Pork Belly Sandwiched With Yam Slices

This was my mom’s favourite dish. The Chinese named this dish ‘Gow Yoke ’ . It is a dish whereby slices of pork belly sandwiched between slices of yam marinated with ‘ nam yee ‘ aka fermented red beancurd . Most chinese families love this dish.

I finally managed to cook this dish as close to my mom’s cooking, taste wise it was deliciously yummy. A lot of work though, but the end result was a dish that I will make again this weekend coz it was good and I know for sure Piggy gal will loves it :))

Pork Belly Sandwiched With Yam Slices

Ingredients:

1 whole yam –peeled and cut into 1.5 in square sizes
-fry the cut yam in hot oil for 5 minutes and drained off oil

A strip of ½ kg lean pork belly with the skin on
1 tbsp of thick black sauce
Dash of white pepper

Marinade sauce:

4 pieces of fermented red beancurd aka ‘nam yee’
5 pips of garlic – chopped finely
2 tbsp of chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tbsp of fermented soybean aka ‘tow cheong’
1 cup of water

Method:

Mixed the above marinade ingredients together and leave it aside for twenty minutes .

Meanwhile, clean the pork belly and put in hot boiling water till half cook. Take it out and seasoned with thick black sauce and white pepper. Use a fork and poke on the surface of the pork belly to let the sauce infiltered into the meat.

Heat up wok, add a tbsp of oil and lightly fry the strip of meat till cook. Take it out and sliced into 1.5 in square sizes to fit the yam slices. Sandwiched a slice of pork belly with two slices of yam. Do the same to the rest of the meat till all the meat are used up. Arrange them neatly in a bowl. Pour the prepared marinade sauce onto the pork belly yam sandwiches . Cover the bowl with aluminium foil and steamed it for 60 minutes on high flame. Serve it hot with rice.

Enjoy!

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Bear Sure Knows How To Enjoy Life!

Do you read me, even dog knows how to enjoy life :) When we were all asleep, she jumped onto our sofa and slept there the whole night. Bear Bear is our pet dog and she sure is one lucky girlie (“,)

I caught her sleeping so nicely and comfortably on the sofa one morning and I just couldn’t resist taking a shot of her…so contented and blissful…enjoying the softness of the cushion seat and had a nice rest …I guess, since she had that contented look :))))

Hmmm ...Bear ,you sure know how to enjoy life !

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Olive Oil And Fresh Thyme Salad Dressing

I concocted this salad dressing recently and surprisingly the ingredients sort of intergrated well with each other. It has a nice fragrance and goes well the salad.

Olive Oil And Fresh Thyme Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

5 tbsp of olive oil,
some fresh thymes,
¼ red bell pepper ( chopped fine)
3 pips of garlic (chopped fine)
Some lemon juices
Salt to taste

Method:

Mixed the ingredients together in a bowl and leave it to infuse together for an hour before using them on the salad.

Salad : - Curly endives, green coral lettuce, green zucchini, red bell pepper, carrots and cherry tomatoes.

I have been tagged by Happy Homebaking to write this meme ….7 facts about myself :))

1. I love food …from A-Z…thus baking and cooking have become a hobby I will not give up. If I don’t get to cook or bake it will be same as not having the internet , I will suffer from withdrawal syndrome :) I am adventurous when it comes to trying out new recipes. I am addicted to bun baking lately..thus buns have become our daily bread much to the dismay of Daddy coz he has to help finish eating them whether it is good or not :) But ain’t he suppose to support me in everything I do…for better or for worse ? ^___*

2. I took my driving test at the age of 38 but today the driving licence is just for showcase purposes and help in the country’s revenue...heehee I don’t drive coz most drivers here are either color blind or they don’t value their lives….I value mine :))))

I remembered , when I first got my licence , I drove my Piggies and their friends for their tuition ( a need for asian students ) nearby , and I heard this comment from one of the kids“ Jo, your mom drives like a snail ” kids say the darndest things and from then onwards they never get into our car when I am the one driving ! :(

3. I am a very practical woman, to me money are hard earned , so have to be careful on how I spend my money….buy only when there are sales on material items and I told my Piggies that they can stinge on material things but NEVER on FOOD. I taught them from young, so that they know the value of money . Mommy will only buy them clothes or shoes when there are sales ( if there is a need for them ) and I remembered one day, many years back ,when Piggy gal was about four years old, we went shopping and I held her hand and we walked into this shop that sell branded shoes…and she just burst out “ Mommy, this shop got sales meh ” ???? To my embarrassment, the sales girl was nearby…I wished I could hide inside a dark hole then, for kids say the darndest things :))))

4. I day dream most of the time.The most embarrassing thing I have ever experienced in my whole life so far, was to get into the wrong car and caused the car driver and her kids to become hysterical and their screams woke me from my day dreaming. I thought those two kids were mine and I got in and adjusted my marketing bag nicely and sat down without looking at the driver. When they realized a stranger in their car, they screamed thinking I wanted to rob them.

I apologized and got out of the car in the fastest record ever . My Piggies and hubby were having a good time laughing their heads off. I could have knocked their heads off for not calling out to me when they saw me getting into that car…but later we all had a good laugh over it.

