Siu Yoke (Roasted Pork Belly)

Today is the first day of school and kids were none too happy about going back to their 'cell'.  For the Primary One students, their parents are allowed to stay on till school is over but only for today.   Parents equipped with cameras taking photos of their little ones in their crisp uniform and snow white shoes, feeling proud on their first day.  Parents stood outside the classrooms looking in at their young ones to see if they are doing fine.  To tell you the truth, I don't know who is more excited and nervous, the parents or the child... lol 

When I went through this with my three kids, I know for sure that I am the one who is nervous and worried if my child will be ok or will he/she knows how to buy food from the canteen or will he/she be bullied or does he/she knows how to be excused to go for toilet break or whether can he/she remember where to wait for the transport lady.  Sigh! Worry is a constant feeling when you are a parent!  That's for sure.  

Tomorrow, the young ones have to brave through on their own and I bet you, there'll be tears when parents are not allowed in the school compound until recess time.  The anxiety and being scared will surface when they don't see familiar faces peeping in from the windows.  Good luck to the first years and their parents.

As for us, Thank God, we don't have to go through that anymore as my youngest is already starting her Primary 3.  Phew!

Anyway, wanna share with you our first dinner in welcoming 2013 cooked by my dear Hubby.  Yup, he baked this Roasted Pork Belly or 'Siu Yoke' in Cantonese.  He loves Siu Yoke and googled on how to make this.  He did this very well indeed.. the pork skin was so crispy and crunchy and the meat was tender.  Here's how he did it...

2kg pork belly - chill uncovered in refrigerator for 3-4 hours to 'dry' the meat from any moisture
a little vegetable oil
Seasoning: salt and five spice powder

• Pre-heat oven to 250dC. (Use bottom and top heat if your oven has this function)
• When ready to bake, take it out of the fridge and score the skin to make slits. Coat the skin lightly with a little of the vegetable oil.
• Rub salt and five spice powder on the skin and into the slits.
• Bake on a baking rack with a tray beneath the rack to catch any drippings from the pork.  Bake for 20mins and reduce to 180-200dC for 40mins or until the meat is cooked and the skin is crisp.

Serve this with fluffy white rice and chili sauce made from fresh chilies (pounded), some lime juice, 2 inches of ginger (pounded) and salt.

Apple Roast Chicken

My son requested that I roast chicken for dinner tonight since it's Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving?  We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here and I don't even know when is the actual day although I know that it's around this time of the year.  In truth, he wanted roast chicken for dinner and that's all..well, which mother doesn't satisfy a hungry son!  So, ok dear son, it's roast chicken you want, then roast chicken it is! Yay!

In actual fact, my family and I love home roast chicken.  It's so easy to make. Just put in any seasoning or sauces and you have a wonderful meal.  As for me, this is my family's all-time favorite when it's roasting time.  Each time I do this, they will request for this same roast chicken over and over again..I foresee that this will be 'hand-me-down' recipe from me to my kids and their kids too..:)  I don't really have a name for this roast but since I used apples, then I'm gonna name it Apple Roast Chicken.

And I want to share my recipe with you.  Hopefully you'll give this a try and you know what?  I'm gonna make this again for Christmas.  I will have to roast 3 chickens then...haahaha.

1 medium sized chicken, cleaned and remove the head and feet.
salt and pepper
2 green apples with skin, cored and cut into 6 pieces
2 lemons, cut into halves
1 big yellow onion, cut into rings
potatoes, cut into halves or quarters if it's large
garlic, a few whole pips
few sprigs of sweet basil and thyme
handful of dark raisins
rice wine (maybe about 4 - 5 tbsp)
white wine vinegar (2 tbsp)
worchestershire sauce (5 tbsp)
30g butter
olive oil
4 tbsp honey

Rub chicken all over and inside with salt and pepper.  Make slits on the skin at the thighs, wings and breasts and insert the garlic pips together with the basil and thyme.  Cover and refrigerate for a few hours.  Take it out of the fridge an hour before roasting time.

• Pre-heat oven to 230dC.  Place the apples, raisins, potatoes and onion into a non-stick baking tray.
• Place the chicken over it and squeeze the lemon in the cavity and all around.
• Sprinkle bits of butter all over the chicken and give a generous bath of olive oil all over the chicken.
• Pour some rice wine, white wine vinegar and worchestershire sauce.
• Bake for an hour and pour in the honey.  Continue baking till chicken is done.

Serve with baguette or any bread.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Food & Such

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Thank God, it's now Thursday already! It's been a very hectic week in the office and I'm glad I have the weekend to recuperate. But then again, maybe not cos my children exams are just round the corner. It's a very stressful time for the parents whenever the children are facing exams. Believe me. Ask any parents and they will tell you the same story.

Well, we can only nurture and give the best education as we possibly can. Every child is gifted in their own way. Some may be book smart, some may be musically incline, some are good at public speaking, some are creative and good in arts, some are athletically strong and the list goes on and on. My point is, every single child is unique and has their own specialty and strength. With this in mind, we can try very hard to guide our children with the right values and assist them by providing the right tools to maximize their strength and be successful in the areas that they choose to be.

Having said that, I can definitely tell you that (if you are a parent, you will know that this is true) parents are BAD TEACHERS. We have no patience, no teaching skills and we YELL too! Sounds terrible, isn't it? Most of the time, we'll try to keep our cool but unfortunately we expect our poor children to understand math or science or a language subject in such a short time. Why are we so impatient? Is it because we are afraid that they will be a failure? And what is failure?

