Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce

Winnie kicked off the South Arm Community Kitchen cooking class for the year 2007 with two pork dishes. She made Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce and Stir-fried Pork with Bamboo Shoots.

These pork dishes are very common dishes cook in the home of Chinese families. The gravy from these dishes goes really well with steam rice. Kids can just gobble up the rice with the gravy alone. Make sure you cook extra rice when you make such dishes.

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Winnie also treated us with some abalone to celebrate the start of a new year. Abalone is a kind of shellfish which is served during auspicious celebration like Chinese New Year, Wedding and Birthday. It is an expensive delicacy. Winnie, thank you for your generosity.

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Besides that, Winnie also shared with us some Pizza Pretzels while waiting for the dishes to be cooked.

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Here is the recipe for the Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs pork (butt or bacon with skin on), cut into 1 1/2 inches pieces
  • 1/4 cup pork rind (optional)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup garlic cloves
  • 2 star anise
  • 1 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
  • 2 cups water
  • salt to taste

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Suey Choy (Napa Cabbage) Pork Dumpling

Betty made Suey Choy Pork Dumpling in the Caring Place Community Kitchen a couple weeks ago.

This is the pan fried version which I find is more tasty than the boiled version. The boiled version is best served in hot broth to keep it warm. You can check out the technique of making the boiled version at this link.

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Ingredients

  • 1 package of fresh dumpling skin (about 50 pieces)
  • 1 lb lean ground pork
  • 1 1 small suey choy (napa cabbage), finely chopped
  • 3 green onions, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of minced ginger
  • 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt

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Middle Eastern Flavour Pork, Chickpea and Couscous Casserole

Andrea made this Middle Eastern Pork, Chickpea and Couscous Casserole as her second dish in the South Arm Community Kitchen.

This is a one-pot party dish which features easy-to-use couscous and nutrient-packed chickpeas. This dish is highlighted by the rich flavours of cumin, coriander and zesty orange.

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Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/4 lb lean boneless pork loin or pork tenderloin, cut in thin strips
  • 2 cups sliced carrots
  • 1 large sweet green or red pepper, diced
  • 1 large onion, cut in wedges
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 can (19oz/540ml) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange rind
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 dried cranberries or raisins
  • 1 piece of leek, cut in thin strips
  • 1 1/2 cup couscous
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander or parsley

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Pork with Curry Sauce

Winnie is another talented cook in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Her dishes are usually very elaborate and involve lots of chopping, dicing and slicing.

Winne made three dishes in South Arm’s cooking club meeting. She intended to make four dishes but we do not have enough time for the fourth dish. The three dishes are:

  • Pork with Curry Sauce
  • Vegetarian Tempura
  • Whole Wheat Pancake

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The main dish is Pork with Curry Sauce. Winnie made a huge pot and everyone got some to bring home for the family to try. If you like spicy food, you should try this out. Instead of just cooking the pork, she takes the trouble to deep fry the pork. This gives the meat that extra crunch.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb pork, cubed
  • 2 cups diced onions
  • 2 lbs potatoes, cut into chunks
  • 1/2 cup sliced carrot
  • 1/2 cup yellow pepper
  • 1/2 cup red pepper
  • 1 cup bean curd stick, soak in water to soften
  • 3 tablespoons curry powder
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 5 cups cold water

Marinates

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • a teaspoon garlic powder
  • a teaspoon Chinkiang vinegar
  • a teaspoon Salt-baked chicken seasoning (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 4 tablespoons oil

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Taiwanese Pork Sausage

Lorna did it again. She amazed the cooking club by showing us how to make Taiwanese Pork Sausage. The Taiwanese Pork Sausage was fragranted with cinnamon. It is not the regular cinnamon powder we normally used for baking. Lorna bought the cinnamon powder from Chinese herbal shop (known as ‘yoke kwai’ in Cantonese). It is quite an expensive herb as two teaspoons cost $7.

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The Taiwanese Pork Sausage can be baked, pan fried or grilled. The photo below is the baked version.

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Ingredients

  • 13 lbs port butt (ask the butcher to cut 12 lbs into small cubes and the remaining pound minced)
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup rice wine
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
  • 4 1/2 tablespoons salt
  • 1/2 cup garlic powder
  • sausage skin (enough for 60 sausages)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons of Taiwanese Soy Sauce Paste (optional)

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Lorna bought the sausage skin which is the pig small intestines from this meat shop in North Burnaby.

