The Grilled Pork Neck Dish That I Bring To All Potluck Parties

I don't know how to call this dish... I used to call it sate (or satay - I am not a big fan of this word, Indonesians say SATE!) grilled pork neck because I make it how I make sate, but nobody's convinced because there is no skewering involved, there is no peanut sauce and the end product doesn't look anywhere within 100m radius of sate. So, I see how sate or satay might not be a great name for it :)

So let's just call this the Grilled Pork Neck Dish That Rita Brings To All Potluck Parties. BecauseI really brought this dish to almost every potluck party I attended. People love it (or at least they pretend to), and even if people don't love it - I have no issues finishing it myself. Hehehheh. 

It's very easy to make. Idiot-proof level.

I can't think of easy ways to ruin this dish... except maybe if you're bringing this dish to a party naked, and it is not a nudist party. That will ruin the dish. Sorry - I tend to go off topic like that.

Now, to make this dish.

Recipe

Meat

- Pork neck meat (I usually buy frozen ones from Kai Bo. You can buy fresh if you want), or you can substitute this with thigh chicken fillet with skin on.

(Quantity recommendation: if this is one of the many dishes of a potluck party, 1 big slice of pork neck meat that's available in Kai Bo frozen food shop should be ok for 4 people. If you're treating this as one of the main dishes, then 1 slice serves 2. If you're serving this to a crazy greedy pork-lover, allow 1 per person)

Marinade

- Shallot, thinly sliced (1/2 shallot per 1 slice pork neck)

- Kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)

- Soy sauce 

(Ratio of soy sauce : sweet soy sauce = 1 : 3)

- ground nutmeg, ground coriander seeds, cumin

Dipping sauce

- Kecap manis

- Fish sauce (just a dash)

- Lime juice (or lemon juice)  

- Lime wedges or lemon wedges

- A bit of ground nutmeg

- Thinly sliced shallot (just a bit - you can set aside some when slicing shallot for the marinade)

- Chopped fresh chillies (preferably the green birds eye chilli - cabe rawit ftw! or omit if you can't handle the heat)

Mix well & serve in small bowls with the lime or lemon wedges 

How to do

(Ideally prepare the night before serving)

Marinating

Defrost meat if you bought frozen. Pat dry, po ke the meat all over with fork (or meat poke...r?). Place meat in container, add marinade, massage the marinate all over the meat and refrigerate overnight (or a couple hours).

Grilling

Preheat oven to 250C, grill meat until the surface gets nicely caramelized. You can baste with the marinade or make more of the dipping sauce for basting. This normally takes about 40 minutes in my oven.

Charcoal grilling would be awesome too.

When done, slice diagonally and thinly, squeeze lime juice all over it and serve with dipping sauce.

And wait for the crowd to ask you for the recipe ;) 

Satay Pig's Tongue Stew

I grew up eating all kinds of offals, which some people might consider awful.
I ate hearts, gizzards, livers, intestines, and even (gasp!) brain...normally either deep fried (and consumed with spicy chilli paste) or stewed in delicious Indonesian spices. One of my favorite is...tongue (pig or ox, fine by me), cooked until tender, sliced super thick.

Most Hong Kongers love innards too! However, sc hates tongue. He hates seeing the rough texture of the tongue's outer "skin", which reminds him too much of a...tongue (duh!). He probably feels like he's french kissing a pig or a cow every time he eats a tongue dish.

Naturally, he goes "yuck" every time I tried to buy myself a tongue to cook for dinner.

This time though, since I've promised (cross my heart and hope to die kinda promise) to clean the tongue really really thoroughly and remove most of the outer skin of the tongue...he let me buy and cook one.

I love tongue grilled or stewed, for as long as it is cut real thick. I love it tender and juicy, not thin and crunchy. This time, I need bold, strong flavors, to make sc forget all about the tongue and only think delicious. Thus, I chose satay sauce stew.

Recipe
- one pig's tongue (or ox tongue)
- 5 cm ginger, peeled, crushed, divided
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 3 cloves of shallot, cut into chunks
- 2 red chilli
- 3 medium sized ripe tomatoes, cut into 8 sections each
- 2 potatoes, cut into chunks
- Chinese satay sauce (I used the one from Lee Kum Kee)
- Freshly chopped corriander (optional, for garnish)
- hot water, olive oil
- a touch of salt, pepper and sugar (if needed)

Scrub the tongue clean (and I removed most of the outer skin since sc doesn't wanna see it), cut tongue into 1 cm thick chunks, blanch in hot water with half of the ginger and rinse in tap water. In a pressure cooker (or stew pot), saute a garlic, shallot and ginger in a bit of olive oil, add tongue chunks, add tomatoes and potatoes, add a couple spoonful of the satay sauce, add hot water until everything's just covered, bring water to boil, pressure cook for 25 minutes (or stew on low heat for a minimum of one hour or until the tongue chunks are melt-in-you-mouth tender). Once done, adjust seasonings if necessary, garnish with freshly chopped corriander and serve with steamed rice.

Tender and juicy chunks of tongue, soft potatoes, spicy satay sauce with quite a punch of acidity from the tomatoes. This dish is great when the weather's cooler, but I'm always up for a good stew any time ^_^

This time, having forgotten that he was enjoying some tongue action from a pig...sc enjoyed the dish very much :D

Guest Blogging @Rasa Malaysia - Sate Ayam/Babi Kecap

Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!
OH. MY. GOSH!
I am guest blogging for the first time!
What should I do?
What should I make?
...and most importantly....
What should I wear?

Thanks a million to Bee of Rasa Malaysia for being my first.
(Is it just me? or does it sound so wrong somehow? Heheh ^_^)

Finally, I made...something that's made me a hit in parties....
Sate Babi/Ayam Bumbu Kecap

Hop on over to Bee's wonderful blog full of gorgeousness and deliciousness to check out the full recipe and story.

So what did I finally wear?
Just be glad it was not nothing.

A Party Gone Awry

In life, things don't always go according to our plans. This includes a party at my place yesterday.
What happened, or more importantly, what did not happen?

Let's get back to that later. At least the food did happen. Thank God.

I've done just three simple dishes, which were planned, mainly based on which appliances will be used to cook them, so that they could be executed simultaneously. Since one of my guests doesn't eat beef and sous chef is not into chicken, I mainly used pork. You can replace the piggy with something else.

In My Oven
Grilled Pork Neck with Satay Sauce

Marinate
- 7 pieces of pork neck fillet (they shrink a lot, so it's better to buy more)
- 4 shallot, sliced thinly
- dark soy sauce
- fish sauce
- kecap manis (the dominant flavor)
- lemon zest
- 1 tsp ground corriander seed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ground nutmeg (quite a lot of it)
- olive oil

Poke pork neck fillet all over with fork, marinate pork neck fillet for a few hours, or overnight.
To grill, preheat oven to 200C/400F, lightly grease baking sheet lined with aluminium foil (I wasn't planning to scrub anything after the party), lay marinated pork neck fillet in 1 layer, grill until golden brown, baste with marinate when necessary.

Satay Sauce
- Store bought satay sauce
- Freshly chopped corriander leaves
- Fish sauce
- Freshly chopped chilli
- lemon juice, lemon zest

Mix everything together and serve.
This dish can be prepared ahead of time as it reheats well. Simply nuke it before serving.

In My Pressure Cooker
Bakuteh (Pork Stewed in Chinese Spices)

- 1 kg pork shin mixed with pork bone, cut into large chunks
- 4 cloves of garlic
- dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, salt, sugar, white pepper, olive oil, hot water
- bakuteh spice pack (I used Klang Bakuteh spice pack)
- 1 cup fried tofu puffs
- 3 heads of wawa veggie

In the pressure cooker, saute garlic with olive oil, add pork, add dark soy, light soy, add hot water according to spice pack instruction, add salt, sugar, pepper, cook in pressure cooker for 25 minutes. Release pressure, add tofu puffs and vegetable, taste and adjust seasonings when necessary. If you don't have a pressure cooker, bring to boil and simmer for at least 1 hour or until the meat turned falling-off-the-bone tender.

