Braised Pig's Trotters - the Easy Way with Slow cooker

My son insisted that I must add this to my blog so that his wife knows how to cook this....so this is how it goes.  Occasionally when I go to the wet market, or when they crave for it, I will cook it for them.  I also like this dish because it is very easy to cook using the slow cooker, you literally throw in everything and let it simmer.  So occasionally I will cook over the night for lunch.  The way that it is prepared here requires no extra oil-you will get it from the trotters itself.  It is not the traditional method, but it tastes just as good (my husband says that he can't tell the difference between this and the famous stall that we usually patronise at Ang Mo Kio, so I guess it is true.  The sauce itself can be boiled and stored overnight, and you can add in hard-boil eggs, beancurd, even chicken wings for a second meal!  If you like, you can also add in intestines - my mum used to put in pig's tongues and lungs as well - though lungs are no longer available in Singapore.

In traditional Chinese family, the sauce boiled and kept in a pot sealed with wax paper after use and kept in a cool dry place (there were no refrigeration then) to reserve for the next use.  When there is insufficient sauce, a new batch is cooked up and added to the old sauce.  So essentially, the sauce can be hundreds of years and it gets passed down generations after generations.  Flavors of the previous braised meats enhances the sauce and adds to the complexity.  So here is the recipe.

Serving Size : 4 - 6
Preparation Time (not including cooking and soaking of mushrooms) : 10 - 15 min
Cooking Time:  About 6 hours on Auto for the slow cooker.

Ingredients:

6 - 10 Dried Shitake Mushroom.  You can soak it in water in the fridge overnight / or whole day - when I know I am cooking this dish in the evening.  Or you can soak in hot boiling water for an hour to soften.  You cannot substitute with fresh shitake as it does not taste right. Wash the mushroom first before soaking so that you can reserve the water which the Japanese says it is full of "unami".   Snip off the stalks after it has soften.  You can add the stalk and liquid to the braise to enhance the flavour.  I don't usually eat the stalks.

1 -2  Whole Pig Trotter  :  I usually get this at the wet markets, but occasionally I also get it at the supermarkets.  Get the butcher to chop up into big chunks for you, it will tend to shrink after it cooks.  I don't usually use up the trotter.  I keep some of the bony parts without any meat and reserve it to make peanut or black bean soup on another occasion.  I usually use the front trotters as they have less fat, but they also have less meat.  So when I use it, I need about 2, as my family favours the lean parts more than the skin.

1 packet of Bak Kut Teh Mix.   I confess, this is the part which I cheat on.  My mother used to go to the Chinese medicinal hall to get the shop keeper to do the mix, while my mother-in-law has her own mix of star anise, cinnamon bark and cloves.  This is key that distinguishes flavor between one family to another.  For me, I need something foolproof so I use the bak kut teh mix which you can get from the supermarket. 

Note that there are two types of mix, the peppery ones and the herbal ones, stick to the herbal ones.  You can use any brand, I use Eu Yan Sang as they come in sealed packs and can be kept for a long time.  (I have a friend who always gets a few boxes at the Airport to bring abroad when she comes back to visit in Singapore. A box contains 12 pkts.)

2 -3 clusters of garlic.  You must add this if you want an authetic taste.  Don't worry, it loses its sharpness after braising.  Wash the garlic and crush them slightly with a back of a cleaver or mallet. (Leave the skin so that the garlic will not break up too much when cooking. Crushing allows the garlic flavour to infuse the braise.)

8 tbsps of Dark Soya Sauce.  Less if you like your trotters a little lighter, more if you like it darker.  I favour the dark soya sauce with red dates, as it is really thick and not so salty.  Furthermore, the red dates add sweet taste to it.  With this there is no need to fry the caramel or add sugar which some of the traditional recipes ask for. 

Water to Cover Pot.  Sea Salt about 1 teaspoon.

Procedure:

  Boil a kettle of water.  Blanch the pig's trotters in the boiling water to remove the blood on the surface, which will leave scum when you braise. Soak it in the hot water for a short while, meantime you can assemble the pot.

Layer in the softened shitake mushroom, crushed garlic and herb bag.

Put in the trotters.  Put the trotters on top of the above mixture, prevents the herb bag, the garlic and mushroom from floating around.  Drizzle in the soya sauce.  (Some people prefer to drizzle and coat the trotters with the sauce before putting in....it doesn't quite matter for me.)

Add in sufficient water (if you want it to be faster, hot water) to cover the trotters.  Put on the lid, turn the setting to "Auto" .  And braise until the trotters soften (till the meat detaches easily from the bone). Add sea salt to taste and mix well burning turning off the braise. And it is ready for serving.

