Pig Trotters With Black Vinegar 猪脚酸

Pig Trotters With Black Vinegar 猪脚酸

 Recipe source :  Gigi Wong on Astro ( Hong Kong actress )

This is a traditional confinement dish which is ever popular and is always featured in cookbooks on confinement food. This is also one of my favourites even when I am not in confinement.

I have been craving for this dish ever since I watched Gigi Wong's cooking show on Astro a few months back. It was interesting to watch her cook this dish step-by-step but it would have been even better if she had given the precise weights and measurements for each ingredient used. 

Anyway I was eager to try out Gigi Wong's way because she cooked it differently from how my late mother used to cook this for me during my confinement. Gigi Wong dipped hard boiled salted duck eggs into the black vinegar in  addition to hard boiled chicken eggs. I like the addition of salted eggs! They tasted less salty after being immersed in the black vinegar. Gigi Wong dry-fried the ginger pieces before adding a dash of oil and salt to it. The ginger pieces were crunchy. Very nice, even though the ginger were old and matured. 

The sweet and sour vinegar soup was so tasty that I drank several bowls after the trotters and eggs were gone! I guess I'll have to go on a strict diet for at least a week or two after consuming so much fat. And I shall have to suffer guilt pangs and worry about cholesterol, clogged arteries and possibly a coronary by-pass!

Note :  

1)  Do not remove the skin from the old ginger. I was told that much of the nutrients and goodness reside there. 

2)  Use a clean toothbrush to clean and remove the dirt particles from the old ginger.

Bon appetit!

 

Ingredients

800g pig trotters , cut into pieces and blanched in boiling water. Drain dry.

6 chicken eggs, hard boiled and remove shell

2 salted duck eggs, hard boiled and remove shell

300g old ginger, cut into thick slices and give them a smack using the side of a cleaver

250ml black vinegar

1000ml water

 A dash of sesame oil

1/2 tsp salt

130g cane rock sugar

Method

1.  Dry-fry the ginger pieces in a wok until the ginger pieces are slightly charred around the edges.

2.  Add a sprinkle of salt and a dash of sesame oil to the ginger pieces. Remove and set aside.

3.  Place water and black vinegar into a pot, preferably an earthen pot, and bring contents to a boil.

4.  Add fried ginger pieces and cane rock sugar and the hard boiled chicken eggs and salted duck eggs.

5.  Continue to boil over slow fire for about 45 minutes. 

6.  Then add pig trotters and boil until they are tender. About 30 to 45 minutes.

7.  Add salt to taste. 

You can see the contrast between the salted duck egg and the chicken egg

 

Super-duper yummy!

Savoury Bamboo Leaf Dumpling 咸肉粽

Savoury Bamboo Leaf Dumpling 咸肉粽

After making bamboo leaf alkaline dumpling with red bean paste  and bamboo leaf dumpling with dried shrimps sambal,  I had originally  planned to make this savoury dumpling much earlier to share in my blog. However, due to unforeseen circumstances and work commitment, I am only able to make these dumplings today for the coming Dragon Boat Festival which falls on the12th of June 2013.  I hope it is not too late to share my savoury dumplings now. These savoury dumplings are popularly known among the Hokkien community as the "Bak Chang" or "Hum Yook Chung" in Cantonese. 


Happy Dragon Boat Festival to all of you !

 

Glutinous Rice

1 kg glutinous rice, wash, soak overnight and drain

Then add : 
4 tsp salt
2 Chinese soup spoon oil
1 tsp 5-spice powder
1 tsp sugar

Mix the above ingredients with the glutinous rice. Mix thoroughly.

Mushrooms

200g mushrooms. soak until soft and remove the stems

Then marinate the mushrooms with the following ingredients, overnight in the refrigerator :

6 tsp ( heaped ) sugar
2 1/2 big Chinese soup spoon soy sauce
2 big Chinese soup spoon shao shing wine
3 big Chinese soup spoon cooking oil

Pork Belly

1 kg pork belly, cut into slices

Then marinate the pork belly slices with the following ingredients overnight in the refrigerator :-

 2 1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp pepper
1 1/4 tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp oyster sauce
3 tsp dark soy sauce

Instructions

1.  Heat oil in wok until very hot. Fry the marinated mushrooms and pork belly together for 5 - 6 minutes.
2.  Dish up and set aside to cool. ( No need to fry until the pork slices are cooked ).

