The Food Canon

Our CNY spread in 2004. Mother's braised rib and mushroom dish is at top left.

I am still undecided as to whether I should add this dish but it is definitely one of my Mother's CNY dish (in picture 11 o' clock).

I used to help her to cook it in my late teens. I can still recall thinking that it was an easy dish to make. Perhaps this recipe can give you some ideas for your own CNY meals.

First the dried shiitake mushrooms need to be soaked. As the pork ribs's pieces are about one inch square, depending on the size of your mushrooms, you may need to halve or quarter it.

The sauce is made from garlic, light soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, crystal sugar dried scallop and Chinese wine. Soaked the dried scallop beforehand.

In a deep pot, add some sesame oil and then fry the diced garlic. Add the crystal sugar. and dried scallop Then add the pork ribs and mushrooms. Pour in the sauces, a bit of water and stir. Close the lid and simmer gently. After about 45 minutes of braising, it should be cooked. Add the Chinese wine towards and some corn slurry towards the end.

Meanwhile, blanch the pieces of broccoli for about 3 minutes. Don't over do it and ensure it is crunchy.

When it is time to serve, on a large oval or round plate, line the broccoli on the side of the plate. Ladle the pork ribs and mushrooms into the center of the plate and serve it hot. Pour the sauce over the meat and broccoli.

You can variate and add fish maw, gingko nuts etc

Char Siew from UK pork belly

We will be going back to Petaling Jaya this year to celebrate Chinese New Year.

It is the most wonderful time of the year for roasting meats.

Our ovens will be doing heavy duty. Lamb, beef, chicken or turkey, the holy grail is to get the meat cooked just right. An overcooked piece of meat is considered disastrous and is to be avoided. It is not well done if it is well done. The whole idea of poking thermometers in and fussing around is to ensure a perfect outcome.

If you are fortunate, as some of us are, having Sous Vide appliances will make a huge difference. Getting the meats to the right temperature, flavour and texture is also made easier with these precision tools. And it will introduce a level of convenience as SV is largely unattended cooking.

I roast some legs of lamb recently for a staff party. I found the detailed tips at Chef Steps very helpful, one of my favourite go-to sites for SV cooking. I was intrigued by the 55˚C-24h method as I usually use 60˚C-8h for my roast lambs. So, why not try something new?

I used Anova for heavier duty SV cooking and so the two legs of lambs went into the cooler box for an onsen bath of 55˚ for 24 hours. The result is a buttery pinkish meat: perfect for lamb roast.

Then I made a rub made from mints leaves, rosemary leaves, black pepper, garlic, black mustards seeds, salt and mustard sauce. Pound or blend, up to you. I scored the meat and stuff the rub into the openings. If you check Chef Steps, you will see that I made some adaptation.

Then it went into the pre-heated oven for a quick 5 minute sear at 250˚C. I should add that using a blow torch will be more convenient and afford better control as while charring the surface, you don't want to over cook the meat. It also allows for ala minute heating just before you serve.

Another way is to pan seared the SV-cooked lamb to add the browning. Then use the same oil to briefly heat the rub mixture to release the flavours. After that, rub it all over the lamb. There are different ways to get the same end result.

This is how it looks after it was SV cooked, scored and rubbed before going into the oven for a quick sear.

It is best to serve the lamb warm. As the rub is already flavourful, no sauce is needed. However, a good mint sauce makes a good companion.

There are some diners who feel queasy eating pink lamb meat. I find it interesting to note that they will have no qualms with the same colour in ham. We know that it is psychological and has to do with familiarity.

Check out my other posts on Christmas Cooking.

Happy cooking meats to perfection this season. And never forget the "reason for the season"!

God's richest blessing be with you and may you know the love He has for you through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Served on a wooden board.

As I predicted, Sous Vide cooking will get increasingly popular in homes.

My favourite SV gadgets, still, are the SV enabler ones, like Codlo. I have waxed lyrical about it in 2014. I do have other types of SV appliances including the water bath and the stick ones, but by far, the one I use the most is Codlo. Four years later, my mind has not changed.

It is versatile. It can be employed to cook a pair of eggs or a 6 kg of vacuum-packed beef. It can be used to cook soups and braises, using the food-safe temperature sensor. The simple rice cooker is very efficient as a cooker, with heat rising from the bottom. This means a noisy water circulator is not necessary. As Codlo has not heating element, this means it is reliable and can be counted on for long hours of SV cooking. And it is small, compact and very mobile.