  • Supreme Meat Company Ltd
  • 1725 McDonald Ave
  • North Burnaby

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The sausage skin is preserved in salt and has to be rinsed thoroughly before use. Any remaining sausage skin can be preserved in salt and stored in the refrigerator for a few months.

Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Korean Spicy Pork

Lan’s second dish is Korean Spicy Pork or in Korean, Spicy Bulgogi. This dish is very easy to make and yet very flavourful. However, we need to shop for some specific Korean spices and sauces for this dish.

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The main marinates for the dish are Korean Pepper Paste, Korean Red Pepper Powder, Korean Soy Sauce and Korean Corn Syrup. All these can be found in any Korean groceries stores.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg of pork shoulder, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 red and green pepper each, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 bunch of green onions, sliced
  • 3 carrots, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 2 – 3 tablespoons Korean Soy Sauce
  • 4 tablespoons Korean Pepper Paste
  • 1 teaspoon Korean Pepper powder
  • 3 tablespoons Korean Corn Syrup, you may substitute with brown sugar

Ignore the chives as there is a mix up during the photography of the ingredients for the dish. It should be carrots instead.

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Swiss Pork Chop and Pancakes

Tanni was the demonstrator in this week’s cooking club at Gilmore Park Church. She made a fabulous Swiss Pork Chop and 2 different types of pancakes.

Regretfully, I did not have my camera with me as Ben brought it to work today. I managed to borrow a point and shoot digital camera from a good friend of mine, Rachel for the cooking class. Unfortunately, being unfamiliar with the camera, most of the photos did not turn out ok. So, I’ll try my best to illustrate today’s recipes with the few photos that I had.

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Ingredients for the Swiss Pork Chop

  • Centre cut boneless pork chop, butterfly and pound thin with a tenderizer hammer
  • Ham slices
  • Cheese slices
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Flour
  • Eggs
  • Breadcrumbs

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Instructions for the Swiss Pork Chop

  • Marinate the pork chop with salt and pepper for 30 minutes
  • Place cheese and ham slice in between the pork

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  • Coat the pork chop with flour, dip in beaten eggs and coat with bread crumbs

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  • Deep fry the pork chop in shallow oil for 3 minutes on each side until cooked.

This is a great recipe that kids would love. The melted cheese oozes out from the pork chop and the pork chop tasted really good. We all love this dish. (more…)

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Red Cooked Lion’s Head (Braised Giant Meatball)

Julie Chung started off the South Arm Community Center fall cooking session this week. Julie showed us how to make Giant Meatballs simmered with Suey Choy (Chinese cabbage). This dish is called “Hung Siew Si Ji Tao” in cantonese which literary means red cook lion’s head. The name of this dish came from the giant meatball which can be as big as a fist.

Julie served the Red Cooked Lion’s Head with some handmade noodles. The Chinese cabbages were very soft and flavourful and the giant meatball is very filing, not to mention.

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Ingredients

  • 1.5 to 2 lbs lean ground pork
  • 2 tablespoons chopped ginger
  • 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
  • 1/2 lb (about 8 pieces) water chestnuts, chopped
  • 1 head of suey choy

Marinates

  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon rice wine
  • 1 egg
  • sugar and white pepper to taste

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Jiaozi (Chinese Dumpling)

Polly also showed me how to make Jiaozi (Chinese Dumpling) when she came over to make the salted mustard with pork belly dish. Polly learned how to make Jiaozi from Xiao Qin who came from Taiwan.

Jiaozi is a Chinese dumpling which consists of minced meat and chopped vegetables wrapped into a piece of thin dough. The more popular meat filings are ground pork, ground beef, ground lamb, or shrimp. The vegetables can be Chinese cabbage, green onion, leek, chives, shiitake mushroom, water chestnut, etc.

Jiaozi can be boiled or shallow-fried and then steamed. When shallow-fried and steamed, it’s call potsticker.

On Chinese New Year’s eve, making and eating dumpling is a tradition in China. Family members would get together to make jiaozi.

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Ingredients

  • 3 lbs lean ground pork
  • 1 bunch green onions
  • 8 pieces shallots
  • 2 medium onions
  • few celery sticks
  • 10 pieces of dried shiitake mushroom, soak overnight
  • 4 packages of dumpling skins, about 200 pieces

Seasoning:

  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons corn starch
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 eggs

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All the ingredients except the dumpling skins and eggs have to be chopped finely. Mix all the ingredients except the dumpling skins together with the seasonings in a large bowl.

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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