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I was inspired to cook this after trying something similar at Lai Lai Casual Dining, a Taiwanese restaurant in Singapore. It's Taiwanese style braised pork belly with a thick, sweet and salty gravy that is full of  umami flavours. If you're far away from family and feeling homesick, this comforting bowl of braised pork over steamed white rice is just what you need! I usually make a big pot of this and freeze the leftovers for days when I have no time to cook. Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice ("Lu Rou Fan") Ingredients 1kg (2 lbs) pork belly, skin-on 1 tbsp vegetable oil 8 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed 1 star anise 2 inch cinnamon stick 1/2 tsp five-spice powder 1/2 cup light soy sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee Superior Light Soy) 1 tsp thick dark soy sauce (I used Cheong Chan Thick Caramel) 1/3 cup chinese cooking wine 3 cups water 1/4 tsp pepper 2/3 cup crispy fried shallots (I used the prepacked store-bought ones) 3 tbsp (about the size of a ping pong ball) rock s...

Grilled Beef with Teriyaki Sauce Ingredients 2 x 220g Scotch fillet beef steaks Ground black pepper Vegetable oil Teriyaki sauce: 1/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce 1/4 cup mirin 1/4 Japanese cooking sake 2 tbsp brown sugar (or to taste) Method Prepare the sauce first. Combine everything in a saucpan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce is reduced to half. Transfer to a heatproof bowl to cool. Place steaks in a ziplock bag (or just use a dish) and add 2 tbsp of the sauce that has cooled down. Add some ground black pepper if desired. Mix well and leave to marinade for about 1 hour. Heat a grillpan or frying pan on high, lightly greased with some oil. Drain the excess marinade from the steaks and fry the steaks for about 3 minutes each side. Pour in 1-2 tbsp of teriyaki sauce and let it coat the steaks. When the steaks are cooked (medium rare), transfer to a plate and let it rest for 5 minutes, covered with aluminium foil. Reserve any remaining sauce in the pan for later. Sli...

Best ever Korean Fried Chicken (IMHO). Need I say more? Think of crispy chewy and crunchy batter coated in a candy-like sweet, spicy and sticky glaze. And oh yeah, the chicken. Juicy. Delicious. Yummy. Continue reading to find the recipe. Korean Fried Chicken with Sweet and Spicy sauce Ingredients 800g (about 1 lb) chicken wings (drummettes and mid-wings, separated) 1 1/2 teaspoon salt Canola/Vegetable oil for deep-frying Sesame seeds for garnishing (optional) Batter: 2/3 cup plain flour 1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch 3/4 cup water Sauce: 1 tbsp vegetable oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 small red chilli pepper, finely chopped (optional if you want more heat) 1 tbsp light soy sauce 5 tbsp corn syrup 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or rice wine vinegar) 2 tsp brown sugar 2 tsp gochujang (Korean chilli paste) Method Prepare sauce first. Fry garlic (and chilli if used) in the oil, for half a minute, but don't let it brown. Add the rest of the ingredients for the sauce and simmer for 1-2 minutes ...

I've been eating too much Korean Fried Chicken lately it's not funny. I decided to try a healthy Korean dish this time which is a stew made with beef short ribs. It's cooked in a light soy-based broth that reminds me of bulgogi, but made into a stew instead. It contains honey and mirin, and so tends to be on the sweet side. It's a nice change from the salty braised pork belly stew that I'm so used to at home. Galbi  in Korean translates to "shortrib" and " jjim " refers to dishes made by steaming or boiling. Galbijjim (Korean Braised Beef Short Ribs) Adapted from Korean Bapsang Ingredients 3 pounds meaty beef short ribs 1/2 onion 3 -4 thin ginger slices 5 garlic cloves 3 white parts of scallions Braising Liquid: 1/2 cup soy sauce 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons honey (I omitted this) 1/4 cup rice wine (or mirin) 2 tablespoons of sesame oil 1/2 medium Asian pear, grated (about 1/2 cup) 1/2 small onion grated 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 teaspoon...

