4. Heat up about a cup of vegetable oil in a frying pan or wok over medium high heat. Add in scallops and frying it until crispy and lightly brown. Remove and set it aside. In the same oil, add in garlic, shallots and dried prawns. Stir constantly and cook until lightly brown.
5. Add in ham, and chilies. Lower down the heat and continue to fry for another 10 minutes. Add more oil if necessary. Stir constantly as it may burn easily.
6. Add in the oyster sauce, sugar, salt and pepper and lastly add in the fried scallops. Continue stir fry until it is completely dry. Remove from heat and let it cool. Transfer to sterile jar and keep in the refrigerator.

Braised Pork Ribs with Dry Bean Curd Recipes

This is very popular home-style Hokkien dish which we called ‘Hong Bak’ or 'Tau Yew Bak'. I learned making this dish from my mother but she normally uses pork rather than ribs. Since I am not a fan of fatty pork I used ribs for this dish. This dish goes really well with rice and it taste even better the next day.

Ingredients:

1 pound of ribs
Half packet of dry bean curd stick - cut and soaks in water until soft
1 whole bulb of garlic
2 star anise
5 slices of ginger
2 tbsp of sugar or a few pieces of rock sugar
3 tbsp of oyster sauce
3 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of black soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Marinate the pork with oyster sauce, soy sauce and dark soy sauce. In a heavy pot heat up 3 tbsp of oil. Add in sugar, stir until sugar melted and caramelized. Add in the whole garlic, star anise and ginger. Stir fry until fragrant and lightly brown.
2. Add in ribs, stir-fry until the meat changes color and the liquid almost evaporate. Add enough water to cover the ribs and bring it up to a boil.
3. Lower down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the dry bean curd stick. Continue to simmer. Remember to stir occasionally to prevent burning at the bottom and even cooking
4. Continue to cook until the ribs is tender. Add in more water if needed.
5. Check seasoning and adjust the taste accordingly. You might need more salt or soy sauce. Serve with warm rice.

Note: You can add hard boiled eggs to this dish. Just boil the eggs, peel and put it into the dish 15 minutes before the dish is done. You can also use pork belly for this dish

Asian Potstickers/Dumplings Recipes

Potstickers is a Chinese dumpling, typically consist of a ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped into a thinly rolled piece of dough, which is then sealed by pressing the edges together or by crimping. You can just buy the wrappers now from most of the Asian store. Dumplings wrappers is much thicker than the wanton wrappers and has a chewier texture. I loved eating dumplings. I made this whole lots of dumplings and freezed it and this way we can eat it whenever we want to. This dumplings can be boiled, deep fried, steam-fry or steam.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground pork/chicken
1/2 pound of shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 cups of finely chopped napa cabbage
2 green onion, finely chopped
a small bunch of chives - chopped
1" ginger roots - finely grated
6 water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg
1 package of frozen dumpling skins

Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Some finely julienned ginger

1. Put the shrimp in a food processor and pulse several times. In a large bowl, combine the shrimp mixture with all the rest of the ingredients except the wrappers. Mix well and set it aside to marinate for an hour.
2. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the filling onto dumpling skin. Brush the edge of the wrapper with some water. Fold over and press to secure edges. Make sure edges are sealed tightly. Shape the dumpling so that it has a flat bottom. Cover loosely with plastic wrap so that it doesn’t dry out.
3. When you are ready to cook, heat a nonstick pan with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot arrange the dumplings, flat side down to the pan. Let it fry for 1 minute until the bottoms are light golden brown.
4. Pour 1/2 cup of water or stock into the pan and immediately cover with a tight fitting lid. Turn heat to medium and let the dumplings steam for 4-5 minutes. Open lid and let the remaining liquid cook off about 1 minute.
5. Remove to plate and serve with dipping sauce.

5 Spice Meat Rolls (Ngor Hiang) Recipes

I’ve been away from Malaysia for over 10 years now and my family missed my cooking and baking a lot. So when I am home visiting or when they are visiting me here I always try to cook all their favorite dishes. This is one of them. There are many versions of Ngor Hiang (Fried 5 spice meat rolls) recipes. You just need to modify the recipe to suit your taste. As long as your recipe has the basic ingredients like five spice powder and meat, you will not go wrong. I normally add some carrots to it as it gives the dish a sweeter taste.

Ingredients :

11/2 pound of ground pork
1/2 pound shrimp - chopped
2 small carrots - grated
8 water chestnuts – cut into small cubes
2 spring onions – cut small
2 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
Some bead curd skin – cut into 8” x 5” (for this recipe you need about 8-9 pieces)

Seasoning:

2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 egg
Salt, to taste

1. Mix all the ingredients together except for the bean curd skin. Let it marinate for an hours.
2. Lay the bean curd skin on a flat surface. Put about 4 tbsp of meat mixture on the skin and roll it up like a spring roll. Seal the edge with some beaten egg.
3. Heat up some oil and fry the meat rolls in medium heat until cooked and golden brown.
4. Slice the meat rolls and garnish with some cut cucumber or tomatoes.

Note : For those who don't eat pork you can always replace the meat with chicken, turkey or beef. Happy 4th of July everyone! I am off to the Big Apple.

