Pan Fried Bitter Melon

Earlier, I shared my aunt's recipe of bitter gourd with ribs and bean sauce.

http://hakkafood.blogspot.com/2009/01/aunties-special-bitter-gourd.html

Here is another recipe for those who prefer crunchy rather than soft bitter melon, stir frying would yield the desired results. It takes a shorter time to cook this dish that is refreshing especially in summer time.

• Soak bitter melon slices in salt water for 10 minutes. Rinse and drain.
• Dry fry bittermelon in medium heat till slightly dry. Push to the side of the pan or dish up.
• Caramelise brown sugar. Add a little oil and fry chopped garlic.
• Return bitter melon to the centre of the heat.
• Add prawn or chicken slices and fry till cooked.
  The texture of the melon should be a little crunchy.

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Fragrant Taro Rice 芋头饭Hakka phonetic : "wu tael fun"

Taro, a root vegetable commonly known as yam, is a versatile ingredient and often used in Hakka cuisine such as savory rice and braised pork. In Hakka phonetic (rendition) it is pronounced as "woo tael fun".

http://hakkafood.blogspot.com/2009/01/taro-yam-braised-belly-pork.html

This nutritious one-dish meal apparently has some Chaozhou (Te chiu) influence owing to the large number of Hakkas who reside in Guangzhou.

Besides diced yam, the ingredients comprise mushrooms, dried shrimp and chicken fillet. It looks like hard work but all the time and effort are worthwhile.

You may add some glutinous rice (presoak for 30 minutes) for a more soft and chewy texture.

For step-by-step recipe of taro rice, please follow this link :

Taro (yam) rice is a one dish meal, wholesome and delicious. To cook tasty taro rice can be time consuming and requires some basic culinary skills. Give allowance to preparation time and follow the instructions closely for better results.

Ingredients

1 cup of yam - diced into cubes (approx 1/2 of a large yam - preferably sharp olive-shaped as they are more floury than the round ones)

120 g of chicken fillet or pork belly - sliced thinly 6 medium Chinese dried black mushroom (soak in water to soften, remove stem and cut into thin strips or cubes; keep the water for later use.)

50 g dried shrimps (wash and soak briefly, drain and set aside) 1/2 cup white glutinuous rice (soak for 1 hour)

3/4 cup white long grain rice (wash and drain just before cooking)

5 eschallots (sliced finely)

2 cloves garlic (diced)

4 tablespoons cooking oil

Seasoning : according to taste Light soy sauce; dark soy sauce; oyster sauce; fish sauce; white pepper.

Method

1. Fry shallots and garlic in oil till light golden colour. Do not overcook as burnt garlic is bitter. Drain, remove from heat and set aside.

2. Using the garlic oil, fry all the ingredients separately, dish out and move on to the next item : dried shrimp, meat, mushroom. Replenish cooking oil if the frying pan gets too hot and dry.

3. Fry yam till lightly browned.

4. Fry glutinous rice and white rice till semi-cooked. Be patient, keep stirring to prevent rice from sticking to the frying pan or wok. It will take at least 10 minutes.

5. Mix all the fried ingredients, yam and rice with the seasoning sauces.

6. Put all the ingredients into a large pot (non-stick preferable) or rice cooker. Add mushroom water. If it does not cover the ingredients, add some warm water.

7. Bring the rice to a boil. When cooked, sprinkle fried shallots and garlic (step 1) before serving.

8. You may garnish with coriander and spring onions.

9. This dish is usually eaten with braised soy sauce duck and homemade chilli sauce.

- Permission granted by sources for reprint of recipe

- Photos : copyright reserved

Poon Choi or pen cai - Basin Vegetable dish for Chinese New Year

Poon Choi, also known as pen cai or Big Bowl Feast, is a traditional type of Chinese dish with layers of different cooked ingredients.

It was said that pen cai was invented during the late Song Dynasty. When Mongol troops invaded Song China, the young Emperor fled to the area around Guangdong. To serve the Emperor as well as his army, the locals collected all their best food available, cooked it, and put it in wooden washing basins.

Despite it's humble beginnings, pen cai has been given an exotic makeover with many five star restaurants serving it as an exotic and expensive dish during Chinese New Year with chicken, oysters, abalone, prawns, mushrooms and vegetables.

www.fehd.gov.hk/.../poon_choi.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poon_choi

http://forums.chef2chef.net/viewtopic.php?t=502909

Salt Baked Chicken 盐鸡

Salt Baked Chicken

Yum Gai is arguably a trademark of Hakka cuisine. The traditional recipe can be attributable to my late maternal grandma and a Malaysian chef whom I have picked up a few cooking tips.