Loving this simple dish that's kid-friendly, yet perfect for a weeknight family meal if you're looking for something quick and easy to prepare. I love eggs, and especially scrambled eggs . This chicken mince rice bowl is served with an egg crumble, which is made by scrambling the eggs with a pair of chopsticks until it turns into crumbs (of course!). Leftovers also make great lunchboxes for kids the next day. Soboro Don Source: Adam's Big Pot Ingredients 1 tbsp vegetable oil 500g chicken mince ¼ cup soy sauce ¼ cup sake 2 tbsp caster sugar 2 tbsp mirin ¼ cup water 2 cups snow peas, tailed 8 cups steamed short-grain rice, To serve 1 sheet nori, finely sliced, to serve EGG CRUMBLE 4 eggs 2 tbsp mirin 1 tsp caster sugar Method Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the chicken mince. Fry the mince until it turns white (you don't need to brown it) and add the soy sauce, sake, sugar, mirin and water. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally for about 10 m...

Most women [generally] get excited when they walk past a shoe shop or designer clothing store, especially when the word "Sale" is flashing everywhere. I don't think I fall in the "most women" category. I do believe in retail therapy as a form of stress relief or pick-me-up when things are looking down, but not when that designer jacket staring at you through the window has more zeroes than you'll ever see on your weekly paycheck. The only time my eyes light up with excitement while shopping is when I walk past the butcher (no, of course I'm not excited AT the butcher!), and then I'd stop to admire the different cuts of meats on display. That's my idea of window shopping. I enjoy browsing through the supermarket aisles or checking out the seasonal produce at the fruit and vegetable market. I particularly find Korean (and Asian) supermarkets fascinating and I make it a point to go every weekend. From kimchee to frozen dumplings, quirky snacks to an...

  Mention the word "satay" and I am instantly reminded of my childhood years and years ago, how the Malay Satay Man would peddle his mobile satay stall on his bicycle in my neighbourhood, tooting his horn. Sometimes, I could even smell the aroma from my house, even though he could be grilling his satay down the road. I would get all excited at the prospect of having satay for dinner, and run to the window to see if I could detect any "smoke" signals in the sky. He made one of the best satays in town, and the fact that he peddled his stall around the neighbourhood meant that we could walk up to him with empty plates and bowls waiting to be filled with freshly made satay. Those were the simple things in life back then, though coming from a foodie family, food was and is a big deal, as to most Malaysians of course. Malaysian Satay is such a luxury item in Sydney. I don't think I've ever ordered satay here before, not when I know it costs multiple times less bac...

I have a weakness for Indonesian grilled chicken (or Ayam Bakar as you will often find on Indonesian menus) - the char and smokiness from the caramelized chicken skin, the sweet aromatic spices, the distinctive taste of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) combined with the heat from the savoury sambal belacan, all complemented with a mound of steamed white rice. The preparation method involves first simmering the chicken in the pot with the spice mix (bumbu or rempah) so that the chicken absorbs all those wonderful flavours. I then reduced the sauce to a thick syrupy paste which I used to baste the chicken before placing under the grill. This gives it a more concentrated flavour and also helps form a shiny dark coating on the skin.   I was a little sceptical about making this for the first time, as I wasn't sure if the kids would take to the complex spices in this dish. Well, it turned out that they couldn't get enough of it! If only they could eat chilli, they...

There can never be too many recipes for chinese roast pork (or "siu yuk" as commonly known in Cantonese). Over the years, I have attempted various recipes and methods for achieving the perfect crackling - crispy and brittle enough that it doesn't break your teeth when you bite into it. It has always been a hit and miss for me. Either the skin doesn't fully crackle all over (leaving some parts soft and chewy), or the meat's dried out, or the crackling is burnt in some parts. But now, I have successfully made the almost-perfect roast pork, twice in a row. Woo-hoo! I must be doing something right there? There's nothing particularly difficult about making roast pork (except the part where you have to prick a zillion holes in the skin). You just need the right ingredients, the right technique and the right tools. Someone gave us a pork-skin-pricking tool for Christmas two years ago, which you see below. Roast pork fanatics who make their own at home might have thi...

  Grilling chicken tends to dry out the meat easily, so these chicken skewers are best made with drumstick or thigh fillets, and never breast fillets.  If you want to add some chicken skin on the skewers, that's even better (but entirely optional). Yakitori ("grilled chicken") is typically Japanese grilled chicken on bamboo skewers, and could either be plainly seasoned with salt ("shio") or basted with "tare" sauce, which is what I've done here. The kids love it, and it's just something about food served on a stick that makes it so appealing.   Yakitori (Grilled chicken skewers)   Ingredients   500g (1 pound) chicken thigh fillets, cut into 1 inch cubes Vegetable oil Salt and black pepper 4-5 scallions, light green / white part only, cut into 1 inch stems   Yakitori sauce: 1/3 cup Kikkoman soy sauce 1/3 cup mirin 3 tbsp cooking sake 2 tsp white sugar 2 tsp brown sugar   Equipment: 10-12 bamboo sticks Barbecue grill or oven grill Basting brush...