Sweet And Sour Meatballs Recipes

My mother love making these meatballs when we have a family gatherings. She will normally made a bit more so she can cook this sweet and sour dish the next day with the leftover mealballs. These meatballs is great on its own and will make a great appetizer for party and with the leftover you can make it into this delicious sweet and sour dish.

Ingredients for meatballs

1 pound of ground meat (can be pork, chicken or beef)
1 carrot – finely grated
6 water chestnuts - finely cubes
2 spring onions – finely chopped
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of cornstarch
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Put all the above ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix well and let it marinate for an hour.
2. Form it into little balls . At this stage you can either deep fried the meatballs or bake it in a 400 degree F oven until golden brown.

Ingredients for the sweet and sour meatballs:

15 cooked meatballs
1 cup of pineapple - cubes
Half cucumber - cubes
1 small onions – quartered
1 large tomato – cut small
1/2 carrot - sliced thinly
1 clove of garlic - finely chopped

Sauce
4 tbsp of tomato ketchup
2 tbsp of sweet chili sauce
Juice of 2 lemon
2 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of cornstarch
1 cup of chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set it aside.
2. Heat some oil in a pan, stiry fry garlic, carrot and onions until fragrant.
3. Add in the sauce, bring it up to a boil, add in meatballs, cucumber, pineapple and tomato. Stir well until sauce reduce and thicken. Dish out and serve with rice.

POM Braised Pork Recipes

I love pomegranate be it fresh or juice but I never cook with it. The people at POM email me asking me to participate in their POM Wonderful contest and I created this recipe just for that. As you know pomegranates high level of antioxidants. Beside its rich flavor and the number of ways to eat and drink it, studies have shown that pomegranate contains more antioxidants than green tea, cranberries and even red wine! Pomegranate also promotes healthy blood pressure levels and low cholesterol. For more information about POM do visit their website.

This is a simple dish with very few ingredients and the pork turn out really soft and tender and the sauce was really good. It’s sweet and with a slight tangy taste to it and it goes really well with either rice or sandwich it between some bread. Do give this recipe a try and I am sure you would be please with the results.

Ingredients :

1 Ib of pork tederlion - leave it whole
1 8 fl oz of POM juice
8 fl oz of water
1 " of ginger - slice thinly
2 cloves of garlic - smash
1 tbsp of hoisin sauce
3 tbsp of soy sauce
1 star anise

1) Put all the ingredients except for the pork in a medium size pot and bring it up to boil.
2) Once it's boil put in the pork and bring it up to boil again. Then lower down the heat and slow simmer until the pork is tender and the sauce thicken.
3) Line a baking pan with some aluminium foil and place the pork on the pan. Broil the pork until it brown and lightly charr on the outside. Turn the pork a few time for even browning.
4) Slice the pork thinly, drizzle the sauce on top and garnish it with some fresh pomegranate.

Note : You can replace the pork with beef tenderlion or chicken for this dish.

BBQ Ribs ( II ) Delicious Recipes

The way of making this ribs is similar to this except I change the marinate to some fruity Asian flavor.

Ingredients :

3 pounds ribs
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
4 tbsp of tomato ketchup
1" fresh ginger peeled and grated
1 tbsp of minced garlic
2 tsp. lemon zest grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Some heavy duty aluminium foil - big enough to wrap the ribs

1. Trim excess fat from back ribs. Combine all other ingredients. Mix well and pour over ribs. Cover and marinate in refrigerator overnight or at least for 3 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Remove ribs from marinade. Reserve the marinate. Put the ribs on the aluminium foil and wrap it up with double foil.
3. Put the ribs on a baking tray and bake in the oven for at least one an a half hour or until its tender.
4. Put the reserve marinate in a heavy saucepan. Bring the marinate to boil and cook over low fire until it reduce to a glaze-like consistency (about 1/3 cups).
5. Reduce oven heat to 325ºF. Open the foil and brush ribs with glaze, continue to bake (open) until golden brown.
6. Serve with corn or some salad.

Steamed BBQ Buns II Delicious Recipes

I have this very bad habit of eating steam bun or we Chinese called it Pau. I will break the pau into half and then start digging out all the fat meat. As you know most of the pau at the dim sum place has a lot of fat in it. So the best is to make it myself where I can put whatever I want for the filling. I made 12 of these and will give some to Diana so she can just steam them and eat it before going for her class.

I used this ready-mixed steam bun flour for the dough. You can get this at Asian Store.


Ingredients for filling

300 grm of BBQ meat (pork or chicken) - cut to small cubes
1 small onion - cut small
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
2 tbsp of hoisin sauce
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
2 tsp of sugar
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of green peas - optional
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp of cornstarch + 2 tbsp of water
14 piece of square greaseproof paper - about 1 1/2" x 1 1/2"

1) Prepare the dough according to the instruction on the ready-mixed flour.
2) Heat up oil and stir fry garlic and onions until lightly brown.
3) Add in BBQ meat, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper and stir fry until well mix. Add in the water. Lastly add in green peas.
4) Add in the cornstarch solution and bring to boil again. Dish out and set aside to cool.
5) Divide dough into 12-14 pieces and roll into a ball. Flatten it and put a tablespoon of filling and seal the edges. Put the bun on top of the greaseproof paper and set aside to proof for 15 minutes.
6) Prepare a steamer with rapid boiling water and steam the buns for 20 minutes.
7) Serve warm.