Capsicum Mushroom Pork

After a busy weekend out on the town and eating lots of rich yummy food, it was back to the kitchen tonight for a homecooked dinner and a one dish wonder. 

Capsicum Mushroom Pork

200 g lean pork, sliced thinly into strips

1 green capsicum, sliced into strips

6 large shitake mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 medium onion, chopped finely

1 clove garlic, chopped finely

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 tsp cornflour

1. Heat some oil in a wok and saute the onions and garlic. Add in the pork and season with the soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir over high heat until cooked.
2. Add the mushrooms and capsicum and cook for a further 5 mins. Mix the cornflour and water and pour over the pork and vegetables. Stir and cook until a light sauce forms. Serve hot over rice.

Braised Wine & Vinegar Pork

There are just so many ways to cook a beautiful piece of lean pork and one of them is braising it in a wine and vinegar sauce. 

The braising of the pork seals in the juices and with the wine and vinegar it brings a sweetness and sourness to this dish, complimenting the natural flavour of the pork. I've used this wine and vinegar mixture on many cuts of pork and it can be best used on spare ribs and the lean pork neck fillet but any lean pork fillet will do..... It's actually a special recipe handed down from my aunt and she taught me how to cook this dish.

My hubby went out yesterday and did a bit of grocery shopping and came back with some lean pork and a bunch of choy sum so I threw this together for today's lunch... I've cut the choy sum in a smaller length than usual so that it soaks up all the yummy wine and vinegar sauce.

Braised Wine & Vinegar Pork

450 g lean pork fillet

1 tbsp Shao xing wine (rice wine)

2 tbsp rice vinegar

3 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp light soy sauce

5 tbsp water

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 bunch of choy sum, cut into 2 cm lengths

2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1. In a wok, pour about 3/4 cup of water. Add the choy sum and garlic. Bring to the boil and quickly cook the vegetable until it is just cooked but still crunchy. Remove from the wok and arrange on a plate.

2. In a saucepan, heat some oil and sear the pork. Remove the pork from the saucepan. Add the wine, vinegar, sugar, light soy sauce, water and garlic to the saucepan. Stir and add in the pork. You might have add extra water to just cover the pork. Bring the sauces to a boil, cover and simmer until the pork is cooked and tender. 

3. Remove the cooked pork and slice thinly. Arrange the pork over the bed of choy sum. 

4. Uncover the saucepan and increase the heat to reduce the sauce. The sauce should be about 1/3 or less of the original amount and should be slightly thicken. Pour the sauce over the sliced pork and serve.

If you want to cook spare ribs just double the sauce ingredients. 

Coriander Pork with Baby Bok Choy

A bit of carrot, baby bok choy, pork and coriander all stir fried together for our lunch, Coriander Pork with Baby Bok Choy. We are really very lucky over here, so many fresh vegetables readily available and sometimes you tend to buy too much like I did for the weekend. A big bunch of coriander, shitake mushrooms (again!!) and baby bok choy.

Coriander Pork with Baby Bok Choy

300 g pork, thinly sliced diagonally

1/4 cup carrots, thinly sliced

1 bunch of baby bok choy, cut in quarters from the base

1/2 cup coriander, roughly chopped

1 small onion, cut into small wedges

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Shaoxing wine

1/2 tsp rice vinegar

2 tsp soy sauce

pinch of pepper

pinch of sugar

1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the onion and garlic, cook. Add the pork and cook well. Sprinkle with pepper and pour in the wine, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar and stir. Add a little water too to lighted the sauce.

2. Add in the carrots and stir. Add the baby bok choy and stir until cooked.

3. Add the coriander last and cook lightly. Serve with rice.

Sweet & Sour

Celebrations, holidays and family dinners have always gone along with good food, and of course, good company. Today is my Yehyeh's (chinese for grandfather) birthday, celebrating his 80th back home with the family with a big chinese banquet.

When I was young our family dinners would always be held at my grandparent's place. It was a get together usually held once a week, a time to catch up with the family over a good home cook meal. But it wasn't just any meal, you see my grandfather was a chef and ran a family restaurant in Sydney for many years. He had an additional mini kitchen set up in the garage with an industrial cooker, and was cooking up dishes of restaurant quality to be served at our family dinners.

Dinner at Yehyeh's place has always been and still is something I always look forward to whenever I'm back home. One of my favourites is his Sweet & Sour Pork, with just the right amount of sweet and sour sauce accompanying crispy strips of deep fried pork. I've watched him make it countless times and I tried to recreate it here.

Sweet & Sour Pork

450 g pork loin, diagonally sliced thinly

1/2 cup plain flour

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg white

1 medium onion, sliced into thin wedges

3 tomatoes, chopped roughly into large pieces

1/2 capsicum, chopped roughly

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine/ sherry

1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup of chopped pineapple (optional)

oil for deep frying

1. Combine the flour, pepper, salt, egg white and coat the pork with the batter. The batter should be sticky not runny. Set a side for 5 mins. 

2. Heat the oil for deep frying. Fry the pork in batches until it is golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Arrange on a serving dish. 

3. Remove the oil from the wok and leave about 1 tbsp of oil.

Sauce.

1. Combine the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, tomato puree and wine in a bowl.

2. Heat about the oil in a wok. Add the onions, water and sauce mixture in the wok and stir. Add the fresh tomatoes and cover and cook over medium heat for 5 mins.

3. Add the capsicum and pineapple (optional) and cook uncovered for another 3 - 5 mins. Cook the sauce until it has thicken making sure that the tomato and capsicum has still retain most of it's texture. Pour the sauce over the deep fried pork. 

**I usually don't add the pork to the sweet & sour sauce while cooking because I find the sauce will eventually absorb and sauce and soften the pork, plus the kids like the pork crispy. 

**The sauce doesn't really need any cornflour to thicken the sauce when you use tomato puree because the puree is already thick and you only need to adjust the water added.