Ever since I started baking brioche buns (see my Pulled Pork burger with Korean Slaw ) and using them for mini beef burgers (a.k.a. sliders), there was no turning back. Given a choice, brioche wins over plain hamburger buns (particularly those that are sold by the dozen at the supermarket). Not all brioche buns are created equal. I have ordered brioche burgers before when dining out, and have come across really thick, heavy, dense and sweet buns that makes the mammoth of the burger a feat to eat (and enjoy). The recipe that I've used for these brioche buns is adapted from Taste.com.au magazine (August 2014 edition). Rich, melt-in-your-mouth and buttery with a hint of sweetness, these brioche buns make supremely delicious burgers. I've also tried buttermilk brioche buns and they are equally good, with the slightest tang from the buttermilk. These beef sliders are saucy, juicy and packed full of flavours. To make them even more awesome, I made a sweet and tangy barbe...

  This started with a craving for a Korean-style slaw with a spicy gochujang dressing. Gochujang (as many of you might be familiar with) is a Korean red pepper paste that are sold in tubs and come in varying degrees of "heat". You can usually tell by the number of chillies on the label. I chose one with 3 chillies I think, as these things can pack quite a punch in terms of heat and intensity of flavour. So, I was wondering what would go with Korean slaw, and thought of bo ssam (Korean boiled pork belly with lettuce wraps). I found David Chang's bo ssam recipe using pork shoulder/butt and decided to turn that into a pulled pork burger with Korean slaw. And what's a burger without mayonnaise, especially a spicy gochujang mayonnaise? And to top it off (no pun intended), I baked these wonderful buttermilk buns (or brioche) which were moist, tender and didn't fall apart like most buns do when you're halfway through a burger.     Korean food doesn't just stop a...

Piri-piri is a Swahili word for "pepper pepper", and is also known as African Bird's Eye chilli. It is the predominant ingredient in making piri-piri sauce - a tangy, garlicky, fiery hot chilli sauce that is popular in South Africa cuisine. If you didn't know already, piri-piri chicken (also known as Portuguese chicken) originated in Mozambique (some say Angola), which were former Portuguese colonies. Hence, the influence of spicy Portuguese cooking found its way into South African cuisine. It's probably more accurate to refer to this dish as piri-piri chicken, rather than Portuguese Chicken. After all, it did not originate from Portugal. It's a bit like Hainanese Chicken Rice, which did not originate from Hainan Island in China, but is one of the national dishes of Singapore (next to Singapore Chilli Crab, I suppose?). Anyway, piri-piri sauce is a great way to dress up your next roast chicken, and tastes fantastic especially if you love chillies, lemon and ga...

  This is the most amazing and easy roast chicken ever. I'm dreaming of having this chicken again as I write this. I actually ate this three days in a row and never got tired of it. In fact, it tasted even better the following days, with the flavours from the marinade (and the pan juices) having absorbed into the chicken. I was a little sceptical about the Russian salad (although it was really the "exotic" reference to "Russian" that enticed me to try out this recipe) as I don't usually have cold creamy salads with roast chicken. Well, I was pleasantly surprised that they complemented each other really well and I just kept going back for more (and more, and more). I made sure the egg was cooked just right, with a jellied yolk centre, because that's the best way to have 'em!   Roast Chicken with Russian Salad Adapted from Gourmet Traveller (July 2013) Ingredients 2.4 kg chicken marylands (whole chicken leg) 2 lemons, quartered Spice rub: 1 tbsp groun...

Now that the summer holidays are over and the kids are back in school, things are getting busy again. It's not only the homework, but birthday parties, shopping for birthday presents, ironing the summer uniforms (it's much easier in winter when they just have to wear their skivvies and pullovers!), planning meals and packing lunchboxes. The only time I cook is usually on the weekends, and even then, I try to spend more time with the kids and less in the kitchen. Like most braises and stews, this dish of black bean pork ribs with bitter gourd is a relatively easy dish to prepare - a one pot wonder with meat and veggies included. The bitterness of the gourd complements the rest of the dish really well - the tender pork and that delicious thick gravy. I've never been a fan of bitter gourd, but cooked this way, I love. One big plate of rice this way please. Pork Ribs with Black Bean and Bitte...