On My Saute Pan
Pineapple and Minced Pork White Curry

- 1 lb of minced meat
- 1 fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
- 200 ml coconut milk
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 4 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 stalk of lemongrass, bruised and chopped into 5 cm pieces
- 1 tsp ground corriander seed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- salt, sugar, white pepper
- chicken stock (optional)
- freshly chopped corriander and crispy fried shallot for garnish (optional)

Saute garlic, shallot and corriander, add minced meat, cook until the color changed, add pineapple, add spices and seasonings, add coconut milk, bring to boil, garnish, serve.

In My Rice Cooker
Shallot and Garlic Chicken Mixed Rice
- 3 cups of white and brown rice (50-50 mix)
- 200 ml chicken stock
- water, olive oil
- white pepper
- crispy shallot and fried garlic
Throw everything into rice cooker, mix well, add water up to the level indicated on the rice cooker, cook until done.

The dinner didn't look so much like a failure, eh? So, what happened?

The Plan
1. Touring my flat
2. Make Up & Hair Party (Athena to practice her excellent make up skills on us girls, ehm and maybe boys, Carrie to demonstrate her hair styling technique)
3. A gossiping session brief discussion on our current favorite show and stars
4. XBox 360 Party (for the boys)
5. Food and portrait photo taking session
6. Dinner
Sounds like a productive yet fun party, right?

Obviously, the whole plan didn't get executed (or I wouldn't have mentioned it). So what went down in the end?
The Reality
1. The flat tour happened
2. Sous chef showed everyone a gossip magazine stating that a certain pretty celebrity who allegedly had plastic surgeries (as if it is something so surprising), triggering a debate between him and Athena
3. Soon after the girls' arrival in the afternoon, I showed them a couple of video clips and a show of a Korean Idol, Kim Hyun Joong (Dunno who the heck he is? Check his hotness out on Athena's blog), which led to....

...hours after hours of gawking at the said idol, while gossiping making meaningful comments on the celebrity gossip magazine articles. Mind you, we are all very well trained at multitasking.
4. Due to unforeseen circumstances (the large TV being occupied by idol's show), the video games could not possibly happen
5. Food and portrait photo taking...

...luckily, we really did a bit of those. Check out the portrait I did for Joe & Athena in her blog. They're so cute and chic, good enough to eat!
6. Dinner went as planned, although I felt so sorry for not making any dessert for my guests...so...

What's for dessert? Thank goodness Athena brought these very delicious...
Macarons from Sift

Chocolate, caramel, rose, vanilla, coffee, raspberry, lemon, pistachio....take your pick! We munched on these babies while sipping cups of earl grey and peppermint tea...and believe it or not...it was close to midnight, we had to work the next day and we were still gawking at the idol's show like a bunch of teenage girls.

Screw the plan. We (girls) enjoyed the party very much, although...
Sorry about the video games, guys...better luck next time!

Summer BBQ Ideas for BBQ Snobs

What is it with us and BBQ? When the weather gets cooler, we roll up our woolen sleeves and grill some meat. When the weather gets hotter, we take off put on our comfiest cotton tees, tied up our hair, and again...grill some meat, despite being drenched in sweat, even before the charcoal BBQ was lit.

We are all BBQ snobs. The days where mini cheese sausages and fishballs ruled the BBQ were longggg gone. Those are now only the extras, the filler snacks before we get to the good stuff. Soon, I expect them to be totally phased out.

Check out...
Our BBQ Spread
...and you'll know why.

The ever so creative Sir A made:
- Cherry tomatoes and cheddar cheese slice rolled in bacon
- Asparagus rolled in bacon
- Enoki mushrooms rolled in thinly sliced sukiyaki beef, and...


