Crackling Roasted Pork Belly (Siu Yuk)

Ingredients:

1/2 kg pork belly

3/4 tsp five spice powder (bumbu ngohiong)

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp white pepper

For the skin: 

3 tbs vinegar

2 1/2 tsp salt

1. In small bowl mix the five spice powder, salt, sugar, pepper until well combined. 
2. In another small bowl mix 1 1/2 tbs vinegar and 1 tsp salt until well combined.
3. Prepare the pork belly, pat dry the skin with kitchen towel. With a tooth pick, jab the skin from the pork belly evenly to absorb the marinade better and help the skin creates crispy crackling texture.
4. In a plate or a cutting board,  place the pork belly skin side down, with a knife cut the meaty part (not the skin) about 1 cm deep along the length, be careful not to cut through. Rub the meat with five spice powder mixture.
5. Flip the pork belly and now rub the skin part with half of the vinegar mixture. Marinate for about 6 hours or overnight.
6. Prepare baking sheet, line with aluminum foil. Preheat oven to 200 °C, upper heat.  First place the pork belly skin side down. Roast the meaty part for about 15 to 20 minutes.
7. In a small bowl mix the rest ingredients for the skin 1 1/2 tbs vinegar and 1 1/2 tsp of salt until well combined. 
8. Take the pork belly out of the oven, turn it around so now the meaty part side down and the skin part side up. Pat dry with kitchen towel, brush evenly with half of the vinegar mixture and roast it for about 20 minutes. Take it out, pat dry one more time and brush the skin again with the rest of the vinegar mixture, roast again for about 15 minutes or until the skin is crisp golden brown.
9. Take it out and let it cool for at least 10 to 15 minutes before cutting.

I love to enjoy this dish with steamed rice or Hainan rice, garlic chili sauce and cucumber slices.

Garlic Chili Sauce (Sambal bawang putih)

Ingredients:
2 to 3 big red chillies
Red bird's eye chillies, as desired (i used 3 for this recipe)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised
Enough water to boil the chillies
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
Salt to taste

• In a cooking pot bring enough water to a boil, add your chillies, boil them for about 5 minutes or until they are tender. Reserve about 2 to 3 tablespoon water, depends on how thick you want the sauce will be.
• In a food processor, add the chillies, garlic, chicken stock powder, sugar, salt, vinegar and reserved water. Process all the ingredients but not too smooth, i like to leave some texture to the sauce. Adjust seasoning if needed.

Babi Panggang Merah (Char Siu)

Ingredients:

1/2 kg pork fillet

2 cloves garlic, bruised

1 tbs whole annatto seeds (angkak), grind them with mortal and pestle

2 tbs hoisin sauce

2 tbs Chinese cooking wine

2 to 3 tsp sugar

1 tbs honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Extra honey to drizzle

• Before marinating you want to jab the meat with a fork on various location to absorb the flavors better.
• In a mixing bowl, mix together garlic, annatto seeds, hoisin sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sugar, honey, salt (about 1 tsp) and pepper. Stir until well combined. 
• In a zip lock bag pour the marinade over the meat, make sure that the meat is well covered. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 190°C upper lower heat (ober-unterhitze). Place the meat with the marinade on a baking pan, cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake for about 50 minutes. Flip the meat in between cooking time.
• Take the meat out of the oven, set the oven to 200°C upper heat (oberhitze). Prepare a baking tray, line it with aluminum foil and place a baking rack on top of it. Place the meat (without the marinade sauce) on the rack, bake for about 13 minutes on each side or until the sides slightly charred. Drizzle the meat with extra honey, brush until evenly coated. Slice the meat before serving.

Fried Rice with Pork Jerky (Nasi Goreng Dendeng)

Ingredients:
2 cups left over rice
3 tbs cooking oil
2 eggs
1 large shallot, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 stalks spring onions, sliced
1 red chili, sliced
1 cup of sliced white cabbage
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs oyster sauce
1 tsp chicken stock powder
Salt and pepper to taste
100g jerky or as desired, in this recipe i'm using Singaporean pork jerky, cut into bite size pieces
Shrimp crackers for garnish (optional)

• In a wok or a large pan preheat 3 tablespoon coking oil over high heat, fry the shallot, garlic until fragrant and then add spring onion and sliced chili. Cook for another 2 minutes or so. 
• Leave some space on the pan, add the eggs, let it for about a minute and then stir until scrambled. 
• Add the cabbage, stir until all combined, let it cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or just until the cabbage just tender and slightly crunchy.
• Add the rice, fish sauce, oyster sauce, chicken stock powder, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning as desired. Stir until all well combined. Remove from heat.
• Add in the jerky and mix them well. Garnish with shrimp crackers (optional)

Fried Satay (Sate Goreng)

Ingredients:

500g chicken breast, cut into small cubes (bite size pieces)

2 medium shallots, thinly sliced

2 1/2 tbs sweet soy sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbs peanut sauce

2 tbs cooking oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Others:

Peanut sauce

Fried shallots

Indonesian pickle

• Marinate all the ingredients except cooking oil for at least 1/2 hour. 
• Preheat 2 tbs cooking oil on a non stick pan over medium high heat, cook the chicken until golden brown and slightly charred. 
• Serve it with peanut sauce, Indonesian pickle and steamed rice, sprinkle on top with fried shallots. 

