Taste Tradition - Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Cabbage a.k.a. Mui Choy

OK, so I think I got some momentum on this now and managed today to capture a third post on traditional Chinese recipes from mom. 

Have you seen or eaten Mui Choy/Mei Cai/Preserved Mustard Cabbage before? It looks like this after soaking for 2-3 hours.

So here's what I managed to download from mom's head. She learned to cook this as a teenager - mind you, we're talking about somewhere around the 1950s. 

Ingredients:

500g Pork Belly (wash it in hot boiling water on the stove for 15 min - see pic below)

300g Mui Choy/Preserved Mustard Cabbage (soak for 2-3 hours)

6 Garlic, minced

Rice Vinegar, 1 Tbsp

Dark Soya Sauce, 1 Tbsp

Sesame Oil, 1/2 Tbsp

Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Soak vegetable for 2-3 hours, then cut into 1/2" thick - see pic.

2. Clean pork belly as above and cut into 1/2" thick - see pic.

3. Heat oil in hot pan, then add minced garlic. 

4. When fragrant and slightly brown, add meat. Stir for 2 minutes.

5. Add seasoning - pinch of salt, pepper, sesame oil, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar.

6. Allow taste to infuse, then add vegetable.

7. Add more dark soya sauce so meat and vegetable are of same colour (optional).

8. Stir for about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.

9. Add 2 bowls of water, bring to boil, then allow to simmer till almost dry, then add another 2 bowls of water.

10. Simmer for half an hour, partially covered, till meat is tender.

11. Serve with a bowl of steamed organic brown rice. 

Find yourself a nice wooden bench and enjoy with a pair of chopsticks. As with all Chinese moms, my mom makes enough to last a week. In all honesty, this dish tastes best after a day or two!

Click here to see the first post on Mom's 10-minute whole fish dish and the second on Chap Chye (Chinese Mixed Vegetables).

Speaking of moms, don't forget to wish yours, Happy Mother's Day today!

Chap Chye, or Chinese stir-fry mixed vegetables

Some families serve this during the Lunar New Year.

It's been harder than I expected, trying to document mom's recipes. Why? Very simple - she has no recipe! Everything is in her head. Portions and decisions are spontaneously made based on the 5 senses. Her constant response to my every question is - You have to see. Smell. Taste. Touch. Listen to the sizzle. She does not use a measuring spoon, or any spoon for that matter. Ingredients are added directly from bottles. So how would I know how much salt to add, mom? You have to taste. But what's the baseline? Open your eyes and see! Er...ok. But see what?

Since I first posted on her 10-minute whole fish dish, the response from friends and readers have been better than anticipated. A few friends have even tried making the dish and gave positive feedback, much to mom's delight.

OK, so here's the second - Chap Chye, very traditional Chinese home cooking. 100% vegetarian dish. And very easy to do. In case you're not familiar with the ingredients, I have a picture of the items here but I'm not too certain of their names in English. 

Ingredients (Clockwise from top right. You can get everything from the dry goods store in the wet market.)

1. One large Chinese cabbage

2. Tomato is optional and not traditionally added, but she thought I needed some colours for my photos!

3. Minced Garlic, to taste.  That looks like about 2-3 Tbsp

4. Dried, Sweetened Bean Curd (soak and cut into small rectangles as shown)

5. Black Fungus (soak in water)

6. Dried Shrimps (how much to add, mom? You must see!)

7. Chinese Mushrooms (soak with fungus)

8. A handful of Golden Needle Vegetable (Dried Lily Buds), knotted (soak for half hour). Supposed to be good brain food - read more about this ingredient here.

9. Vermicelli or Glass Noodles, 80-100g (buy the higher grade one made from beans, not flour. Soak to soften.)

10. Salt, 1.5 tsp

11. Fish Sauce, 3 Tbsp (but be careful as some brands are saltier than others. Add gradually and check taste as you go along).

Strictly no MSG. Also, no oyster sauce, no sesame oil, no soy sauce, no pepper.

Method - just mix one item at a time and keep stir-frying at high heat throughout. 

