sweet and sour pork

cut pork chops into little bite-sized pieces.

in a food processor, process about a half of a big onion, four cloves of raw garlic, 2T soy sauce, a half of a small can of pineapple rings, a pinch of five-spice powder, a pinch of salt, a generous amount of black pepper, a dash of rice wine vinegar, and a small amount of minced ginger. optional add-ins include part of a pear, a squeeze of citrus juice, roasted garlic, or your favorite hot sauce. (we added sriracha.)
pulse until pureed.

marinate pork in sweet and sour puree as long as you can remain patient. (about 45 mins. for us.)

meanwhile, start a pot of rice and red lentils. i flavored it with butter, salt, coriander, ginger, and sriracha.

mince an orange, red, or yellow sweet pepper. if you like it hot, you can also mince a chili pepper.

heat lard in a pan. throw in the pork and marinade. cook 5 mins, stirring regularly. add peppers. cook until pork is hot all the way through.

crunchy szechuan green beans

1 clove garlic, minced
1-inch knob of fresh ginger, minced (should equal about 2 teaspoons)
2 Tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (this will be spicy – reduce, if you prefer less spice)
1 Tablespoon oil
1 pound green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces and rubbed dry with a towel

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Whisk together the first seven ingredients (through crushed red pepper) in a small bowl. Set aside.
Heat the sunflower oil in a wok or heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat. Just when the sunflower oil begins to shimmer, add the green beans and sauté, stirring constantly, until they begin to blacken in small spots, about 3 minutes. (Note: Be careful when adding the green beans to the pan, as they should sizzle and pop a bit if the oil is hot enough. This process should go very quickly, with the green beans retaining a bright green color, even though they will start to blacken a bit in spots.)
Add the sauce to the pan, stirring to coat the green beans. Cook just until the sauce reduces slightly, about 2 minutes.

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recipe by inquiring chef

simple eggplant yangshuo style (chinese eggplant)

1 pound eggplant, sliced into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
4 tablespoons ginger, crushed and minced
4 green onions, sliced
4 tablespoons peanut oil
2 teaspoons black bean sauce
1 or 2 teaspoons chili paste
2 teaspoons oyster sauce (veg? sub hoisin sauce.)
1/2 cup water

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Heat wok or a wide skillet over high heat. When the pan is very hot, add the oil and turn the heat to medium. Add the eggplant to the pan, frying over medium until browned and soft. If the oil smokes, turn down the heat to low.

Reduce the heat, and move the eggplant out of the center of the pan or wok. Add the garlic, ginger, chili paste and black bean sauce to the center of the pan, and continue cooking for two to three minutes more, until the ingredients are very fragrant.

Return the eggplant to the middle of the pan, add the water and oyster sauce, and turn the heat to high. Cook the mixture until the water is mostly evaporated. Add green onions, mix together and serve.

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Adapted by the bitten word from The Yangshuo Cooking School

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not bad; nothing to write home about. i left out the black bean paste, and i think that’s probably where a lot of the flavor comes from. oh well.

pak thong kuih – lacto-fermented rice honeycomb dessert

you’ll have to see the pictures in the original recipe over at table for 2….. or more to see why this seems so magickal. how do single celled organisms turn rice into a honeycombed dessert? this is amazing!

i just started on this one today!!

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combine
100gm cooled, cooked rice
½ Tbsp Chinese Wine Yeast ( 甜酒饼，Ragi, sweet type) [i just used a pinch of bread yeast..]
1 tsp sugar
½ Tbsp water
Mix everything together, keep in a covered container (not air-tight!)
Leave it in a cabinet or cold room to ferment for 48 hours.

(note: started 9pm may 5. ready on monday night, may 7!)

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after 48 hours, weight out 60gms (~1/4 c) &
(use the extra to make some fermented rice pancakes!)

to that 60gm fermented rice, add
100gm (~1/2 c) rice flour
water (just to moisten)

ferment for 16-18 hours
Weigh out 80gm of this & set aside.

(started 10pm may 7, done 2pm-4pm tomorrow)

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in a separate bowl, combine 220 gm. pure rice flour, 30 gm. tapioca or other starch, and 280 gm. water

in a separate pot, boil 200 gm. castor sugar, 400 ml. water, and 3 blades of pandan leaves tied into a knot (or other flavor). pour half into the fresh water-flour-starch mixture. cool the other half before pouring it in. add the ferment and ferment again for 12ish hours.

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add a quarter teaspoon of baking soda to a teaspoon of water. take a quarter teaspoon of that mixture and add it to the ferment, along with a teaspoon of oil.

pour into a greased steaming tray and steam 15-20 mins over medium heat, or until a skewer comes out clean.

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5/13
well, i accidentally became overwhelmed by responsibilities and found myself extending the last ferment by a few days. at first, i kept up with it, pouring off the rice wine on top and adding fresh flour. then i slacked. when i finally checked it three days later, it looked hopeless. it smelled like vinegar, and a few fruit flies had somehow made it under the lid kept loose for aeration. i added rice flour and sugar and a few hunks of fresh strawberries hoping to kick-start it. after only ten minutes, the smell was already sweeter and healthier as the yeast woke up. i poured off the rice wine vinegar and fruit flies, added a little cinnamon, and invented some bizarre contraption with a loaf pan in a steamer basket in a pot with a lid on top. i completely forgot the baking soda and oil, so who knows what bizarre consistency or taste will come of this. i’ve been steaming it for a really long time (20 mins at least) and it’s still sort of gooey but tightening up around the edges.

HEY! IT’S DONE!

AND IT’S HONEYCOMBED!

it has a giant hole in the middle with a wrinkled honeycomb pattern coming from it. the pattern almost looks like a grapefruit.

taste:
distinct sourdough flavor. wild! not at ALL sweet. covering the finished product in date syrup is pretty and turns it into a dessert! the sourdough is much more complex and well-developed than i’d thought it would be after just a few days. really wonderful!

texture:
sticky, chewy, jiggly, jello-y, filled with air pockets, awesome, weird, fun!

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MAKE THIS!

Chinese-style meat buns

[Chinese Style Meat Buns]

Ingredients:

Dough

1/2 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt

Filling

1 pork loin (1 1/2 lb)
2 tsp garlic and ginger paste
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp red wine
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 sprigs green onion, finely chopped
Egg wash
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix the warm water, sugar and yeast and let it sit until it starts foaming, for about 15 minutes. In a large bowl add the flour and to it add the egg, oil, salt and the yeast mixture.
Mix it all together using your hands, if you find the dough too sticky just add more flour. Knead the dough on a floured surface for a few more minutes, until it becomes elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let it rise until doubled in size, in a warm spot.
Cut up the pork loin in small pieces and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, add the garlic and ginger paste, vegetable oil, honey, Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, wine, pepper, salt, five spice powder, and sesame oil. Whisk everything all together and add the pork to it. Let the pork marinate for about 1 hour, or until the dough is almost ready.
eat a skillet, over medium heat and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to it. When the oil is hot add the pork mixture including the marinade to it and cook until the pork is cooked thoroughly, for about 5 minutes. Before removing it from heat, add the green onions to it and mix well.
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
Using a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a disc, so that it’s about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. Place heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture in the middle of it.
Seal the bun by gathering up the edges of the disc.
Place the sealed side down bun, on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining balls and meat mixture.
Brush the buns with egg wash and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the buns are nice and golden brown.

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read the recipe here