Pasta With Pistachio Pesto

Ingredients:
For the pesto
200g pistachio (roasted and salted in shell)
2 stalks basil, take the leaves
6 stalks parsley, take the leaves
1 clove garlic, bruised
150 ml olive oil
2 tbs lemon juice
Dash of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

For the pasta
6 slices bacon
50g pistachio (roasted and salted in shell)
360g pasta (spaghetti is my favorite)
50g parmesan
Salt to taste

1. For the pesto: Peel the pistachio, in a food processor combine the peeled pistachio, basil, parsley, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper (i use about 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper). Puree until smooth. Set aside.
2. Fry the bacon, lay them on paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Chop the bacon and set aside.
3. For the pasta: Peel the pistachio and chopped them coarsely, set aside. In a large cooking bowl, boil enough water and sprinkle some salt after its boiled. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Preserve about half cup of cooking water and then drain the pasta. Put the pasta back on the cooking bowl, mix in the pesto and half of cup cooking water, stir them quick, add the pistachio and the parmesan, mix them well. Sprinkle the chopped bacon on top of the pasta, ready to serve.

Almond Choco Caramel-Drizzled Brownies

Ingredients:
200g dark chocolate min 50% cacao, chopped
150g butter, cut in small pieces
3 eggs (size M)
125g granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
75g all purpose flour
30g cacao powder
1 tsp baking powder
80g whole almond, coarsely chopped
100g dark chocolate glaze
Caramel sauce

• In a bowl, combine all purpose flour, cacao powder, baking powder and mix it well.
• In a small cooking bowl, on a low heat melt the butter. After the butter completely melted add 150g dark chocolate (set the 50g aside), remove from heat and let the chocolate completely melted and mix them well, let it cool to room temperature.
• Prepare a baking form about 21x 21cm, line it with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 180 ºC.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and a pinch of salt until light and creamy about 5 minutes. Pour in the chocolate mixture, with a spatula mix them until well combined. Fold in the flour mixture, do not fold it too long just until well combined. 
• Pour the batter on a prepared baking form, sprinkle the chopped almond evenly on top of the batter and bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool for about 15 minutes before cutting it. 
• Cut the brownies into about 12 squares, with a fork drizzle them with chocolate glaze and caramel sauce, now your brownies are ready to serve.

Homemade Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:
200g granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
200 ml heavy whipping cream
3/4 tsp sea salt
3 tbs butter

• In a heavy bottomed saucepan, add in the granulated sugar and water. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, do not stir!! Once its boiled turn the heat to medium low and cook until the color turn amber. Be careful not to burn, it could taste very bitter.
• Remove the sugar from the heat and carefully whisk in the heavy cream as the mixture can bubble vigorously.  Stir in the unsalted butter, and salt. Mix them well. Transfer the caramel to a dish and cool. 
• Keep it in an air tight container, the caramel sauce can last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. 
• Warm it up before serving.

My Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

These two recipes are gonna make you smitten, they both really complete each other. I personally think that Alton Brown's recipe of cinnamon rolls is perfect with the glaze from Paula Deen.

Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Click here for the recipe

Paula Deen's Glaze
Click here for the recipe

Bakso Goreng Babi (Fried Pork Meatballs)

Original recipe from my mom

Ingredients:
250g ground pork (preferably shoulder with sufficient fat)
250g peeled shrimps, coarsely chopped
1 tbs dried shrimps
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 eggs
1 tsp chicken stock powder
Salt and white pepper to taste (about 1 full tsp salt and 1/2 tsp white pepper)
250g tapioca flour
Cooking oil

• In a large mixing bowl, mix the ground pork, chopped shrimp, dried shrimps,  garlic, eggs, chicken stock powder, salt and pepper until well combined.
• Gradually mix in the tapioca flour, mix well with cleaned hand. Do not overmix the mixture!
• On medium heat preheat enough cooking oil to deep fry the meatballs. Shape a heaped tablespoon of mixture into a ball, fry them until crisp and golden brown. 

Note: You can substitute the ground pork with ground chicken, preferably with sufficient fat too.