I can go on and on but I cannot imagine doing my SV cooking without it. it is simple the best soft-boiled maker there is and then some.

But, sigh, Codlo has gone from Uno to zero.

That's right. It was sold to Grant Cuisine where it was renamed Uno. Quite predictably, they have discontinued Uno.

Why did Codlo disappear? For one thing, most Western homes do not use a rice cooker. Secondly, Codlo never had the financial muscle to market her product globally.

What it means is that the Sous Vide enabler may no longer be manufactured anymore.

However, an Asian manufacturer who understand how to market it to one fifth of the world population which is eating rice may succeed. This is my hope. And I am sure, the hope of many Asian home cooks as well.

Meanwhile, I am laying hold of as many of this as I can get and they are serving me very well at home and in church.

Hopefully, someone out there can see a business opportunity in this and keep this fantastic gadget humming into the future.

If you agree wth me, drop a note on Facebook or on this blog :).

I should add that I like Joule (by Chef Steps) too and hope they will make one for UK and other markets which uses 230-240V AC.

I was happy to finally find a type of bean curd skin or tofu skin ("foo chook") here which turns out well when stuffed and fried the Hakka Yong Tofu way (HYTF).

Amazingly, there is a post here on how to make tofu skin. I suppose you may want to take the trouble if are staying overseas where good tofu skin is not easily available.

I have previously blogged about the HYTF fried stuffed bean skin. I have since found out that there is a better type of tofu skin which is available here. It is flexible enough to be shaped without the need to wet it first and it comes int eh right square of rectangle shape.

Stalls normally sell it in square pieces for recipes like Bak Kut Teh; but I find that to be too small for HYTF. There are stalls which sell them in larger pieces and this is the type I like to use if I am making rolled version. Alternatively, you can also create flat square pieces and have the stuffing in between (see lead photo). If you are doing it this way, you can use the smaller square pieces that are more widely available in stores.

The stuffing is made out of 2 parts fish (batting or mackerel) and 1 part minced pork. I also add some garlic, spring onions and Mui Heong salted fish and minced them altogether on a chopping board with two chopper in tow. I add some salted corn flour flurry along the way. You are not looking for the springy bounce like that found in fish balls. After you mince it into a paste, just slap it a few times so that the stuffing will be tighter.

As for the beancurd skin, cut into rectangle pieces in the direction where you can roll it easily. Use the stuffing to stick the rolls together, as in photos below.

The deep fry till golden brown. Best eaten immediately after cooking.

Fried and done.

As for the sweet sauce of "tim cheong", check my recipe here. As for the chilli sauce, any plain and fresh chilli sauce will do.

This goes well with rice or Chee cheong fun.

For my detailed HYTF recipes, check out the posts here.

Lead photo: A HYTF combination with Chee Cheong Fun which we served recently for an Alpha party. (photo credit: Joyce Ho) 

I will blog my cooking notes here on a recent batch of Nasi lemak Sambal which turned out very well.

As I have said elsewhere, my idea of a good Nasi Lemak Sambal is:

1. It should be on the sweet side, complimenting the savoury nasi (coconut rice), ikan bilis (fried anchovies) and other ingredients on the plate. 
2. It's spiciness should be average so that the diner can eat more of the sambal along with the rice. 
3. I like texture in the sambal and I get this by adding slices of large red onions and fried ikan bilis towards the end. 
4. The sambal needs to have enough oil for the mouthfeel and for some of it to soak into and color the rice. 

Method

1. Blend the peeled shallots and chillies.  
2. Fry the ikan bilis in the oil. About 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
3. Using the oil leftover from frying the ikan bilis, heat it up in a wok and add the shallot paste. Gently fry for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the chilli paste.
5. Add the sugar, gula melaka, assam paste and salt along the way, adjusting the taste if you need to to find a good balance..
6. Simmer for another 15 minutes. Adjust the taste if needed. Do remember that when you add ikan bilis, the sambal will be saltier. Go easy on salt. You can even omit salt it the sambal is sufficiently savoury after you add ikan bilis. 
7. Add the slices of large onions and the fried ikan bills. Cook for another 5 minutes and switch off the fire.