Other Ingredients

5 salted duck egg yolks, cut into halves
150g dried scallops, wash and rinse
150g black-eyed beans ( mei-tau in Cantonese ) - soak overnight, then boil with 1 tsp salt until soft
150g split mung beans ( look-tau peen in Cantonese ) - soak overnight, then boil with 1 tsp salt until soft
2 bundles of bamboo leaves, boil in water and wipe clean with towel
straws or strings for tying

 The stir-fried mushrooms and pork belly

 Black-eyed beans

 Split mung beans

 Glutinous rice mixed with the spices and seasonings

  Dried scallops

 Salted duck egg yolks

 

 All ready for wrapping

Wrapping the bamboo leaf dumpling step-by-step

 Scoop 1 1/2 tbsp of glutinous rice onto 3 pieces of bamboo leaves

  Add on the mung beans and black-eyed beans

 Then add on 5 pieces of dried scallops

 Top up with half a piece of salted duck egg yolk

 Add 2 pieces of pork belly and 2 pieces of mushrooms

 Scoop 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp glutinous rice on top

 Place a piece of bamboo leaf over the ingredients to be wrapped

 Fold the bamboo leaf over one side

 Fold the other side to form a packet or a parcel

 Turn the edges to the bottom of the parcel

The wrapped-up parcel. Makes 20 to 22 dumplings

Secure the parcel with strings.

You may refer to my previous posts on step-by-step guide on wrapping bamboo leaf dumpling

Boiling the Dumplings

1.  In a very large pot, bring 10 litres of water to the boil
2.  Add 3 tbsp of salt to the boiling water.

3.  Make sure the water is boiling before adding in the dumplings and make sure all the dumplings are submerged in the boiling water. 

4.  Boil for 2 1/2 hours. 

5.  If the water level is reduced below the dumplings, add more boiling water to the pot.   

N.B. Unless otherwise stated, a tsp or tbsp or big Chinese soup spoon means a flat spoonful.

Steamed Minced Pork With 3 Types of Eggs 三蛋蒸肉碎

Steamed Minced Pork With 3 Types of Eggs 三蛋蒸肉碎

I was at the market choosing oranges when I overheard three ladies talking about this dish. One
of the ladies was teaching her two friends how to make this steamed minced pork with three different types of eggs. No precise weights and measurements were mentioned. However, she described in detailed how to go about preparing this dish. I overheard the whole conversation!  

After paying for the oranges, I happily walked down a few more stalls to buy a small packet of minced pork. I already have century eggs and salted eggs in my pantry. Fresh eggs is a staple which I frequently replenish in my fridge. So I have all the ingredients to try out this dish which sounded interesting. Three types of eggs all in one dish!. 

I jotted down the weights and measurements of each ingredient used. I am sharing the result of my effort here. It was very simple to do and it's tasty.

Ingredients

350g minced pork
2 eggs
1 century egg, cut into cubes
1 salted egg, cut the egg yolk into cubes
6 tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soya sauce
sesame oil
dash of pepper
some chopped spring onion for garnishing

Instructions

1.  In a large bowl, mix the minced pork with the three different types of eggs.
2.  Add in salt, soya sauce, pepper, sesame oil and water
3.  Mix well to ensure even distribution.
4.  Place into a steamer and steam for about 25 to 30 minutes.
5.  Remove from steamer and garnish with chopped spring onion.

 Left :  century egg. Middle : salted egg. Right : fresh eggs

 Minced pork

 Century egg cut into cubes

 Fresh eggs

 Salted egg with the egg yolk cut into cubes

Steamed Pau With Salted Egg Yolk Lava 流沙包

Steamed Pau With Salted Egg Yolk Lava 流沙包

Recipe source :  Flavours Magazine

My family loves "lau sar pau". YS can down several lau sar pau at one go and that is in addition to other dim sum that he had packed in!  The most memorable ones are those we had eaten while we were visiting  Foshan, Guangzhou. The dim sum there at "Dancing Ray Hotel" were fabulous!  I feel nostalgic as I looked back at the photos and the dim sum we had while we were there. I look forward to going there again, back to the same restaurant which served such scrumptious food!



I am delighted that my attempt to make lau sar pau is highly successful!. The lava was oozing from the hot steaming pau and the taste was simply wonderful!  If I may say so, this batch of lau sar pau is even better than many of the dim sum restarurant around where I stay! Many a time I came across lau sau paus from dim sum restaurants where the lava is dry and not oozing as it should be. 

See the lava is oozing from the hot steaming pau

I am definitely making these again but maybe I will have to increase the size of the pau since this batch of paus seemed too small to even fill up the paper cups. Yes, that's what I'll do the next time - the pau dough should be at least 50g each instead of 30g as what I had done today.  Then, hopefully my lau sar pau will look fat and nice to fill up the whole paper cup, like those in the dim sum restaurants. 

 

Ingredients

Filling

10 salted duck egg yolks
60g milk powder
60g custard powder
100g sugar
150g butter
200g evaporated milk

Dough 

300g Hong Kong flour
1 tsp dry yeast
70g sugar
120 ml carrot juice
10g shortening

To prepare the filling

 

1.  Steam salted egg over high heat until cooked, about 10 minutes.
2.  Set aside to cool. 
3.  In a mixing bowl, crush the egg yolks until powdery.
4.  Add in the milk powder, custard powder and sugar. Mix well.
5.  Add in the butter and evaporated milk. Mix thoroughly.
6.  Cover the bowl with cling film and store in the freezer until needed.

