Hong Ba (Red-Braised Pork Hock)

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Here we are, still way behind. So, please give a warm welcome to our guest blogger, CSC's brother, the B!

The B is quite passionate about hong ba, waxing poetical when the topic arises. Here's how he makes hong ba. When he does, he doesn't waste anything and actually makes three (3) dishes!

1 Hong Ba (Red-Braised Pork Hock)


[the B]
In a pot with some water, Ninang (godmother) boiled the pork leg with onions and a little salt. Then it simmered and slow-cooked for 3 hours while she went to watch a movie. =)

After slow-cooking, I pan-fried the pork leg with some shallots and soy sauce to brown it. Then back to the pot it went, along with just one-fifth (1/5) of its "soup" (resulting pork broth). I mixed in light and dark soy sauce, brown sugar, whole black pepper and star anise. The pork leg slow-cooked for another one-and-a-half (1.5) hours. After all that time, I was not so satisfied with the sauce so I cheated and put some flour to make the sauce thicker. =)

Serve the pork leg with its thick sauce, along with some Chinese mushrooms and bok choy.

2 Shabu-shabu (aka Hot Pot)
[the B]
As for the rest of the soup? That is, four-fifths (4/5) of the original boiling liquid/pork broth.

Well, we usually use it for shabu-shabu/hot pot. We use any vegetables on hand and cook it in the pork broth. We then make our condiment: sate/satay sauce with raw eggs (mix them together in a small bowl). On this occasion, we had bok-choy, radish, carrots, pechay and shiitake mushroom. Take cooked items out of the broth and dip in the satay-egg sauce. Delicious! =)

3 Hong Ba Pao/Bao (Hong Ba Bun)
[the B]
Finally, we got some buns from T&T and made a Hong Ba Pao with leftover hong ba and its sauce. =)



[ts]
Wow, this is such a great post! Thanks, the B!

Moving Sale! (and pita chips)

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I feel like I'm soooooooo behind! There are a bunch of pictures in the computer that I have yet to go through. There are a bunch of pictures in the camera (well, in the memory card) that I have yet to upload. There are a bunch of items that have pictures but are still waiting for JS' and my copy. Aaaaack!

We haven't had time to do all that because we're having a MOVING SALE tomorrow!

Remember, there's 9 of us here now. Plus, we've been living in this house for 13 years. And! And! Our beloved Mama is a "little bit" of a hoarder (teehee).

So, there is SO MUCH STUFF!!!!!!

Even though our move isn't until a month-and-a-half from now, we have to cull a lot of things now. I'm thinking that even though there is SO MUCH STUFF for tomorrow's sale already, we will probably need to hold another one.

There is SO MUCH STUFF, we're going to be spilling over to next-door's yard!

OK, have to go back to all the moving sale prep. Here's some pita chips for snacks.

Char Siew Sandwiches à la "Singapore Noodles"

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When we made sesame seed buns, we had to think of a way to use them up. We thought to use char siew (tsa shyo in Fukien/Hokkien) -- that is, HK BBQ Pork -- as the filling.

Now, that got my brain working: what accompaniments should go with a char siew sandwich?! I thought of the different applications for char siew. Well, actually, besides eating them as is with rice (of course), the only dish I could easily think of that uses char siew, besides Yang Chow Fried Rice, is Singapore Noodles.

I decided to make, and name this dish, Char Siew Sandwiches à la "Singapore Noodles"! ;)

[ts]
The name is perhaps a little deceptive as there are no noodles in the sandwich. I simply stir-fried some Singapore Noodle-esque ingredients with Singapore Noodle-esque flavors.

I started with garlic and ginger, then added sliced onions and red bell peppers. To season, I added curry powder (of course), soy sauce, shao xing wine and a little sugar and sesame oil. The egg went in next, then I finished with green onions, bean sprouts and cilantro.



To make the sandwich extra tasty, I "toasted" the buns in a little butter. =) I used the same pan; those buns might as well pick up more of the stir-fry flavors.

To assemble: a layer of char siew on the bottom and a mound of the stir-fry on top.


Oh, in all the Singapore Noodle excitement, I failed to mention that we bought, not made, the char siew.

The day I wanted to make the sandwich, JS went to two char siew places but they were both closed! Coming home, she tried to convince me to change my sandwich concept. I refused! I fought for my idea! =) We had to postpone making the sandwich until the next day.



This was so good! The char siew went perfectly with its Singapore Noodle-esque accompaniment! (Well, of course it would! The two components already go well together in their Singapore Noodles incarnation.) As for the sesame seed bun, it was buttery and slightly sweet, making it the perfect vehicle for my sandwich.



We're submitting this to Snackshots #6: Sandwiches, hosted by Michelle of Greedy Gourmet.

We're not really sandwich people, so I'm a little bit surprised that we actually have something to contribute to this theme!