Hainanese Pork Chops

A VERSATILE EVERGREEN

FairPrice Cream Crackers are a wonderfully nostalgic snack and make a great crust for pork chops, too

ANNETTE TAN, food@newstoday.com.sg

05:55 AM Jun 04, 2009

Cream crackers are one of those old school foods that take us right back to our childhoods. I remember my grandparents happily dipping those crispy biscuits into their coffee.

And it’s nice to see that some traditional foods still have their place in modern-day predilections.

FairPrice Cream Crackers are still perfect as quick teatime or breakfast treats, especially when paired with jam, marmalade or just plain ol’ butter.

These trans fat-free biscuits are also Halal and cholesterol-free. Which only means that people of all ages can enjoy them anytime of the day. I like their crispy, fluffy wholesome goodness.

I’ve often found that FairPrice Cream Crackers also come in handy when making another nostalgic dish: Hainanese pork chops.

Instead of breadcrumbs, I whiz a couple of cream crackers in the food processor and use them to coat the pork.

It’s something my mother always did. So, here I am doing exactly the same.

 

View Full Album

Assorted FairPrice Cream Crackers ($1.75 for a 420g packet) is available at all FairPrice supermarkets.

Hainanese Pork Chops

Serves 2 to 4

 

6 slices pork fillet

1 tbsp Chinese rice wine

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1 cup FairPrice Canola Oil

2 eggs, beaten

8 pcs FairPrice Cream Crackers, ground to fine crumbs

1 potato, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

1 cup ketchup

2 tsp white vinegar

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

1 tsp corn flour

2 tomatoes, quartered

1/3 cup frozen peas

 

1. Beat the pork fillet with a meat mallet to thin them out. Then marinate them in Chinese rice wine, light soy, salt and ground pepper.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan until it starts to shimmer. Place the beaten eggs in a saucer and the cream cracker crumbs in another saucer.

3. One at a time, dip the pork slices in the beaten egg and then the

cream cracker crumbs to coat. Slide into the hot oil and fry till golden. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

4. In a wok, heat two tablespoons of the oil you used to fry the pork. Fry the potato slices until they are tender. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

5. Make the sauce in the same wok. Fry the onion with the oil left in the wok for five minutes, until it starts to soften.

6. Add the ketchup, vinegar, dark soy, pepper and half a cup of water. Bring to a boil.

7. In a small bowl make a paste with corn flour and a bit of water. Add to the sauce, let it bubble and thicken.

8. Stir in tomatoes (do not cook through), peas and fried potatoes. Pour everything over the pork slices. Serve immediately with rice.

From TODAY, Food – Thursday, 04-Jun-2009

Related articles by Zemanta

• Corned beef hash (hermenaut.org)
• Accidentally Delicious Turkey Burgers (aldenteblog.com)
• Menu Plan Monday (recipease.blogspot.com)
• My Version Of Spanish Tortilla (Omelette) (justbento.com)
• Brunch Recipe: Eggs with Pork "Debris" (thekitchn.com)
• Royal Foodie Joust Entry: Pork and Asparagus Rolls on Wilted Spinach (cookingwithanne.blogspot.com)
• Vegan iri dofu (iri doufu) with garlic chives (justbento.com)
• Sunday dinner (gothamgal.com)
• From the Chronicle KitchenMartin Yan's China (chroniclebooks.com)

Prawn Paste Chicken (Har Cheong Gai)

Photos: Jason Ho

PURE AND SIMPLE
FairPrice’s White Sesame Oil adds a wonderful depth of flavour to all manner of Asian dishes


ANNETTE TAN
food@newstoday.com.sg


Sesame seed oil has a long history as a condiment, remedy and beautifier. In ancient times, the Babylonians used it to make exotic perfumes, while the Arabs used it for medicinal purposes.

These days, sesame seed oil is mostly used in the Asian kitchen to add a nutty, well-rounded flavour to all manner of dishes from soups to stir-fries.

FairPrice’s White Sesame Oil is a great option for your kitchen as it is 100 per cent pure. That means no additives or artificial flavouring. It is also certified Halal and cholesterol free.

I used it to make this week’s dish of Prawn Paste Chicken, that quintessential zi char dish that is so easy to replicate at home.

As in most dishes, it only uses a tiny amount of sesame seed oil. But it makes a world of difference to the taste, adding a wonderful depth that turns this humble dish into something special.