Parents always, always want their children to do better than they in whatever they strive to do in life. Hence, the yelling because we want them to strive. And that is not the right way. Well, sometimes it is and sometimes it's not. We tend to forget that we were children once and we took some time in grasping what was taught! Sigh! Yes, I admit that I'm guilty and should have been more patient. Children tend to lose interest and 'close-out' when the yelling starts. That's why Tuition Teachers are in demand and they demand good money from parents too. If you ask me what is the toughest job in the world? It is being a PARENT!

Stress level is increasing as the exam is just 10 days away! Ok..must keep cool and help them along with revisions..must not scold! Must not scold! Must not scold! But again, sometimes we do need to scold them (for a good reason!). Sigh! There's no right parenting or wrong parenting..it's just parenting! For all parents out there, we know we are doing our best to be good parents and for those who are going to be a parent, well, good luck!

Ok. Away from the heavy stuff and now, let's talk about food.....where people connect no matter what age, gender or race. Food brings people together..and togetherness we did.... Last Saturday, Mid-Autumn Festival.

We were not expecting any guests as we did not intend to celebrate but it was a good thing that my sis with her family and my bro-in-law came over for dinner. The best part was, I don't have to cook. My dear husband took over the kitchen. He's a good cook especially with western food. He baked turkey legs and here's how it looked like. Yes, it tasted as good as it looked. Not only that. He even cooked spaghetti.

This is his very own recipe for the baked turkey. No copying from any cook book mind you. Very, very original.

Daddy's Baked Turkey Legs
6 turkey legs
Potatoes - half or quartered
Big Onion - quartered
1 lemon
Garlic - crushed
Olive Oil

1. Marinate turkey legs with honey, salt, worchestershire sauce and black pepper.
2. Line the baking tray with aluminum foil and pour over generous amount of olive oi.
3. Arrange the turkey, potatoes, garlic and onion on the tray.
4. Squeeze the lime over the ingredients and bake at moderately high oven until the meat is cooked approx. 1 - 1 1/2 hrs.

While my husband busied himself at preparing dinner, I got the change to try on a new recipe for my cupcakes...Ginger Cupcake...looks good eh! Wanna have some!

This Ginger Cupcake has a very light and gooey texture with a tinge of spice. Adults will like this but as for children, probably the spicy taste of it is a little bit overwhelming for them. So, I do not recommend this to children.


As promised in my earlier posts, here's the recipe for the strawberry ice cream. This is very my family's favorite.

Strawberry Ice-Cream

Place the bowl of ice-cream maker in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer overnight. The colder the better but be careful that you do not touch the metal wall of the ice-cream bowl as your finger may get stuck and will cause an injury to your skin. That's the purpose of plastic bag. Read the safety instructions manual of the ice-cream maker before use.

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh strawberries
3/4 cup icing sugar (sweetness is really up to your liking)
1 1/2 cup Whipping Cream

1. Puree the strawberries and icing sugar together. Keep this puree in the fridge overnight.
2. Turn the ice-cream maker on and let it churn then only pour in the pureed strawberry. Then add 1 1/2 cup of Whipping Cream.
3. Let it churn until it turns creamy approx. 25 - 35 mins. The more you churn, the creamier it gets. Once done, transfer to a freezer container and freeze.

Bon Appetite! Till next time..StraitsBakes signing off!

Anything under the sun

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Hi! Just had dinner which my hubby prepared - pasta with meatballs and it's just superb! Thanks, dear for taking over the stove! While browsing the internet I decided to take on the advice from my sis to write a blog of my own. Ok, let's try this out...ok..mmm...I have no idea what to write!

I'm quite illiterate in terms of getting around in internet but I'm discovering and learning new things as I go along!

Everything has to start off with an introduction right?

Ok here goes. Well, I'm a Straits Born descendant originate from Malacca. For those who doesn't know what Straits Born is, well, we are Peranakans or more well known as the Babas & Nyonyas. If you log in to Nyonyapendekmelaka@blogspot, I am related to the author of that blog. She's my youngest sis and we have lots of things in common especially in the passion for cooking and baking. My sis has many interesting recipes in her blog and I'm trying to compete with her here! Haa..haa..haa. We are proud to say that we inherited this trait among many many others, from our beloved late mom, Madam Tan. Mom taught us well and her legacy lives on..

My latest passion in baking - CUPCAKES!. Not just any cupcakes but Image Icing Cupcakes and I'm doing that as my part time business too!

Here are some of the cupcakes with image icings that I've baked. Be it for Children's Party, Private Parties, Football Gathering Party, Baby Shower, Christmas etc cupcakes can be very versatile and is great as party favors.

This is the Blueberry & Lime Cake with Liverpool Icing which I've baked for my hubby's birthday early this month. The cake is not too sweet and it has a tinge of sourish lime to it which is really really refreshing. My family loved this.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake which has a moist texture and fruity flavour to it. The caramelized brown sugar that sits at the bottom of the cake when baked together with the pineapple, the taste is simply amazing! Thanks to the creator of this wonderful wonderful piece of cake!

OK..here's my roast chicken inspired by The Naked Chef Jamie Oliver. My all-time favorite celebrity chef! While doing up this recipe, (mixture of Jamie and yours truly with local influence), this dish leaves no meat left-overs at all! Jamie's all time favorite of a little dash of salt, black peppercorns and some lemon and a lot of olive oil, then it's good to go. Well, I've added pineapple in a can (i just love pineapple), add 1/2 a can of the pineapple syrup, sprinkle some mixed herbs and a little bit of honey. The juice that comes out of the chicken while baking goes well with garlic bread. If by any chance you have some left over, it's great to pack chicken sandwich for your lunch.

Oh by the way, I am also a part time florist. Will post some pic in my blog next time!