The Food Canon

(I have added the recipe further down below and some idea of how the PC can be used to cook this dish)

When my Mum-in-law and I had to cook a few lamb dishes during Christmas last year, I thought up this idea of ordering some Dorper Lamb pieces. They were fabulous and we may do it again this Christmas. 

I had some pieces of lamb shanks and shoulder that have been sitting in my freezer since then. I have put off braising lamb shanks because it has to be slow cooked to perfection, and that may take two hours or more.

I finally cooked it. The cooking time was 30 minutes.

How is that possible. You might have guessed.

Dorper Lamb Shank

This is the second installment of a mini-series on Pork Ribs. View the first episode here.

Pork ribs with soft bones are best for this dish - the meat is tender and suited for steaming.

The easiest way to get it is to ask your butcher.
Steamed Pork Ribs in Plum Sauce

Ingredients

1 kilo of Pork Ribs (soft boned)

Marinate:
3 tsp of Plum Sauce
1 tsp of black soy bean (optional)
3 tsp of minced garlic
dashes of Chinese Wine
3 tsp of Soy Sauce
1 tsp of sugar
Pepper
2 tsp of corn flour
2 tsp of oil

Diced red chili

Method

1. Marinate the meat for half an hour.
2. Put the dish on the steamer. Make sure the ribs are spread out in one layer for even and effective  steaming.
3. Steam for 20 minutes. 
4. Serve immediately and garnish with coriander leaves.

Done. Fast and easy. Adding black beans ("Tau See") is a variation to this dish, as can be seen in the photo. If you find that there is too much water residue in your dish, just pour out the sauce, cook it further and thicken it with corn starch. Then add the residual sauce back into the ribs and serve.

Depending on the meat you use, sometimes adding some bicarbonate when marinating will help to tenderise the meat. As you can imagine, this dish is easy and convenient to make. Marinate the ribs and then just put the same dish on the steamer. Time it to finish cooking just before dinner starts. You can switch off the flame and leave it in the steamer to keep the dish warm if dinner has not started yet.

I normally use my wok, plate holder, some water of course and the wok cover to get the job done. I have been told that using a bamboo steamer absorbs water better, leaving less water in the dish. I may try using that next.   

Steamed in the steel plate.

Pork ribs can be challenging to cook because unless you are using soft bone cuts they need to be tenderised, either through marinating, using soda bicarbonate or the "slow and low” braising method.

Braising pork ribs is one of my Mum’s favourite method. This method is similar to braising Char Siew in the wok. You cook the meat till it is tender in a strongly flavoured braising sauce. Keep it “slow and low” to retain the juiciness of the meat.

Some Memories of Avocados, Adjectives and a Brown Bag

This blogsite has been mostly about meats. So, I think it is about time for some veggie tales.

Crunchy Asparagus. Juicy Tomatoes. Creamy Avocados.

These are the key ingredients of this salad recipe. If you get the right ones, you are almost there when it comes to this dish.

Avocados bring back many childhood memories.

You have heard me talk a lot about my Mum. Now, here is something about my Dad, Wong Pak Kee. Being the eldest in his family, he had to give up on education early and start working to support the family. He grew a vegetables and fruits business in a mini-market located in an expatriate district in KL (Kenny Hill). This type of mini-marts is a dying breed these days. 

Cheap, Fast & Good?

An ex-lawyer friend of mine once lamented on how her clients expect work to be done quickly, cheaply and well.

Her view is that you can only have a combination of two, but not all three.

Cheap and fast, but not good.
Good and fast, but not cheap.
Good and cheap? Oh well, possible, but cannot be fast, bro.

You just can't have all three.

A simple, but a rather enlightening thought for me as I reflect on how this principle can be applied to other areas of life as well.

It is election fever. So, what local dish should I blog on? Bak Chor Mee? Or "Mee Siam Hmm Mai Hum'?

Oh well, I better not. In my profession, I am suppose to be neutral and not take sides. Not that I think any of my members will take my political views seriously.

Should you rock the boat or go with the proven? You may like to read an earlier post where I attempted a political dig.

So, I will blog a dish from a country which was rocked very seriously recently: Japan. Let’s support this country, shall we?

I'd like to blog a sushi dish which I find to be very satisfying: a Chirashi Sushi dish which I learnt recently from Chef Shinichiro Takagi, who was one of the visiting Master Chefs for the World Gourmet Summit. He is the owner and main chef at the famed Zeniya Restaurant in Japan. iEat's Leslie Tay has also blogged about his cooking here.

It's Labour Day today.

And I owe some of my church slaves friends a meal for all the hard labour they have put in the weeks running up to Easter.

They certainly deserve to be served our home-cooked best.

In planning the meal, I was torn between some Japanese dishes which I have learnt of late and of course, my own Mum's.

I went for a compromise and below was the menu, listed out in my usual tongue-in-cheek way: