Something Lost and The Roast Pork Tragedy
Can't believe how fast the weekend has slipped by. Like water flowing in between my hands.
Sigh.
Well, not to say it has been unfruitful though. Spent a lot of time socializing. Swimming. Doing a little bit more cooking. Church. Taking friends to a wet market for beef noodles. Helping neighbor to check Internet connection. Yet it feels kind of empty.
Hmmm... was reading through ME's comments from an earlier entry. I've come to realize that I haven't really have spent much time with myself anymore. Even my private moments are spent thinking about interaction with others.
Can't believe I've lost that. Time to stop and catch up. (WAIT, It's not over yet... read on, lol!)
It was a cool afternoon in the confines of the Jaya Jusco Shopping complex when I chanced upon a delightful looking pork fillet in the non-halal section.
Immediately, the inner chef in me decided, 'Char siew, now or never... '
Hastily, I procured the seductive piece of meat and rushed off.
Oops, wait, the recipe; I made a quick detour at the office, went online and copied the recipe from my char siew master, Mott in her delightful little recipe treasure house.
Greedily, running through the list of sauces which I have painstakingly collected over the course of the past two months after purchasing my precious little black kitchen horror (my oven lar!), I discovered I still lacked one more ingredient, dark soya sauce.
Shucks, is this a Chinese obsession, making multiple condiments from the same soya bean? Not content with plain soya sauce, we have light soya sauce, dark soya sauce and hoisin sauce. Oh well, all in the pursuit of gluttony...
OK, OK, marinade time... Let me, see, optional rice wine? Well, I'll have to pinch some from Mum then.
Oooh, the marinade is a such lovely rich black colour. And the smell, makes me tempted to just sample some... STOP! Phew.... OK, marinade for the minimum two hours. Let's double check the cooking instructions.
Aiks, hey Mott, you forgot to put in the cooking time! And what is max temperature? It's dangerous to use max temperature. Little children like jonzz could burn down the house you know. Oh well, being the ingenious little brat I was, I scoured the Internet again. Finally, arriving at the optimum cooking time of 375 F (190 C) for 25 minutes on each side.
What's next? What's next? Aluminium foil bowl. Wrap, wrap, wrap... hmm, looks more like an aluminium foil boat. Well, as long as it fits.
Okay, to cut a dreadfully long boring story short, I finally cooked the silly fella. Here's the pictures: (Heh, heh, copied Chinkinin's montage style for today)
So what's the tragedy, you may ask. Well, I think I made braised pork, instead of char siew,
LOL, no fears. Still juicy and tender. Still tasty.
That's what comes from playing it safe and cooking EVERYTHING inside aluminium wrap. Anyway, I have learnt plenty from my trial run and the next time I assure you(MUA HA HA HA), it will be perfect.
Sigh.
Well, not to say it has been unfruitful though. Spent a lot of time socializing. Swimming. Doing a little bit more cooking. Church. Taking friends to a wet market for beef noodles. Helping neighbor to check Internet connection. Yet it feels kind of empty.
Hmmm... was reading through ME's comments from an earlier entry. I've come to realize that I haven't really have spent much time with myself anymore. Even my private moments are spent thinking about interaction with others.
Can't believe I've lost that. Time to stop and catch up. (WAIT, It's not over yet... read on, lol!)
It was a cool afternoon in the confines of the Jaya Jusco Shopping complex when I chanced upon a delightful looking pork fillet in the non-halal section.
Immediately, the inner chef in me decided, 'Char siew, now or never... '
Hastily, I procured the seductive piece of meat and rushed off.
Oops, wait, the recipe; I made a quick detour at the office, went online and copied the recipe from my char siew master, Mott in her delightful little recipe treasure house.
Greedily, running through the list of sauces which I have painstakingly collected over the course of the past two months after purchasing my precious little black kitchen horror (my oven lar!), I discovered I still lacked one more ingredient, dark soya sauce.
Shucks, is this a Chinese obsession, making multiple condiments from the same soya bean? Not content with plain soya sauce, we have light soya sauce, dark soya sauce and hoisin sauce. Oh well, all in the pursuit of gluttony...
OK, OK, marinade time... Let me, see, optional rice wine? Well, I'll have to pinch some from Mum then.
Oooh, the marinade is a such lovely rich black colour. And the smell, makes me tempted to just sample some... STOP! Phew.... OK, marinade for the minimum two hours. Let's double check the cooking instructions.
Aiks, hey Mott, you forgot to put in the cooking time! And what is max temperature? It's dangerous to use max temperature. Little children like jonzz could burn down the house you know. Oh well, being the ingenious little brat I was, I scoured the Internet again. Finally, arriving at the optimum cooking time of 375 F (190 C) for 25 minutes on each side.
What's next? What's next? Aluminium foil bowl. Wrap, wrap, wrap... hmm, looks more like an aluminium foil boat. Well, as long as it fits.
Okay, to cut a dreadfully long boring story short, I finally cooked the silly fella. Here's the pictures: (Heh, heh, copied Chinkinin's montage style for today)
LOL, no fears. Still juicy and tender. Still tasty.
That's what comes from playing it safe and cooking EVERYTHING inside aluminium wrap. Anyway, I have learnt plenty from my trial run and the next time I assure you(MUA HA HA HA), it will be perfect.
Comments
u're running through the motions of living by keeping yourself busy....but not answering the imminent question...what is it that you want or looking for? no one can answer that question better than yourself.
hahahah...i told you..simply whack!!!!
To make it crispy..think u need to open up the foil towards the end of cooking time.
Time....ah...SIMPLY WHACK!!! I also guess guess la... trial n error la...then you can claim it to be your very own recipe!!!
KAKAKAKAKAKAAKAK!!! It loooks good..glad it tastes good..or else...!! btw..that looks ONE HUGE CHUNK OF PORKIE!!!! Did u eat it all by yourself??????
I agree with LM. Hoi. Char siew cannot use 100% lean meat. Look for 3 layers meat (sum chang yoke)
After saying all that... I still love pork a lot. Did you leave any for me?
me: sometimes, you just don't know what you want and you feel unfulfilled and going through the motions makes it all the more torturous.
mott: wa ka ka ka! Char Siew Si Fu! Thanks for the recipe ya! I'm gonna try again once I get hold of some sam chang yoke! Mass production will begin soon, LOL! The meat is not that big... It shrinks after cooking.
eve: come lar! wa ka ka ka, make sure you bring some 'Poh Chai' pills just in case ya!
LM: you are right! Unfortunately it was available and I was excitable, so I grabbed it anyway. Wa ka ka!
jyannie: it's not that big leh! And I shared it with some friends.
chinkinin: I don't really relish the red coloring. It's not natural. Taste comes first! Yeah I do try to keep clean to minimize the cleaning. The aluminium foil does play a dual purpose to cook and to keep the area clean.
poohbearee: You are right. ROFL! Are you having a chocolate craving?
FH: You are too far lar... I've done the tag already, btw.
yenjai: I googled the meaning of braise: To slowly cook food with a small amount of liquid in a tightly covered pan.