- Japanese sticky rice sticks wrapped in bacon with a slice of cheddar cheese
- Tomatoes filled with cheese topping

A&J made deliciousnesses in those glad bags...

- Beef fillet
- Pork Chops
- Pork neck fillet
- Lam Yu chicken wings - super delicious, I ate at least 6 of these
- Char Siew pork ribs

...and what did I make?
Indonesian Pork Satay (Sate Babi)
Preparations
- For best result, prepare one day in advance
- Select pork meat with a combination of lean meat and fat
- If possible, ask your meat vendor to give you fatty bits of pork, mine gave me some tendons
- Cut pork meat into bite sized chunks
- Soak bamboo skewers in water to prevent them for burning too fast
- Prepare marinate


Marinate
- Light soy sauce
- Sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor should be sweet soy sauce)
- Shallot (thinly sliced)
- 1 tsp ground corriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin
- ground nutmeg (sprinkle all over)
- white pepper
- lime zest, lime juice
- Olive oil
Marinate for minimum 3 hours, preferably overnight. On the day of BBQ, stick meant together with bamboo skewers, combining lean meat with fatty bits, about 5 pieces per skewer.


Sauce for basting
- Sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor)
- a dash of light soy sauce or fish sauce
- lime juice, lime zest
- ground nutmeg
- thinly sliced shallot
- olive oil
Baste the sate from time to time when grilling


Dipping sauce
- Sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor)
- lime juice, lime zest
- ground nutmeg
- thinly sliced shallot
- chopped chilli (optional)
Place dipping sauce on a plate, dip sate after grilling, and serve sate hot.
They should be super tender, smoky from the charcoal grill, juicy, tasty...and very addictive. One stick is never gonna be enough.


How did the boys light up the charcoal BBQ? Ehm. They gas-bruleed it.

Did any of us get drunk? What did we drink?

Sadly, no one got drunk, but we sampled this deliciousness I brought from Bali.
Our skilled bartender, the A, mixed our drinks:
Arak Bali Cola Lime
- a shot of Arak Bali
- topped off with coke
- lime juice
- ice cubes
Super refreshing, just perfect for the hot evening BBQ.

The party was for our Bday girl, Carrie. A bday party is not a party without a cake and gifts.....


...and crazy poses from one of our hosts, the V.

Happy almost summer, bitches. ^_^

Shrimps, Beef & Eggplant in Spicy Satay Sauce - Do You Like Dishwashing?

Remember those days when your mind went blank? When you had absolutely no idea what to cook? When you asked yourself "what do you wanna eat" and the answer is an annoying mental shrug?...and when you asked someone else hoping for an easy answer, you were always given the ever so helpful up-to-yous? (Damn, I hate up-to-yous).

Yep. I had one of those yesterday.

Then I remembered, when in doubt, drench anything in Lee Kum Kee's Satay Sauce, and everything shall taste delicious! OK, I got the sauce covered. Now...what would "anything" be?

I wandered around the market and nothing said "buy me, eat me"....finally, I got a pack of minced beef, since it tastes especially good with satay sauce; a pack of peeled shrimps, because no defrosting, no peeling, no deveining necessary (convenience wins me all the time), and the fragrance of shrimps on this dish? Unbelievable!

Gosh, I still needed some kind of vegetables. Does eggplant count as veggie? OK, I don't care. No soaking, no peeling, no fine chopping necessary; it soaks up sauces like a sponge; it's soft and creamy; and heck! The purple would look really nice with the orange of the shrimps. Thus...

