Braised pork belly and Tau kwa

 
One of my easiest recipe is braised pork belly and Tau Kwa. Throw in some hard boiled eggs if you like.

Short-cut: use store-bought braising sauce as a base for preparing the stock.

After the stock is prepared and the first batch is cooked, subsequent meal preparation is super easy. I just have to strain the remaining stock into a clean container and refrigerate it for the next batch of braising.

Stock preparation:-
Half a bottle of sauce (I use Tai Hua Chinese Braising Sauce 305 ml), about 150 ml.
About 300 ml of water.
Optional:
About 100 ml of chicken broth.
1 stick of cinnamon, wash before cooking.
About a teaspoon of "five spice powder", which consists of coriander, cumin, anise cinnamon, star anise.
About 8 cloves of garlic, lightly smashed and peeled.

Notice that the amounts are approximate. It's a matter of personal preference. You can adjust the quantity of each spice. Even if you only use the store-bought braising sauce and just add water, it can be good enough as a start. 

Other ingredients:-
Pork belly, about 600 g.
Tau Kwa, about 600 g.
Eggs, about 4.

Method:-
Bring the soup stock to a boil. Meanwhile wash and cut the pork belly into one-inch strips. No seasoning is required. Place into the boiling stock. Bring to boil again. Then simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. 

While cooking, prepare hard boiled eggs. Also wash and cut Tau Kwa into big cubes. It's not necessary to season the Tau Kwa too. Bring the pot contents to boil again, add Tau Kwa and simmer for another 20 minutes. During last 5 to 10 minutes, remove shells of the hard boiled eggs and add to pot. Done!

This is super easy and flavourful. Good to eat with rice as it's rather salty. I like to cook a big batch as leftovers can be refrigerated and I just need to bring it to boil before consuming. Best part is: I can "recycle" the stock for future use.

Here's how. After you've eaten the ingredients, strain the soup stock (to remove the garlic & cinnamon etc) and refrigerate it. It's more savoury after cooking the pork belly in it. After refrigerating, you may find there's a layer of oil solidified on top. Just remove it if you prefer a less oily stock. For "recycling" into a new batch of pork belly or Tau Kwa, just add some braising sauce, water, and vary the quantities of the spices according to your preference. Sometimes I only add garlic and not the other spices. After this batch is done, remember to strain and keep the stock for future use, again and again.

This dish is one of my whole family's favourite. 

Baked chicken wings

This is easy to prepare. Summarised recipe: marinate, chill, add onion, wrap, bake for 40 minutes. 

In fact there can be many variations depending on the marinade and vegetables used. 

First, wash the chicken wings. Use about 6 wings or 10 mid-joint wings. Then marinate. For the marinade, I use a combination of several sauces, so as to achieve a richer taste. Examples of my favourite sauces include: oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, chilli sauce, tomato ketchup. The amount of each sauce varies from half teaspoon to one tablespoon. Sometimes I add pepper, salt, sugar too. For a more "western" feel, add some dried basil leaves.

After coating the wings with marinade, chill them in the fridge for about an hour. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 180 deg Celsius. Dice an onion. You can also cut some carrots. Line a big piece of aluminium foil on a suitable plate. Layer the bottom with onion, carrots and a little water or broth. Place chicken wings on top. Pour in any excess marinade sauce as well. Wrap loosely so that there's only a tiny opening.

Bake for 40 minutes until it's done. To further brown the skin, uncover and bake at 190 degree Celsius for another 5 minutes. 

The above is only a general guideline. You can adjust almost every step. Experiment and discover your own preference. 

By the way I also wrapped some sweet potatoes with aluminium foil and threw them into a tray at the bottom, baked together with the chicken wings. This is my favourite two-in-one cooking, where I can produce two dishes within the same time frame and oven.

Real food. Simple steps. Easy preparation, easy clean up. Healthy home-cooked meal. Limited only by creativity and the courage to try :)

Strawberry milkshake

Today I was thinking of giving my two kids a surprise treat. I happen to have some strawberries, so I decided to make a super simple strawberry milkshake.

Here's how I made it:
Wash & dice a few strawberries,
Add a cup of cold milk & a teaspoon of honey,
Blend everything.

Voilà!

Tip: I left my son's glass in the fridge to chill while he was taking his bath. Tasted better, thicker & creamier :)

PS. this is one good way of using up strawberries that are not sweet enough to be eaten on it's own. Just add more honey if you prefer a sweeter milkshake.

Grill chicken

Other than soups & steamed dishes, I find that using an oven to bake or grill is one of the easiest cooking methods. There is also a certain distinct flavour different from steaming the same recipe.

For this recipe I used 3 deboned chicken drumstick. Marinate with pinch of salt and pepper for about 20 minutes. If you prefer a healthier chicken that's raised without growth hormones, antibiotics etc, try Sakura chicken from Kee Song Brothers. My kids love it too. You can literally taste the difference. The meat is tastier and contains less fat. Currently it's available at major NTUC supermarkets and some wet markets in Singapore. Make sure there's a pink ring on the chicken's leg which is a mark of authenticity.

Back to preparation. Preheat oven on high (grill). Meanwhile prepare other ingredients. Wash and slice fresh button mushrooms, dice a tomato, dice an onion. Line a suitable dish with aluminium foil. Spread out the above diced ingredients onto the dish. Place the marinated chicken pieces on top. Spread them out in the dish as flat as possible, skin side up. Add a tablespoon each of soy sauce and chicken broth.

Grill on high for 25 minutes. To prevent splatter or to have a moist dish, place a 'roof' on top using aluminium foil.

This dish takes minimal preparation time and is good for a simple complete meal by adding rice.

Enjoy :-)