A Return to Cooking

To recover herself from post-illness syndrome, Siaopo cooks.

The first time Siaopo cooked after a long break - last cooking was a almost a month ago.

She was frantically happy.

Siaopo is not back to cooking full-time as yet. She just wanted some movements to kill boredom as well as for mind-refreshing.

So, with hubby's help, Siaopo managed to cook..................

TADAH..................just simple Char Siu Pork.

Aiyoh. The Char Siu looks weird without dark soy sauce and red colouring. ( Dark soy sauce is prohibited for now )

Siaopo realised that this simple cooking (marinate and just dump the pork into oven) has brought her some wakefulness.

It's superb what cooking can do for Siaopo's alertness level.

Siaopo is quite certain that ideal movement for energy boost is to do more walking. Like she said, walking around her garden is the best she can do for now.

Her ideal motion, however, will have to wait for a little longer, when she's completely recover.

For the record, Siaopo can't help but notice that her belly and hubby's spare-tire are of the same size.

Convalescence really expands her belly as well as her bottom.

Sigh. Chia lat.......

Thanks to her 3 weeks stay-home-hibernation ( eating and sleeping only ) without a single way or part of perspiration - not even her underarm !

For goodness sakes.

Sweet and Sour Meatball

Diversifying the meatballs into Sweet and Sour Meatball.

Ingredients
15 Meatballs
1 tbsp garlic
1 onion (sliced)
1 red pepper (chopped)
1 green pepper (chopped)

Sauce
4 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp chicken stocks
4 tbsp water

Method

1. Mix sauce into a bowl.
2. Fried garlic till fragrant.
3. Add peppers and onions.
4. Add sauce and cook for 2 minute.
5. Stir in meatballs.
6. Serve with rice.

Tangy Meatball

An energy-boosting snack to keep the Sunday afternoon going...

Ingredients
1 small packet of pork mince
2 stalks coriander leaves (chopped)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp five spice powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 egg
pepper

Method

1. Mix all ingredients and marinate for 2 hours.
2. Shape the meat to balls. Deep fried till golden brown.
3. Serve with chili sauce.

Grilled Black Pepper Pork chop

The last time hubby and Siaopo had pork chop was during a visit to Loughborough. Lufbra Boy prepared us an absolutely tasty pork chop.

Having a slight crave for it now, Siaopo had decided to make grilled black pepper pork chop.

Ingredients
4 pork fillets
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
1 tbsp of crushed white peppercorns
3 tbsp butter

Sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup of chicken stock
2 tbsp of D.O.M

Method

1. Spread crushed garlic on both sides of the pork.Sprinkle both peppercorns on to pork.
2. Press peppercorns onto meat and leave it to marinate for at least 1 hr.
3. Heat up grill pan with butter. Grill the pork on each side till cook.
4. Stir in sauce ingredients and bring to boil.
5. Place pork onto a plate. Pour the sauce over.

Mediterranean Pork Skewers with Vegetables

Every now and again, the local ladies group that Siaopo joins will hold food events to meet the diverse tastes of every member in the group. The group recently hold a taster night which every member will bring in a dish and share among the group.

Siaopo was having hard time thinking a simple dish that will offer flavours to suit the English taste. The previous two taster nights, Siaopo had cooked seafood fried rice and chow mein.

A million and one menu swirl through Siaopo's head for a week!

Siaopo finally decided to give in a Mediterranean kick - Pork Skewer with vegetables. Quick to prepare and rich in flavours.

Ingredients
1 big red chili ( De seed and chopped)
3 stalks spring onions (chopped)
2lb pork mince
2 tbsp curry powder
lemon juice
2 tbsp yogurt
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper

Method

1. Place pork, curry powder, yogurt and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well. Marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degree.
3. Slice the onion and pepper. Place on baking tray and bake for 20 minutes until tender
4. Divide mixture into 20 portions and shape into ball.
5. Grill for 5-6 minutes and then thread into skewers.
6. Serve with the vegetables.

Siaopo's mobile's camera obviously wasn't working well that night !

Char Siu

Siaopo's extreme fluctuations in mood has come to an end. Her cooking desire has finally return after a terrible week.

There will be a fascinating meat galore cookout in Siaopo's kitchen this weekend.

First meat dish is Char Siu, a famous meat dish in Malaysia. Char Siu is usually sold in food stall alongside with roast pork and roast duck.

Ingredients
500g pork fillet
2 tbsp honey

Marinate
1 cup of garlic (chopped)
1 tbsp dark sauce
2 tbsp of Lee Kum Kee Char Siu sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cooking wine
Dash of pepper
Drops of red colouring

Method

1. Marinate pork with marinate sauce for at least 4 hours.
2. Leave aside the leftover marinate sauce for later use.
3. Pre-heat oven at 220 degree.
4. Transfer the marinated pork to baking tray and bake for 45 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and drain the gravy.
6. Coat the pork with leftover marinate sauce and grill on stove for 10 minutes.
7. Brush top with honey and slice into small pieces.
8. Serve warm with rice.

Malaysian style Char Siu rice with sweet gravy. Yummy...

Bak Kua

Siaopo can now turn her kitchen into Kiew Brothers or Bee Cheng Hiang !

Special thanks to Grace and Lufbra Girl for sharing the great bak kua recipe. Siaopo added some five spice powder and honey to jazz up the taste.

The Bak Kua is simply marvellous. Best snack attack choice while watching television.

Ingredients

1 lb pork mince
2 tbsp honey

Marinate
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cooking wine
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp five spice powder

Method

1. Marinate pork mince with the ingredients for 2 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 125 degree.
3. Stir mince in one direction with chopstick till gluey.
4. Put mince onto a parchment paper and cover with cling film.
5. Roll the mince into 2-3 mm thick with a rolling pin.
6. Remove the cling film and put mince to a baking tray.
7. Bake for 20 minutes. Then, increase the oven to 185 degree and bake for another 15 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and brush some honey over the mince. Continue to bake for 5-10 minutes.
9. Remove the mince from the oven again and flip over. Continue to bake for another 10 minutes.
10. Cool it and cut into pieces.

1kg of bak kua only lasted hubby for one day ! What a pig..

Tau Eu Bak

For 5 years Siaopo has made England her home. Nevertheless, homesickness syndrome still manifest itself once in a blue moon.

Siaopo always have moments of feeling homesick. Worse when the smells and taste of home food evoke more vivid than any other time. To overcome this, local-home dishes will be prepared not only to feed her physical hunger but most importantly her soul !

Tau Eu Bak is one of the famous local dish back home in Penang. It is a one-pot dish that is complete enough to serve as a whole meal with boiled rice.

Ingredients:
2 lb pork shoulder
6-7 cloves garlic
Handful crushed black peppercorns
2 star anise

Seasoning :
2 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp light soya sauce
Salt

Method:

1. Cut the pork shoulder into small cubes
2. Put peppercorns, star anise and seasonings and few cups of water into a big pot. Bring to boil.
3. Add in the cube pork and cook for 10 minutes in medium heat.
4. Add the garlic cloves and salt.
5. Simmer for next 30 minutes until the meat is tender.
6. Add hard boiled eggs and ready to serve