Stew Meat with Beancurd and Eggs

This is a perfect go-with-the-rice dish, IF you are under 30 and don't mind drowning yourself with cholesterol and fats. But with all things fatty, it is YUMMY! And fat is really flavourful. Also I think it's a good party dish because it can be prepared way ahead and looks really presentable.

800gm to 1kg of belly pork, get a nice square piece with distinctive layers

2 tbsp of dark soya

2 tbsp of light soya

1 tbsp of five spice powder (optional)

1 tbsp of cooking wine

1teasp of salt and pepper

3-4 cups of cooking oil

1) Season pork with dark soya, light soya, cooking wine, salt and pepper, preferably overnight. Heat up oil to deep fry the pork to brown on both sides. Dish out and drain.

2-3 pieces of star anise

1-2 pieces of cinnamon stick

2 pieces of ginger, thumb size, pounded lightly

1 piece of galangal, approx 1 1/2 bigger than thumb size, pounded lightly

1 whole clove of garlic, leave it whole

3 pieces of shallots, skin off and pounded lightly

3 tbsp of coarse sugar

3 tbsp of atap sugar (palm sugar, i think)

4-6 tbsp of oil

1/2 cup of dark soya

6 cups of water

3-4 pieces of beancurd

3-4 no of eggs

1) Heat up oil in a deep pot. Add cinnamon and star anise and fry till fragrant. Add sugar and stir fry till sugar melts. Add atap sugar and stir fry till the atap sugar melts and goes bubbly.

2) Add garlic, ginger, galangal and shallots and continue to stir fry till fragrant. Add the whole piece of belly meat. Add the remaining seasoning from (1). Add water and soya and bring to a boil.

3) Turn fire to low and continue to simmer till meat goes soft. Turn the meat occasionally to colour all sides. Taste for more seasoning.

The best is to do the above a day before serving and leave it in the pot to continue seasoning.

4) Boil eggs and rid the shells. Take meat out to cool slightly before cutting to ensure easier cutting. Add eggs and beancurds to sauce and continue boiling to thicken the sauce. Turn eggs and beancurds to colour all side.

5) Cut meat, eggs and beancurd and arrange them nicely on a plate. Dish out sauce onto the platter. Serve.

The Mystery of the Claws of Death Explained

I thought I'd better clarify the new toy because Greg's eyes opened as big as guli when I showed it excitedly to him. Well, as it says on the box, it is a meat tenderiser.

I was with Jo shopping at Cold Storage a few weeks ago. We passed through their non-halal section, ie. ham and such, and we saw them roasting pork. Both of our eyes popped out like guli when we saw how nice the Roast Pork (Siu Yook) crackled on the top.

So in all kaypo-ness, we asked the sales lady very hush-hushedly how that was done. Hush-hushedly in response, she told us that it wasn't easy cos they used nine types of herbs, etc etc & so on, & then she pointed to this strange looking poking device which her boss brought all the way from KL.

My precioussss!!!
Jo & I probably looked like Gollum at that moment.

And guess what? We didn't have to go as far as KL. Jo called last weekend, really excited, like she found gold. The claw of death is now available at Syn Hap Hin in Padungan for only RM12.50!!!

Jo was probably holding it in one hand & the phone in the other, grinning like a mad woman. I think if both our husbands saw us right there & then, we'd be banned from each other's house.

But little do they know, their loving wives are attempting to make roast pork for experimentation & for the thrill of it, uhm, I mean for our husbands' gastronomical pleasure. The pork is already seasoned, & is now drying in the chiller. We will do the violent poking and scouring on Saturday.

So Ladies and Gentlemen, stay tuned. If you see a roast pork recipe sometime soon, you'd know that we had succeeded. If not, this claw of death probably didn't work. So please don't run out to get one for yourselves just yet.

Nee's New Toy

Nee bought a new toy again.

Being very kitchen & cooking challenged, I didn't know what it was & I thought I could use it to shave or something to that extent.

But fortunately I didn't, for it had retractable claws of death.

This thing could really do some serious damage to its unfortunate victims. Remember Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon?

Well, that's what could have happened to me if I had used it on myself.


I just realised how violent & brutal cooking can be. My prayers go out to all the cows.