1. Heat oil in hot pan (we used duck fat today, so maybe I can call this Chap Chye Confit!)

2. Add garlic and stir till fragrant. Add dried shrimps and stir till fragrant. Add mushroom and fungus. Add salt to taste, about 1.5 tsp.

3. Add cut cabbage and stir till soft. Add golden needles. Add water and let it simmer.

4. Add fish sauce (I think she went 2 rounds round the wok LOL. Ok, about 2-3 Tbsp). Let simmer. Add bean curd and vermicelli. You don't want to add the vermicelli too soon or they break into pieces. Simmer till however soft you want your cabbage to be. Some people like them limp, some prefer a crunch. And you're done. Easy?

I share my mom's food philosophy that ingredients must be fresh, strictly no MSG, and flavour should come from your main ingredients.

So there, I've conquered another of her traditional dish. More to come, watch this space. 

And now, there's only one thing left to do - devour this baby! You must eat this with chopsticks, mom says. Ho-chiak!

Drop me a note to let me know if you are thinking of trying this out. 

Mom's 10-minute Whole Fish Dish

A dish so humble it doesn't even have a name.

Millions of housewives in Chinese households have prepared this dish for their families a zillion times. I've eaten it myself for years yet the curiosity on how it's prepared only dawned on me today. Duh!

Duh, because it is so Chinese, so easy to prepare and so yummy. This is definitely one of the most common dishes you can find in a Chinese family. And one you'll never find in a Chinese restaurant in the US or Europe. It is too authentic and too home-cooked to be commercialised! It is right where it belongs - at home. 

Again, I used my duck fat but you can use any type of cooking oil. So here are the ingredients and methods, the first time I'm documenting my mom's food.

Ingredients:

One big onion, sliced

One whole fish (can be almost any type of fish really. And if the fish eye or head grosses you out, try a fish fillet. I'm sure it'll work just as well.)

Plum sauce (see picture)

Dark soy sauce (see picture)

Salt

Spring onions and tomatoes (for garnishing)

Method:

1. Clean and pat dry fish. Rub salt all over fish. 

2. Heat oil in wok. Saute onions till fragrant. Add some water, just a cup or so.

3. Add plum sauce, about 1-2 TBS (no scientific calculations for true Chinese cooking!). Use less if you don't like the sauce too sweet. Plum sauce is sour-sweet in nature. Look for a brand with no additives, no flavour enhancers and no preservatives. Between us, DO NOT use Woh-Hup brand.

4. Add dark soya sauce (only to darken the colour of the sauce, not for taste, so as long as the liquid turns dark, it's enough. About 2-3 tsp, I think. No hard and fast rules here either.)

5. Bring liquid to the boil. Taste and adjust seasoning. Then add fish.

See, the dead fish is smiling. When you cook out of love, even the ingredients conspire with you!

6. Let it simmer for a while. Heat is transferred to the fish via the liquid. Turn the fish about every few minutes so it cooks evenly. (Don't stain your kitchen walls trying to turn the fish like I did!) Baste the top with the sauce occasionally. Cover with a lid for a few minutes if you like. Remember, "simmer" means small bubbles. If you are getting big bubbles, that's "boiling", which means you need to turn down the heat.

7. It's done when the eye protrudes! My mom also uses a chopstick to check readiness - if it pokes through the thickest part easily, it's done. If you feel some resistance, stop poking. It's not ready.

8. Garnish with some colours like spring onions and tomatoes, and serve with steamed brown rice.

We are taking less and less rice in this household. What about yours?

Easy peasy daily Chinese. You can't get more authentic than this. Ten minutes was all it took. I spent more time taking photos of it and documenting it!

I'm creating a new category in my blog called Mom's Recipes to start documenting her very simple, yet yummy dishes that have fed us all these years. Authentically home-cooked Chinese food that don't make it to restaurants. You can't find these in recipe books and you certainly don't get to eat them in Chinese restaurants in Western countries. 

If you like this post, .  A small Like goes a long way. Or consider leaving a comment here. Meanwhile, look out for more in this category!

Click here to see Mom's Chap-Chye (very traditional Chinese mixed vegetables) or her Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Cabbage/Mui Choy.

Or click here to find other Whole Fish recipes.