Comments: 

• 
  
  You can do the same in a pot (preferably claypot), set it to a boil then a simmer till the bone detaches.
• 
  
  I do this for my lunch at work the next day, so I usually set this around 9 pm and it is ready by 5 am in the morning when I wake up. 
• 
  
  If cooking for dinner on weekends, I do this at in the morning around 11 am and it should be ready for dinner in the evening.
• 
  
  Remember to reserve the stew the next day, you can boil the mixture and add in hard-boiled eggs, beancurd, beanskin, intestines, or chicken wings for a second meal.

Hokkaido Fair Is At Tampines Mall (2nd - 11th July 2010)

Isetan Tampines is having the Summer Hokkaido Fair again! 

Details:  2nd - 11th July 2010

Venue :  Tampinese Mall (Singapore) Atrium and 2nd Level

  My family and I really like Japanese food, so when Isetan (Singapore) has their Japanese fair, I will always try to make my way down to take a look.  Looking at the food alone makes me a very happy person, so my husband is always willing to oblige.  I don't actually buy a lot at the fair, only the things I will cook or eat, though I am always tempted to buy, if I don't I will definitely end up spending a lot.

  These are some of the stuff I bought at the fair today:



Japanese Dango Rice Cakes:

I love Japanese Rice cakes, either as sweets (dessert) or the ones lightly grilled and cooked in savory soups.  The ones in the fair are mainly for snacking.  I got the flavours which I like which are, the black sesame one (left), the green tea one with red bean paste (middle) and the tri-coloured ones with the read bean wrapped inside (right).  The first and the second cost SGD$2.50 each and the tri-coloured ones are SGD$3.50.



Butter Manju

These are sweet Japanese "pancakes" wrapped in sweet paste.  They are my children's favourite.  They come in red bean paste and custard fillings.  There is also a white red bean paste which I have not seen before.  But the white red bean paste is only available on weekdays.  I got 8 custard and 2 red bean paste ones as my children favoured the custard ones, though my husband wished there were also chestnut fillings ones which were not seen at the fair.  (Price: One for $1.30 and 10 for $12)

Crunchy and Sweet Kombu Crackers with Seasame Seed:

I am not a person who much on snacks the whole day, but I always like seaweed and sesame, so found this interesting.  I like the taste of this snack as it is crunchy and sweet and has a strong tinge of sesame, and anyway kombu is supposed to be good for health.  There are variety of snacks at this stall, mostly cuttlefish and squid which comes in a variety of flavour.  The snacks cost $10 each, getting 5 will entitle you to one more pack that is free.

I only got 2 - this and the dried wakame below.

Dried Wakame:

I always have wakame in my kitchen as I use it alot.  I add it to miso soup, instant noodles (it is instant fibre for my children!) and also I love to pickle wakame and cucumber which goes very well with white rice or even as an appetizer for a meal. 

I tend to favour the Japanese ones over the Korean ones as I find the taste more refined and less fishy.  I usually get a small pack at the supermarket for about $7.80, so when there is a Japanese fair at Isetan, I will make it a point to stock up as it costs significantly less.  This pack is 100g for $10.






You get the promotional brochure at : http://www.tampinesmall.com.sg/promo/2010/JUL/Hokkaido.pdf

Life is So much Better with My Saeco Coffee Machine

  I was not a coffee drinker till I hit about 16 years of age.  However, I did not quite like coffee as I found that I would have an extremely bloated feeling and would be nauseous after drinking coffee.  So I still stuck on to the good old tea.

  However, starting work, getting married and after having children, I found myself keeping more and more late nights and tea was no longer strong enough and I switched to coffee though I only took it (like taking medication) only when I was absolutely necessary.

  The real turning point was when I visited my brother-in-law in Australia.  My husband was brewing coffee on the expresso machine everyday - that really hooked me on to coffee.  In fact, for that trip, we went back to Singapore with an expresso machine from Sunbeam.  After we came back, I enjoyed the experience of drinking coffee from the expresso machine, though we didn't do it daily as there was too much washing up to do and the normal electric coffee machine (drip models) was still more convenient. (And I found out what was wrong, I just simply could not take instant coffee or 3-in-1.  Taking brewed coffee did not give me any nausea feeling.)