Shrimps, Beef & Eggplant in Spicy Satay Sauce

Recipe
- 1 pack of minced beef (about 0.7 lb)
- 1 pack of peeled shrimps (about 15 pcs)
- 1 long eggplant (cut into bite sized chunks and pop in the oven with some olive oil until softened, I used 250C for 10 minutes)
- 6 cloves of garlic, crushed
- half an onion, chopped roughly
- 3 red chilli (with seeds for the heat)
- 2 dried lime leaves (optional)
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- a bit of grated lemon zest
- 1 pack of Lee Kum Kee Satay Sauce for Hotpot (I prefer this, its liquid form makes it easier to handle, but add bit by bit and adjust as it can be too tasty)
- a bit of kecap manis (optional)
- olive oil for sauteeing

Saute garlic, onion, and chilli in olive oil, add beef, cook until almost done, add softened eggplants, add sauce, lime leaves, grate lemon zest, add shrimps, when the shrimps are just done (pink, curled and no longer transparent), turn off the heat, drizzle lemon juice, kecap manis, and serve with steamed rice. Important: never ever overcook the shrimps.

The cooking was a blast, and now the dreaded part begins...

There were times when I really thought I was so twisted and actually enjoyed washing dishes.
I was wrong.
Who the heck loves washing dishes? Oppps, maybe there are people who really find dishwashing theurapetic, soothing, calming, the bubbles are fun, even turning them on (hello, dishwashing fetish), whatever. NOT. ME.

I just hated the idea of piles and piles of dirty dishes towering in my kitchen sink. Thus I did them, even tried to enjoy it, without success.

Will these cake shaped dishwashing sponge cuties make dishwashing more enjoyable? Aren't they just so adorable?

I just wanted to bite that chocolate cake off its rack...or maybe the green tea swiss roll...


...or take a bite off that piece of watermelon?...

Whatever it was....they did not make me feel like washing dishes. SC, dish washing is yours, suck it up.

Indonesian Satay - Indoor Charcoal Grill in A Hong Kong Flat

This is our desperate attempt to enjoy Indonesian charcoal grill satay. No oven grill/no frying pan tricks. A real indoor charcoal grilling action, to be more specific, in my teeny tiny Hong Kong flat.

WARNING!
FIRE/CARBON MONOXIDE HAZARD!
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

To those who have a balcony/terrace/garden where you can do your charcoal grilling....damnnnn....I envy you.

To those who do not have an open space, but wish to try indoor charcoal grilling, please take the following precautionary steps:
- If your home/flat do not have good air flow....just forget about it
- Open all windows and if possible, maybe doors (despite the risk of burglary)
- Turn on exhaust fans
- I was also thinking of pre-calling 999 (Hong Kong's emergency number)
or
- Call a friend to give me a call back after an hour. If I didn't pick up, he/she has to call 999 for an ambulance (I was seriously THAT paranoid. Hey, we can never be too safe, right? I was worried there will be no more Mochachocolata-Rita after this charcoal burning action)

Now the challenge...
How do we get the charcoal grill going?

The above was sous chef's idea: roasting a piece of charcoal (one by one), with a BBQ tong over a gas stove. Ehm. It didn't work. It takes forever for the charcoal to burn, and once burnt, it crumbles into pieces. It was dangerous!

Then, we tried to get the fire going by strategically placing a few pieces of paper balls below the charcoal and lit them up. It worked better. Do NOT use too small pieces of paper, a piece of paper flew right onto sous chef's sweater and caused a burnt hole. Dangerrrrrr!!!!

Finally, we have some burning action going. Time to get the marinated satay out.

The meat
I used 3 x chicken thigh fillet, trimmed excess fat, leave some skin on, cut into small cubes. I didn't make the skewers until after I marinated them. I also used lean pork, simply cut into cubes.

I used two different kinds of marinate for the satay:

Lemongrass Marinate
- lemongrass powder (or you can use stalks of lemongrass, chopped), sprinkle generously
- ginger powder (or fresh ginger, crushed), sprinkle generously
- 1 clove of shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp ground corriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- white pepper
- a bit of grated lemon zest
- a bit of olive oil

Kecap Marinate
- 1 clove of shallot, thinly sliced
- light soy sauce
- dark soy sauce
- sweet soy sauce (this is the dominant flavor)
- white pepper
- chinese five spice powder (or just ground/freshly grated nutmeg)

Mix well, marinate for a few hours or overnight, I just stuck 'em with bamboo skewers about an hour before grilling.

