Pongteh

I recently tried a dish I've never had before in a Nyonya restaurant. It was called pongteh and it had the most delicious flavour. It's not very attractive to look, being all dark and the meat hardly discernible from the mushrooms or even the potatoes; but oh, the flavour! This dish (and the following recipe) is definitely a must-try in my book.

The recipe is adapted from Kuali and serves 4.

Ingredients:
300 grams chicken
300 grams belly pork ; (optional)
3 tablespoons cooking oil
200 grams shallot paste ; (from about 20 shallots)
1/2 tablespoon garlic paste ; (from 3 cloves garlic)
1 tablespoons preserved bean paste ; (tau cheo)
5 dried shiitake mushrooms ; soaked and quartered
400 mililiters Water
1 1/2 potatoes ; peeled and quartered
125 grams yambean ; (jicama), cut as desired
30 grams palm sugar ; (gula Melaka), or to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt ; or to taste

Instructions:
Cut the chicken into pieces; cut the pork into 2cm-thick slices.

Heat the oil to sauté the shallot and garlic paste until fragrant, stirring continuously. Add the bean paste and fry until the oil starts to separate.

Add the pork if using and fry for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and water, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes before adding chicken. Continue simmering until chicken and pork are tender, adding the potatoes and yambean half way through. Add more water if gravy becomes too thick. Season to taste with sugar and salt. Serve with sambal belacan.

Jiu Hu Char (Fried Cuttlefish)

Jiu Hu Char is a dish we always have during Chinese New Year. It is a Nyonya dish and consists of long strips of carrots, yam bean and cuttlefish. It is served with whole lettuce leaves on the side. The way to eat the Jiu Hu Char is to take a spoonful of it and put it in the middle of a lettuce leaf with sambal, if desired. The leaf is then folded over the Jiu Hu Char and popped into the mouth.

The dish is normally very oily. My mum's Jiu Hu Char is less oily than most. Her trick is to add glass noodles to the dish for its silky texture.

This recipe serves about 6-8 people.

Ingredients:
5 cloves Garlic ; minced
50 grams pork ; sliced
1 Carrot ; peeled and shredded finely
8 grams dried cuttlefish ; shredded; soaked for 5 minutes
5 small dried mushrooms ; sliced; soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
3 shallots ; sliced
170 grams Bangkuang ; or yam bean; shredded finely
15 grams dried glass noodles ; soaked for 10 minutes
salt ; to taste

Instructions:
1. In a wok, heat oil. Saute garlic until lightly brown and fragrant.

2. Add pork and fry until cooked.

3. Add carrot, cuttlefish, and mushrooms. Fry until they soften.

4. Add shallots, bangkuang and glass noodles and fry until cooked.

5. Season with salt to taste.

6. Serve wrapped in fresh lettuce leaves with a side of sambal for spice.

Char Siu Bao (Chinese Barbequed Pork Buns)

Dim Sum is famous all over the world. One of its most popular dishes is the Baos or Chinese Steamed Buns, typically with some filling. They're great for breakfast or brunch, taken with Chinese Tea.

The following recipe makes very fluffy, soft baos. Remember to eat them while they're still warm. If you prefer baos without filling, I'd suggest you increase the amount of sugar to about 7 teaspoons for a sweeter dough. I adapted a recipe I found on allrecipes for barbequed pork filling.

Ingredients:
Bao:
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 teaspoons white sugar
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Filling:
- 1 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 227g char siu (barbequed pork), cubed
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons white sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water

Instructions:

1) Mix together yeast, flour, salt, sugar, and vegetable oil. Add in water until you form a dough. Knead until dough surface is smooth and elastic; about 5-8 minutes. Roll over in a greased bowl, and let stand until triple in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

2) Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add green onions and garlic, and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add pork, and fry for a minute, then stir in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water, then stir the mixture into the pork. Cook, stirring constantly until the pork is coated with a thickened glaze. Remove to a bowl, and allow to cool.


3) Punch down dough, and spread out on a floured board. Sprinkle baking powder evenly on surface, and knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 12 parts. Flatten each piece into a 3 inch circle using the palm of your hand or a rolling pin. Place 2 tablespoons of the pork filling onto the center of each circle, and gather up the edges around the filling and pinch together to close the bun. Place each bun seam side down onto a square of parchment paper or aluminium foil. Cover with a towel, and let rise for about 30 minutes.



4) Bring water to a boil in steamer pot, and reduce heat to medium. Transfer as many buns as will comfortably fit onto the perforated pot of the steamer, leaving 1 to 2 inches between the buns. Cover steamer pot with lid (wrap towel around lid to avoid water from dripping onto buns). Steam buns over boiling water for 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining buns.

Steamed Spare Ribs with Garlic and Coriander

I started out experimenting with baking because I like that bakers have to follow the instructions given almost precisely lest the baked goods turn out inedible. Cooking is a different story. Much leeway is provided in the execution of the recipes. As I am neither that experienced nor have a knack for mixing up different ingredients by instinct, I tend to follow cooking recipes line by line as well. Simple recipes are great treasures as the dishes are quick to prepare and, with enough herbs and spices, delicious.

