Because of my morning sickness kicking in, I’m going to have to be contented with what I eat from now onwards. I can’t cook many fanciful dishes now, for fear that the smell of the food or even the condiments themselves might put me off. Nevertheless, I do wish to keep my blog going (that’s what keeps me going), hence the decision to make simpler, everyday home-cooked dishes (i.e. 家常便饭), just to be sure I don’t waste any expensive ingredients or food at the end of the day.
The first dish in my ‘back to the basics series’ is a Teochew dish that my mum used to cook quite often when I was still staying with my parents. They don’t cook it often nowadays, perhaps because it can be quite salty when eaten as a dish by itself. On the other hand, it is a really great dish to accompany a bowl of plain rice, especially if the meat is cooked right and tender. It also matches my current taste bud which desperately requires a strong and salty flavour to neutralise the bitter and nasty aftertaste of each bite of food that I take.
Ingredients:
- Pork belly: 250g, tenderised & sliced thinly
- Pork shoulder: 250g, tenderised & sliced thinly
- Sesame oil: 1 tbsp
- Fish sauce: 1.5 tbsp
- Water: 2 tbsp + 1/4 cup
- Corn starch: 1 tbsp
- Oil: 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp
- Sze Chuan vegetables: 200g, sliced thinly & soaked in water for 1 hr
- Dark soy sauce: 1 tbsp
Method:
- Mix pork slices with sesame oil, fish sauce, 2 tbsp water and lastly corn starch.
- Leave to marinate overnight in fridge.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok.
- Stir-fry pork slices till they start to turn brown. Remove and set aside.
- Add another 1 tbsp oil in wok.
- Add Sze Chuan vegetables and 1/4 cup water. Leave to cook till water starts to boil.
- Add pork and dark soy sauce. Stir-fry quickly till evenly mixed.
- Serve hot with plain rice.
Tricks:
- I learnt from a recent TV show that tenderising the meat with the underside of the knife and then adding water to the marinade help to keep the meat texture soft and chewy to the bite after it is cooked. It works really well!
- Soaking the Sichuan vegetables in water first before cooking them would prevent the dish from becoming too salty.
Serving:
3 – 4 persons as a side dish
What’s this delicious looking food, and what am I doing here?
A simple dish that you can cook for yourself wherever you are 🙂