5. I can never watch a movie or drama until the ending without dozing off. My Piggy boy will check that I have not dozed off in the midst of a movie. He will say “Mom, the idiot box is watching you instead of you watching the idiot box ” !!!

6. I am happiest when….

…..my Piggies are back for their semester break, doing things together or watching movies with them and

…..when I discovered a new recipe which turned out yummy or I can create a nice dish without using anyone’s recipes

…..when I am at Ikea and MPH cookbook section :)

7. I don't fancy rap ringtones but I grew to love this rap ringtone which my Piggy boy put as his ringtone from me...it goes something like this “ Oh no, it’s your Mama calling, it’s your Mama calling. She is calling not to say anything but to tell you about your dad, about the cat and it goes blah blah blah…..” . He asked me to ring his number and when I heard this…. I burst out laughing . It was the funniest, cutest and coolest ringtone ever.

I hope I have not bored you guys with this sharing (",)

I am tagging the following 7 bloggers, I hope they also have fun with this meme :)

       1. Icook4fun at My Kitchen’s Snippets

2. Pook at Daily Delicious

3. Little Inbox at Makan King & Queen

4. J2kfm at Motormouth of Ipoh

5. Sze-Min at Min’s Blog

6. Shirley Khor at Sweet Like Chocolate

7. CKLam at What2see: Best of Penang Food

Here are the rules for tagging:

Link to my blog (tagger) on your blog.
Give seven facts about yourself.
Tag another seven bloggers by leaving a comment on their blogs and letting them know they were tagged and listing them (and their blogs) on your blog.

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Rich Moist Chocolate Cupcake With Rich Chocolate Toppings

Last Saturday, Piggy Ernest gave me some leftover moist chocolate cake batter after making his own chocolate cake .I decided to scoop them into cupcake cases and steamed them for twenty-five minutes. It turned out moist and since he has some extra chocolate topping which he can’t finish using, being a chocoholic, I used them to give my cuppies a more chocolatey taste ..so sinful :)))

Guess what,I bet you won’t believe it ,I devoured one before I went to church last Sunday morning.It was so mMMm… chocolatey rich and moist that every mouthful was just one word H E A V E N L Y !

For the next few days, my breakfast will be oats , oats , oats and oats O N L Y (“,)

who could resist this decadent, sinfully rich goodness….

the young and old succumbed to it ^___*

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Deep Fry Brown Tofu With Crunchy Vege Fillings

Who could resist tofu prepared this way. It is light and easy to prepare and can be served as an appetizer coz it will definitely whet up your appetite with the Thai Dipping Sauce.

I attended a pot luck party recently, and this lady brought a big plate full of tofu stuffed with cucumber, radish and carrot shreds. It looks so simple and nothing much to fuss about but the moment we took a bite…goodness it was deliciously yummy that it all diminished in minutes :) Of course, I, being the Piggy of the night, savoured it the most and needless to say, cornered her and asked her how come such a simple dish and yet tasted so good and she was happy to share her recipe with me and the ladies there :)))))

So , here I share with you guys this simple and yet delicious tofu stuffed with cucumber/radish/carrot shreds. The fillings were crunchy and the trick is this. Shred the cucumbers with core removed, radish and carrots finely. Soak in ice water and leave in the fridge for ½ hour , take out and drain dry. Leave it in the fridge till required.

Of course, the best part is this…get the best thai dipping chili sauce ( chicken brand) as shown. This sauce is so far the best and she recommended this brand becoz it is not overly sweet and I agreed with her…it can be used as dips for fried wanton and fried chicken too.

shreds of cucumber, radish and carrots,

a colorful and cheerful combination :)

Could anyone resist this appetizing tofu.??? (",)

the famous Thai Dipping Chili Sauce

Deep Fry Brown Tofu With Crunchy Vege Fillings
Ingredient:
6 pieces of brown tofu (cut across diagonally into half)
oil for deep frying

Fillings:
1 small cucumber ( removed core and shredded )
1 small white radish (shredded)
1 small carrot ( shredded)
(Soak the above shredded veg in ice water for ½ hour )

some toasted sesame

Dipping sauce:

Thai Dipping Chilli Sauce ( chicken brand)

Method:

Deep fry the cut tofu in 2” of hot oil till lightly browned – drained off oil in paper napkin.

Cool it before cuting a slit and fill it with the above shredded veg . Dribble the stuffed tofu with the dipping sauce and garnish the tofu with the toasted sesame. * Stuff the tofu with the fillings only when about to serve.

Enjoy!

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Steamed Egg Custard

Silky textured steamed egg custard are hard to achieve and I have been trying for years to get it right but to no avail until I read from mykitchensnippets blog :) Before this, my colleague taught me to go by the ratio of 1 egg to 1 egg shell of water…still can’t get the silky texture. But thanks to Gert for sharing her recipe and tips , I was able to achieve it finally :))

I used century eggs ( I love century eggs ) and crabstick instead and it turned out yummilicious. It must be served hot and the best ever steamed egg custard I had ever came across. Now I can add this silky textured steamed egg custard to my dinner menu :p

Easily digestible and easy to prepare and it is delicious too ^_____*

Click here for the recipe