Pork Chop with Sweet & Sour Sauce

Last week, I was impressed by mom's home cooked pork with sesame oil. Not because of the specialty, but was on the pork itself. The thickness of the pork is sliced to about 3 to 4mm. It was then marinade, and shallow fried. To my surprise, the lean meat was so tender and soft without any special process.

Mom told me she used "muscle meat" - that's what my dad told the butcher when he bought the meat. I had no idea what is was until I watched a Taiwan cooking show. Chef Qiu Xiang introduced pork chop with cheese gravy. She shared a useful tips on making pork chop, that is using pork tenderloin (小里机肉). I learned that tenderloin is the most tender part in an animal, which is the muscle along the central spine portion. 

Without hesitation, I tried to cook pork chop with tenderloin. Instead of deep-frying, I modified the steps to pan-fry and followed by oven baking. It was then served with homemade sweet and sour sauce.

I don't have the proper measurement, so I can't share the recipe here. Feel free to post your question, I'll try my best to answer it.

Pan-Fried Cod Fish With Butter Sauce

During our last shopping at Jusco, Queensbay Mall, hubby spotted the fresh Cod fish (not frozen). He requested the Chef at home (me lah of course!) to cook the Cod fish for our meal. *Wink wink*. The decision was on me. But, how could I resist to savor the flaky white flesh Cod fish?

Instead of steaming the fish fillet, I cook it another way - the Western style. So, I gathered some fresh ingredients like asparagus, button mushroom, and crunchy baby capsicums for the salad and side dish.

Although this is the fresh Cod fish, but it's definitely not as fresh as the one we tasted in Australia. What to do? Just wonder if the frozen Cod fish is the better choice? Ended up, hubby finished almost all the fish, and I prefer to munch on the button mushroom and fresh veggies. :)

Pan-Fried Cod Fish With Butter Sauce
Serves 2

Ingredients:

350gm of 2 fresh cod fish fillet
dash of black pepper
a pinch of salt
sunflower oil

The Butter Sauce

1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp of butter
a pinch of mixed herbs

Method:

1. Season the fish with salt and pepper.

2. Heat some oil in a pan. Brown the fish fillet for both sides. Set aside.

3. Clean the pan, melt some butter. Add lemon juice and mixed herbs. Pour the sauce on the fish.

Chicken and Potato Curry With Rice

I savor curry quite often at my parents' place. Hence, you can't really see I post up curry recipe here as I usually do not hands on to cook my own. Things has changed. One Sunday, I had suddenly thought of cooking a hurried meal so that I could utilize my time to do some house chores. The dish that came across my mind was the chicken and potato curry.

I made a curry without coconut milk. With just the spices, the curry smell is really incredible. Spice has its magical power! We had a satisfying meal on that afternoon. :)

I swear I will have to discover more curry recipe in future.

Chicken and Potato Curry

Ingredients:

1/2 of skinless chicken breast, deboned and cut into cubes
3 potatoes, peeled cut into cubes
1/2 onion, peeled and sliced
cooking oil
200ml water

Seasoning:

fresh chili paste for chicken curry ( I bought it from wet market at 1 dollar)
1 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tbsp of meat curry powder
1 tsp of brown sugar
light soy sauce to taste

Method:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the potato till 80% soft. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat some oil in a wok. Stir-fry the onion. Add all the seasoning except light soy sauce. Stir fry till the oil separated from the chili paste.

3. Add in chicken cubes. Saute for 4-5 minute. Pour in the potato to mix well. Add water and close the lid for simmering.

4. When sauce is thickening, add light sauce to taste.

5. Serve hot with rice.

Fried Soy Noodle

Do you think that this bowl of fried soy bean noodle looks like Penang Char Koay Teow (fried flat rice noodle)? I can tell you that it is. It tastes exactly the same as Penang CKT.

Personally, I prefer soy noodle than rice noodle, as it is packed with Protein and comparatively low in Carbohydrates. Besides, I like its smooth and springy texture. I have no idea where to find fresh soy noodle in Penang, so normally I just use dried soy noodle.

This is my entry to Presto Pasta Night #159 that is founded by Ruth of Presto Pasta Nights . The host of the week is Daphne of More Than Words.

By the way, if you are from US or Canada and you haven't participate in the FREE Rachael Ray Casserole Giveaway, please click the link and post your comment to stand a chance to win.

Fried Soy Noodle

Serves 3

Ingredients:

5 pieces of dried soy noodle

3 eggs

15 medium-sized prawns, shelled

1 Chinese sausage, sliced

2 handful of bean sprout

2 stalk of chives, chopped into 2" length

5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

Cooking oil

Seasoning:

1 tbsp of oyster sauce

3 tbsp of light soy sauce

1 tbsp of dark soy sauce

1 tbsp of chili paste

Method:

1. In a pot of boiling water, cook the soy noodle as per the instruction on package. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat some oil in a wok, scramble the eggs and set aside.

3. Heat enough oil in the same wok, saute the garlic. Add prawns and Chinese sausage to stir fry till fragrant with 1 tbsp of light soy sauce. Then add the beansprout to stir fry together.

4. Pour in the soy noodle and the seasoning sauce. Stir fry till noodles is coated with the sauce. Add scrambled egg the chives and stir fry for a while before done.

Mee Udang (Malay Prawn Noodle) - Guest Post on Rasa Malaysia

 

It's such an honor to be invited by Bee from Rasa Malaysia for a guest post. After thinking for a while, and went through a brainstorming session with Bee, both of us agreed on a mouth-watering  dish - the Malay Mee Udang (prawn noodle).

For the recipe, please hop over to Rasa Malaysia.

Rachael Ray Casserole Giveaway!

Last night, hubby and I were sitting on our bar stools enjoying dragon fruit jelly. Then I spotted nice blue casserole on a TV cooking show. It's exactly the same as the Rachael Ray Casserole that sponsored by CSN Stores in this FREE giveaway.

Rachael Ray Casserole, the casserole that I longed for. It is a good kitchen helper to prepare one-pot-dish. The cast iron construction provides even heating and excellent heat retention. So, it’s good for stewing on stove and roasting in oven. I like its beautiful outlook too.

To participate this casserole giveaway, you must be currently reside in US or Canada. Just subscribe to my blog, and leave me a comment on this post and tell me what do you want to cook with this casserole. Kindly include your email or ensure your email is in your profile. You are welcome to link this post from your blog. Have fun!

Updates: This giveaway will end on 8th May 2010 12pm.

Dragon Fruit Jelly In Egg

This is what I made over the weekend to share with my niece and nephews. It's the favorite dessert for most of the kids. If you have time, do make some for your kids. I'm sure they will be more than happy.

To make this, first you have to collect some egg shells (You need to punch a hole at the tip of the egg to remove the egg contents...a bit tricky :P). Clean the shell and keep it dry. Then when you prepare jelly or even pudding, the egg shell will act as container, and you'll get the beautiful jelly in egg shape. Red dragon fruit is a good source of natural coloring to the jelly. Don't you think it's beautiful?