Once we have the fire going, everything's easy. Place skewers on top of the grill, turn a bit to even things out. The surface of the meat will be beautifully charred, while the inner part will stay still juicy and tender.


I actually planned to dress up my satay and take beautiful pictures of them. However, they taste the best when they were just off the grill...so this first batch very quickly disappeared!

Satay Peanut Sauce
You can purchase a ready made satay sauce (if there's any Indonesian grocery shop near you, the Chinese ones are just NOT the same, but it's ok if you're desperate), and add freshly squeezed lemon, grated lemon zest, freshly chopped corriander, chopped chilli, thinly sliced shallot and drizzle a bit of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce).

or, you can make your own adaptation...
- 1 cup ground peanut (use a pressure cooker), or peanut butter
- 2 cloves finely chopped garlic
- 2 cloves shallot
- chopped chilli
- ground cumin
- ground corriander seeds
- palm sugar (or brown sugar)
- salt
- pepper
- a bit of olive oil
Mix everything well and saute quickly, remove from heat, add freshly squeezed lemon, grated lemon zest, freshly chopped corriander, chopped chilli, thinly sliced shallot and drizzle a bit of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce).

Add more charcoal pieces if necessary...

Boy, I was on fire!!! ^_^ Those are the pork satay marinated in sweet soy.

Once they are done, I squeezed lemon juice over them, drizzled them with a lot of kecap manis...

Dipped them into the sauce and dig in! They are perfect with rice or rice cakes (lontong). Finally I didn't get to take pictures of any dressed up satay at all. They were gone within minutes!!!

Thank you for the wonderful Japanese mini stone charcoal grill, Sir A. I love it!

It sounds like quite a lot of work, eh? But , trust me. Totally worth it :)

Satay Beef Ramen

I am submitting this for Presto Pasta Nights. Enjoy!

Slather satay sauce on anything, and you can't go wrong.

I wanted to make Chiu Chow style "Satay Beef Hor Fun" (rice noodles), but fresh noodles sell like hotcakes here.

If you don't get them from the market early in the morning, armed with weapons:

- Anything physical you can use to get others outta your way (umbrellas/giant cucumber/carrot/sugar cane sticks/squid ink/your elbows)
- Speed (be the first one to snatch the freshest bag of hor fun in 1 split second)
- Solid communication/negotiation skills (30 minutes argument in a combo of at least 3 languages (Cantonese, while pretending to be local to get more discount, Mandarin, to build up sense of fellowship with mainland vendors, Indonesian/Javanese/Tagalog, to distract the array of domestic helpers & slap some English when feigning ignorance) for the extra 50 cents discount)

all the domestic procurement managers (a massive array of aunties, grandmas, mamas, & domestic helpers) would have wiped the noodles off, and you'll end up weeping at the corner with bags of Japanese instant ramen just like me.

The instant ramen I got, not as fresh, not as "elastic" as the fresh ones.

Ingredients
- 4 packets of ramen
- aromatics: chopped garlic, onion, chilli, spring onion, crushed ginger
- sauce: sweet soy sauce, satay sauce, fish sauce, pepper
- olive oil
- sliced beef
- little pak choy

Marinate beef in satay sauce, sweet soy sauce, soy sauce, & pepper. Loosen up ramen in hot water, rinse with cold water, set aside. Saute beef in hot oil, set aside. Stir fry noodles with some of the aromatics, fish sauce, sweet soy sauce, a little satay sauce, set aside. Stir fry pak choy with the remaining of aromatics, add sauces, beef, you can add water and corn starch if you want more sauce. Scoop some noodles onto a plate, pour veggie and beef over, drizzle some sauce, garnish with chopped fresh chilli and spring onion/corriander.

I am currently on some "trainings" (weights, cardio, body and mind) & "drugs" (panadol & multivitamins) to prepare myself for the next fresh noodles procurement battle, and this is the mantra I kept saying to the mirror every morning: I WILL WIN!

*You might also like Fortune Noodles*