i am me

i have recently developed into a passable chef. =) i guess i did inherit some of my mother's genes.

due to high demand (if i do say so myself..*grin), this is the recipe to my chu kiok chou. it's really very simple and you'll be amazed at how well you can suddenly cook!

Ingredients:
2 large cloves of garlic (slightly crushed, but not chopped)
2 large chunks of ginger (cut into small pieces)
1 white carrot (cut into cubes)
black chinese mushrooms (stalks removed and cut into half)
pork trotters, OR
pork spare ribs (cut into bite size)
2 chinese bowls of black vinegar
thick, black sauce
sugar
salt

Method:
first, fry the garlic till it's fragrant.
second, add in the pork (i couldn't find trotters so i just used spare ribs. how much is up to you) and fry till slightly browned
third, add in the ginger and fry some more till flavours are infused into the pork or until the pork is cooked.
fourth, add in the black sauce (how much is up to you, you want it blacker, add in more)
fifth, add in the white carrot and black mushrooms
sixth, add in the 2 bowls of black vinegar
seventh, add in sugar and salt to taste (i used 2 tablespoons of sugar)
bring it to the boil and then lower down the fire and let it simmer for about an hour.

if you really like it sour, then add more vinegar. remember to counter with sugar if not your guests will be making sour faces the whole night. the secret is in the vinegar and LOTS of ginger.

this is my mummy's recipe. i know there may be other recipes out there which require different ingredients but this is how she does it. and i'm pretty sure it's gone down well with quite a lot of people. =)

sorry lena, haven't gotten round to asking han nien for his char siew recipe. but i will soon!

and if you guys out there want to try a new lemon chicken recipe,

Ingredients:
2 pieces of chicken thigh fillet
1 clove of ginger
1 small chunk of ginger (grated)
2 tablespoons of flour
250ml of chicken stock
rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons of basil
salt
pepper

Method:
finely chop the garlic and lemon rind and mix it with the flour.
cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and add it into the flour/garlic/lemon rind mixture. let it marinate for about 10 minutes.
fry the chicken till golden brown.
add in the grated ginger, flour mixture, stock and sugar into the pan and bring to boil and cook for 5 mins.
next, blend the egg yolk and lemon juice and add it into the pan.
add salt and pepper to taste.

the sauce will be slightly thick and creamy due to the flour. can be eaten with rice or with pasta.

and there you go. 2 simple dishes. hahaha..relatively. hope you guys enjoy it.