Here's a simple recipe I adapted from Piggy's Cooking Journal. Serves 3.

Ingredients:
200g spare ribs
3/4 tbsp chopped coriander
3/4 tbsp garlic
1/2 tbsp chopped chilli
Seasoning:
3/4 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp fried shallot oil
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tbsp corn flour
1/4 tbsp Shao Xing wine

Instructions:
1) Blanch spare ribs in boiling water for 30 seconds and drain well. Cut spare ribs into pieces and season with a bit of salt.
2) Mix chopped coriander, garlic and chilli with seasoning until well combined.
3) Put spare ribs onto heatproof plate, steam over high heat for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, add coriander and garlic mixture. Continue to steam for 5 minutes until cooked.
4) Remove from heat and serve.

Loh Mai Kai (Glutinous Rice with Chicken)

Loh Mai Kai can be bought from dimsum shops. It's terribly oily however and the filling of 1 chicken, 1 pork, 1 chinese sausage slice and 1 mushroom slice leaves a lot to be desired. So I decided to make my own with plenty of meat and mushrooms, with less oil!

Ingredients
250g glutinous rice
1/3 cups water
100g chicken meat
50g lean pork meat
1 Chinese sausage (lap cheong), thinly sliced
10g black Chinese mushrooms, soaked and cut into thin slices
5 shallots, sliced

Seasoning (A):
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp ginger juice
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Shao Hsing Hua Tiau wine
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp oil
1 tsp cornflour

Seasoning (B):
1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder

Instructions
1) Wash glutinous rice, then soak it for two to three hours.
2) Cut chicken and pork meat into slices. Marinate with seasoning (A) for about one to two hours.
3) Heat oil in a wok and saute shallots till fragrant. Add mushroom slices and stir fry quickly then dish up. Add cooked glutinous rice and seasoning (B) and water. Stir fry well for five minutes.
4) Grease four medium­-size rice bowls. Add some fried shallots and mushroom slices, a few slices of Chinese sausages and seasoned chicken and pork slices. Fill up with glutinous rice and enough water to barely cover the rice and press down with a ladle.
5) Steam for 30­-40 minutes. Turn over the rice bowl onto a plate and serve Loh Mai Kai with chilli sauce.

Pork With Red Wine and Coriander

I'm a big fan of Bitten by Mark Bittman. His recipes seem simple yet hearty. This is one of the recipes I tried, adapted from Mark Bittman's recipe. It was full of flavour and the pork was tender. Pair this with vegetables and potatoes or corn or rice or baked beans.

This recipe yields 3 servings.

As advised by Mark Bittman, ensure that the pork you use has some fat in it, as the cooked meat may dry out before it becomes tender.

Ingredients
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
340g pork shoulder in 1­inch cubes
1/2 head garlic, papery coating removed, cut in half crosswise
1 1/2 cups red wine
1 1/8 tablespoons coriander seeds, cracked and wrapped in cheesecloth
1/2 tablespoon butter
Lemon juice to taste

1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Method
1. Place oil in a large, deep skillet on medium­high heat. A minute later, add pork, and cook, undisturbed, until brown on one side, about 5 to 10 minutes. Turn and
brown another side. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for a minute or two. Add 1 cup wine, then coriander.

2. Turn heat to low, and cover. Simmer gently for 30-45 minutes to an hour, until pork is tender. Remove coriander. Stir in remaining wine; cook 2 or 3 minutes. Stir

in butter.
3. Add lemon juice to taste. Stir in half the cilantro, then serve, garnished with remaining cilantro.

Kiam Chai Ark (Salted Vegetable and Duck Soup)

In my family, Kiam Chai Ark is one of the traditional dishes eaten during lunch on the first day of Chinese New Year. It's salty and sourish and goes extremely well with white rice or brown rice.

Ingredients:

- 30 dried mushrooms
- 1 duck (about 1.7 kg)
- 1 pig trotter
- chicken bones
- sugar cane
- 8 nutmeg seeds (cracked with seeds slightly pounded)
- 10 -12 peppercorns, smashed
- cinnamon stick, 3 inches
- 3 star anise
- mustard greens (kiam chai) (1 kg)
- 10 small onions
- 8 sour plums
- salt

Directions:
1. Soak mushrooms (preferably overnight)
2. Cut up duck into smaller pieces. Boil duck in water to get rid of some of its wax. Discard water.
3. Boil another pot of water and pour boiling water over pig trotter to wash it.
4. Put pig trotter and duck in a pot and boil awhile. Scoop up the scum that forms at the top and discard. Set aside the water.



5. Boil about 2.5 litres water in another pot.
6. Put in chicken bones and sugar cane and boil over small flame for about 1 hour.
7. Discard bones and cane.
8. Wrap up nutmeg seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon and star anise in a small muslin cloth.
9. Put pig trotter, duck and spices in muslin cloth into chicken broth. Then add mustard greens, mushrooms, onions and sour plums. Lastly, add in the water from 4 until the duck and mustard greens are complete submerged. Bring to boil, then simmer for 1 hour.

10. Discard spices and add salt, to taste.


Serve very hot with rice.