  Last year (in June) while shopping, we saw that the whole range of Saeco fully automated expresso machine was on sale at SGD$700+.  After much discussion, we decided to buy it. I definitely did not regret the decision.  It is now so convenient to make coffee in the morning and at a fraction of the price at even the coffee from the coffee shop.  All I do now every morning, after waking up, is to just go to the coffee machine, warm it up and then press twice on the cup button (once, we found the setting both my husband and I like, we never changed it.), then hop into the bathroom brush my teeth and wash my face.  The coffee would then be ready and for me to add in milk for drinking.  The crema of the coffee is always great - I guess also because of the coffee

  There is a milk frother that comes with the machine, but I hardly use that on weekdays as I am always in a rush in the morning and do want to spend time cleaning it.  My son loves it though, he will get daddy to froth the milk on weekends to make his favourite hot "dinosaur milo" (a local hot chocolate with heaps of powdered malt chocolate).

  Maintenance is relatively easily and the machine will insist that you maintain it.  (The delivery man was also very professional, teaching us step-by-step, how to maintain the machine, brew coffee, make cappucino etc.)

  The size is just right for the two of us, though you need to empty the "waste bin" and top up the water quite frequently, which we don't really mind.   I really cannot imagine my life without my Saeco Machine now.

Tips: How do I know my Wok is heated Thoroughly?

In my recipes where I need to stir fry or fry with my wok (I usually do not deep fry, unless absolutely necessary as I do not like to recycle the oil - too much carcinogens, and I find it absolutely very wasteful to use a pot of oil for only one use), I always heat the wok thoroughly before heating the oil, so as to prevent the oil from smoking before the wok is thoroughly heated.  This is a problem especially when you are using a good stainless steel wok as there are actually many layers (indicated by the ply of the wok).

Some of you have asked me " how do you know that the wok is heated?  I guess, I can easily tell cause before using for cooking, I will usually wash my wok under running water, though I drain dry, I do not wipe dry, so there are usually water droplets at the side and base of my wok.  Therefore, when the wok is heated, the water will bubble and sizzle off, so the wok is heated when the water droplets at the side also sizzle off.

If you are starting from a dry wok, you can sprinkle some water at the base and side, that will help you determine if the wok is thoroughly heated.

Onion Omelette

This is one of the simplest dish that everyone in my family loves and it is a great way to get my children to eat more onions.  It is also a dish that can be easily whipped up at anytime in my kitchen as I always have onions and eggs.  Okay so this is how the receipe goes. 

*Serving Size : 3 -4
*Preparation Time (including the cooking): 15 min

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 1-2 large yellow onions  (Proportion depends on whether you like more eggs or onion.  You may use the red onions, my mother-in-law favours this)
• sea salt, pepper, soya sauce (shoyu)  and fish sauce (optional)
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil (or any other cooking oil)

Procedure:

Peel the onions, wash it and slice it into slivers.

Heat the wok up using medium flame.  When the wok is evenly heated, drizzle in a layer to cooking oil.   While the oil is heating up, peel and slice the onion into slivers.  (See diagram left.)

Add the onion into the wok and lightly fry.  Drizzle in about 1/2 tsp. of light soya sauce at this moment.  This will make the onion more flavourful.  When the onion slivers start to brown at the edge, lower the flame so that it will not char.

At this point break the eggs into the bowl, add in about 1/4 tsp of sea salt, a pinch of pepper, 1/2 tsp. of light soya sauce and a dash of fish sauce.  The fish sauce is optional, but it does enhance the flavour of the eggs, so I always add it when I make omelette as I already have a bottle in my kitchen. (My mother used to swear by it.)

Mix the eggs up with a fork (or chopsticks).

Spread the onion in the wok evenly out on the base of the wok.  Pour the egg mixture over onions. Increase the heat to a medium flame.  Leave the mixture to cook and brown on the undersides.  The omelette is ready for flippling, when the centre of the omelette starts bubbling and the oil starts foaming from the edge of the omelette.

When the lower side has started browing (above) flip the omelette to now brown the top side, I usually split the omelette in half across the diameter using my spatula and flip one-half over with the spatula before flipping the other one in the same manner.  If it is difficult to manage you, you can quarter the omelette and flip each part by itself. 

Comments: 

1. 
   
   This omelette is cooked slightly different from the western way of cooking in which usually the raw onions are just mixed into the whole omelette and cooked.  The light frying in the first part makes the onion more fragrant.
2. 
   
   This is a great dish with Teochew Porridge.  If cooking for Teochew Porridge, you can add in a little more sea salt as the porridge is bland and this enhances the taste of the porridge.
3. 
   
   Again it is a very versatile dish, sometimes I add in shrimp or carrots or both for variations as well.  If putting in carrots and shrimp, you can lightly fry them after the onions start browning before adding in the mix.  When carrots and shrimp are added in, it becomes the common Egg Fu Yong dish which cost about $8 - $12 at a zi-char stall (a small stall selling dishes prepared on the spot either at a hawker centre or coffee shop in Singapore).