FairPrice White Sesame Oil ($3.55 for a 360ml bottle, above) is available at all FairPrice supermarkets.

-----

Prawn Paste Chicken (Har Cheong Gai)
Serves 2-4

2 tbsp prawn paste
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1/2 tsp FairPrice White Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
Oil for deep-frying
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup corn flour, for coating

1. In a large bowl, mix together the prawn paste, cooking wine, sesame oil and pepper.
2. Marinate the chicken pieces in this paste for at least 30 minutes or up to three hours.
3. Before frying, heat oil in a wok till it starts to shimmer.
4. To test if the oil is hot enough, place a small piece of bread in it. If it immediately bubbles and floats to the top, the oil is at just the right temperature.
5. Place the beaten egg in a shallow bowl and the corn flour in a saucer.
6. Dip the chicken pieces, one piece at a time, in the beaten egg, then in the corn flour and into the wok.
7. Fry till golden brown and remove to a plate lined with kitchen paper.
8. Serve hot.

From TODAY, Voices – Thursday, 09-April-2009

Related articles by Zemanta

• Helen's Asian Kitchen: Easy Chinese Stir-Fries - Try Kung Pao Chicken at home! (wileyptnews.com)
• Recipes for Health: Japanese Spinach With Sesame Dressing (nytimes.com)
• What in my pantry today? Random Marinade Stuff... (momblognetwork.com)
• Quick Recipe: Watercress and Cabbage Stir-Fry (thekitchn.com)
• Natto or Tempeh Fried Rice (justbento.com)
• Recipes for Health: Tofu: Not Just for Health Nuts Anymore (nytimes.com)
• Asparagus Stir-Fry (101cookbooks.com)
• Veggie Wednesday: Very Veggie Eggrolls (cookingwithanne.blogspot.com)
• Alex Remington: In Search of Real Chinese Food (huffingtonpost.com)
• Ginger-Poached Noodles (101cookbooks.com)

Been cooking lately, but not been posting

As already said, this is my first post. I have been busy cooking at home, even right after coming from my day work. With my wife pregnant, and progressively in the process of childbearing, she has a lot of physiological changes, not to mention emotional and mental, my home cooking is even more needed.

Well, she has developed a distaste of many things in the kitchen. She dislikes the smell of frying onion and garlic, and with most foods fried first with those two ingredients, that leaves most of the cooking to me!

Not a problem for me, since I also enjoy cooking. Ever since I was a child, being the last to grow up, I was with my mother. And with my mother spending most of her time in the kitchen (compared to my father, that is), then I got to learn a few things from the start, and try my own hands doing this and that while growing up. Needless to say, I had a hand in the kitchen. So that is why I don't have any problem being the man of the house, and the hand in the kitchen.

But, don't expect too much from me. Having grown in the provinces, all I know are very simple dishes. And quick ones to cook at that. At the least, these are very fresh foods. I've grown by the waters of the sea, the river and the fishpond. I've eaten "live seafoods", just fresh from the catch, and fresh fishes, just brought in from the fishpond. And, as in the days of old, we had our own backyard to pick fruits and vegetables from, or to pluck some shoots - all fresh from the tree or vine.

Lately, I've come to know a few (only a few) of those meat-based dishes, but I know that what I know will grow. As in all things, "doing is learning, and learning is doing."

Especially when you grow older, one of the pasttime you should have or revert to, is sports - but not watching; it should be doing.

And with cooking, doing is very important. It is the experience that counts.

May you not have boiling oil or piping hot soup spill or splatter on you.

Happy cooking!
(and eating)...

Related articles by Zemanta

• Recession Proof Meals: Stir Fry (diabetesdaily.com)
• Basic Technique: How to Cook Onions (thekitchn.com)
• Pasta with Broccoli & Mozzarella (simplycooking.wordpress.com)
• Did They Eat It: Spaghetti Carbonara (suburbanbliss.net)
• Recipes for Health: Vegetable Soups Ideal for Late Winter (nytimes.com)
• Vegetable soup (realfoodlover.wordpress.com)
• Persian Food (recipes.suite101.com)
• Country Casserole (chubbagurl.blogspot.com)
• Nettle soup is the one to make (realfoodlover.wordpress.com)
• Suzanne Pirret recipes: Cazuela de arroz with langoustines (telegraph.co.uk)