Traditional recipe :
If possible, use free range chicken, not too big, to ensure thorough cooking.
Marinate chicken with a little fine salt, pepper, thinly sliced ginger, Hua diao wine and sesame oil. If you like herbal taste, add some sweet dang gui, wolfberries (go ji zi) and a stalk of spring onion into the cavity of the bird. Wrap the chicken in a generous amount of greaseproof paper to ensure it's properly sealed.

Line 3 kg of coarse salt on a good conducting heat proof tray. Put in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove tray from oven and scoop up some salt. Put the wrapped chicken onto the tray and cover evenly with heated salt. Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes. In the old days, granny would light an incense stick and wait till it's burnt out to gauge when the chicken is done.

Dipping sauces :

1. ginger and garlic in oil
2. sesame and soy sauce
3. celery, coriander, ginger, salt in garlic oil (use chicken fat if possible)
4. Oyster sauce

Simplified version of salt baked chicken

For the time scarce modern cooks, making salt baked chicken is a breeze without compromising very much on the taste. Prepare brine solution with 1 cup of coarse salt, 2 TBS of sugar and 12 cups of water (depending on the size of the chicken).

Marinate the chicken with wine, pepper and fine sea salt for at least 30 minutes.

When brine solution is brought to a boil, lower the chicken into the pot, holding it steadily, lifting it up and down. Keep repeating the procedure till the chicken is cooked al dante.

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Red rice wine lees dishes - seafood or meat

The residue from making glutinous rice wine, known as 红糟 in Mandarin (hong2 zao1), can be used as flavouring for stir fries of meat and seafood dishes. My favourites are chicken or prawn.

Red yeast rice sauce manufactured by W.J.F. (wei4 rong2) in Taiwan is really good. The red wine residue is said to be made from all natural ingredients, ground into a fine paste and seasoned. It is very tasty by itself. There is no need to add salt or other seasoning sauces to fry the meat.

Fermented glutinous rice also comes in natural white colour if red sorghum is not added. You can purchase this in bottles or small takeaway tubs from the chiller section of Asian grocery stores. Unlike the ready to use red yeast sauce above, a little soy sauce should be added when the meat is almost cooked. Always sear the meat in garlic oil before simmering it so as to bring out the full flavours.

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Fried Radish Meat Balls 萝卜丸

- Wash radish, peel the skin and shred thinly. Set aside.
- Wash dried shrimp, chop finely, pan fry or bake with a little oil till fragrant. Cool.
- Dice soaked mushroom or black fungus roughly.
- Put radish, minced pork, shrimp, mushroom, tapioca flour, seasoning, egg, in a mixing bowl.
- Stir the mixture till sticky.
- Using a round spoon, scoop some mixture and shape into balls.
- Either steam over boiling water for 15 minutes over medium heat or pan fry with cooking oil till golden brown.

- Copyright reserved : original recipe and photos

Auntie's special bitter gourd

It is believed that the ability to savour bittergourd builds up one's tenacity to overcome difficulties. Perhaps that's one reason why the legendary hardy Hakkas has made this dish their staple diet.

I had the privilege of observing my 84 year old aunt prepare her famous bittergourd dish when she was in town last year. The secret to getting rid of the tart and bitter taste of bittergourd is to marinate deseeded and sliced vegetable in a little salt for 10 minutes and then rinse it off.

Pan fry the sliced bittergourd without any oil and add a little sugar while stirring the vegetable. When partially cooked, push the bittergourd to the side of the pan. Fry garlic in oil till fragrant.

Prepare a separate stew pot. Pork ribs should either be seared or run through hot water to remove any unpleasant taste before putting into the stew pot. Add fried bitergourd and prawn that has been marinated in pepper and a little sugar before adding to the stew about 10 minutes before turning off the heat.

Taro Yam Braised Belly Pork 芋头扣肉

Meicai kuorou (preserved mustard green in braised soy sauce pork) is a signature Hakka dish.

In Guangdong province where yam is in abundance, yutou (taro or yam) kuoro (braised pork) arranged in an alternate fashion is more popular.

Belly pork has to be deep fried, refreshed with water and braised till it acquires a succulent melt in the mouth texture. Similarly, the yam slices should be pan fried or baked in the oven till it is almost cooked before arranging them in a large bowl alternating between pork and yam. Add seasoning sauces - basic are soy sauce, five spice powder, furu (fermented red bean curd) and a dash of shaoxing wine (optional). Steam over boiling water in an airtight pot for at least 90 minutes. When ready to serve, invert the bowl over a slightly larger dish.

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More detailed and updated recipe : http://hakkafood.blogspot.com/2009/10/taro-yam-braised-meat-yu-kou-rou.html