Saturday, 29th April 2006

Today my sis, Wm, brought me a hunk of a piece of meat – siew yuk or roast belly pork, uncut. We decided that I should make a siew yuk pot, which means a stew with siew yuk as the main ingredient, with accompanying ingredients and these can range from mixed vegetables to tofu to mushrooms, etc. Today I thought I would add two types of tofu (fresh & fried), dried mushrooms, dried oysters, heaps of garlic and to lend an artistic touch, carrot flowers.

Here’s what I did:

Cut meat into bite sized pieces.
Cut tofu into largish pieces and fry till lightly browned.
Soak dried mushrooms briefly, cut away stalks and marinate mushrooms in Shao Hsing wine, sugar & splash of oil.
Make carrot flowers.
Cut garlic cloves into large pieces and soften slowly in hot oil.
Rinse away any grit from dried oysters.
Cut a thumb sized piece of ginger into thickish slices.

A. Put all the lightly browned tofu into a claypot. Put aside.
B. In a wok, add some oil and fry ginger slices for a minute, add mushrooms & oysters, stir and add more wine, some oyster & dark soy sauce, rock sugar, white pepper & sesame oil. Add water, cover and simmer gently for 20 mins.
C. Give the mushrooms and oysters a little poke, if they feel reasonably soft, add meat. Let it come back to a slow boil and add more water if necessary. Adjust seasoning and add half the browned garlic pieces & the carrot flowers. Add corn starch if you think you need to.
D. Simmer another 10 mins and throw the lot into the claypot (already heating up on slowest flame on next hob).
E. Cover and let it come to a slow simmer and put the rest of the garlic pieces on top. By that time, the neighbours will be banging on your door begging to be let in.
F. Serve straight from the claypot. Always keep the cover on till the claypot is on the dining table and dramatically, WHISK, the cover away. Applause and sighs will follow naturally, guaranteed.

Oh yes, the vegetables for tonight was a plate of steamed lady’s fingers or okra, served with light soysauce which a clove of raw chopped garlic and chilli.