To prepare the dough

1.  In a large bowl, mix Hong Kong flour, yeast, sugar and carrot juice.
2.  Add in the shortening and mix well.
3.  Knead the dough on flat, lightly floured surface until smooth.
4.  Portion out the dough into small balls of 30g each.

To assemble

1.  Roll out each ball into circular shape with thickness of about 2 mm.
2.  Top each circle with 1 spoonful of filling.
3.  Gather the edges and fold over, pinching to seal the pau.
4.  Place into paper cups in a scalloped mould and allow the pau to rest for one hour to proof.
5.  Steam over high heat for 10 minutes.
6.  Serve hot. 


Note :  There will be salted egg whites left over since this recipe used only the salted egg yolks. You can use the salted egg whites to make into a soup. Read San Choy Soup With Salted Egg Whites

Fresh carrot juice. 

I grated 2 medium-sized carrots to squeeze out 120ml of carrot juice

Steamed salted egg yolks. 

I used the back of a metal spoon to crush these salted egg yolks into a powdery form.

Waiting to proof before steaming

Lau sar pau - Yummy !

Mooncake : Teochew Mooncake With Yam Paste Filling潮州月饼

Mooncake : Teochew Mooncake With Yam Paste Filling

  潮州月饼

 Fresh from the oven

With yam paste filling and salted duck egg yolks

The Mooncake Festival is just round the corner. Shops and supermarkets are already doing brisk business selling a wide variety of mooncakes. Those mooncakes sold commercially are very attractively packaged and beautifully made. However, they are too sweet for my liking. If I have the time I would rather make the mooncakes at home. Though they may not turn out to be as beautiful as those sold in the shops but then I can control the amount of sugar that I put into the mooncakes and they are free from preservatives.

I cannot remember from where I got this recipe because I had been an avid recipe collector since I was a teenager. But I am truly grateful to whoever shared this recipe years ago either via the newspapers or magazines. 


Note : In case you do not know what to do with the excess salted egg whites, click here

 

Ingredients

-8 salted duck egg yolks - (steam the salted egg yolks on an oiled plate for 10 minutes)
-8 large paper cups

Place the salted duck egg yolks on an oiled plate

Steam them  for 10 minutes

 

Lard Pastry Dough

110g high protein flour
60g lard

Mix well together. Allow to rest for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions

Water pastry Dough

110g high protein flour
1/2 tbsp vinegar ( optional )
20g lard
60ml water

Mix well together. Allow to rest for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions.

Yam Paste Filling

480g yam ( nett weight after removing the skin )
145g sugar
80g cooking oil
2 shallots, sliced thinly
1 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp salt mix with 1 tbsp water

 

Cut the yam into thin slices.

Steam at high flame for 20 minutes until very soft.

Mash the yam immediately while they are still very hot.

Remove the hard lumps that did not soften and could not be mashed.

 

 Wrap one salted duck egg yolk with one portion of the cooked yam paste filling

Form into smooth round balls. The salted duck egg yolks are wrapped inside the yam paste

Instructions To Prepare The Yam Filling

1.  Steam the yam for about 20 minutes until very soft.
2.  Mash it while it is still very hot. Remove all the hard lumps that did not soften
3.  In a wok, heat 4 tbsp cooking oil and fry the sliced shallots until light brown
4.  Remove all the shallots, leaving the oil in the wok
5.  Add in the mashed yam, sugar, salt solution, flour and the remaining oil
6.  Stir briskly until the yam is dry and forms a lump and is no longer scattered all over the wok
7.  Dish up and leave it to cool
8.  Once the cooked yam filling has cooled down, divide them into 8 portions
9.  Wrap one salted duck egg yolk with one portion of the yam paste filling
10. Form into 8 round balls of yam paste filling

How To Wrap The Mooncakes

 

 1.  Use one portion of the water pastry dough and place it on a flat surface

2.  Use a rolling pin to roll and flatten the water pastry dough into a flat rounded mass.

 3.  Place one portion of the lard pastry dough on top of  the flattened water pastry dough

 4.  Wrap the  water pastry dough round the lard pastry dough

 5.  Seal the edges and form into a ball

 6.  Roll out the ball into an oval shape

 7.  Roll up one end of the oval-shaped dough like in a Swiss roll

 8.  This is how it looks like when rolled up

 9.  Use a rolling pin to press down and once again roll out the dough length wise

 10.  The rolled out dough

 11. Fold it up from one end, Swiss roll style

 12.  End result of the rolled up dough

 13.  Use a rolling pin to press it down

14.  Roll out into a flat rounded flat mass.

15. Place a piece of yam paste filling in the centre and  wrap it up.

15.  Once wrapped up, place it into a large paper cup
16.  It's ready for baking

 

Baking the Mooncakes

1.  Preset the oven at 180 degree Celsius
2.  Place the wrapped Teochew mooncakes into the oven 
3.  Bake at 180 degree Celsius for 30 minutes

 Teochew mooncakes