Five spiced orange pork chops with sweet potato

Suddenly inspired to come up with this recipe based on the sheer number of fortnight old oranges we have lying in the fridge!

Ingredients

500g pork chops or pork rashers

1 tbsp ginger, minced

1 tbsp five spice powder

1 tbsp garlic, minced

1 white onion, chopped

2 oranges, zest and juice

1 tsp rock salt or more to taste

Cracked black pepper to taste

3 sweet potatoes

Method

1) Marinade pork in all the ingredients except the sweet potatoes and oranges for at least half an hour, best overnight.

2) Peel and cube the sweet potato.

3) In a roasting dish, assemble as follows: 

Place sweet potatoes cubes at the bottom. On top, place the pork. Drizzle over the zest and juice of the oranges, I even stuff the used orange peels in between the sweet potatoes to provide fragrance as their oils are released in the heat.

4) Roast at 220 deg C for 15 mins if the pork has skin to form crackling before turning down to 150 deg C to slow cook for another 35 to 45 minutes or till cooked. If the pork has no skin, start at 200 deg C for 10 mins then turn down to 150 deg C for another 45 to 60 mins or till cooked.

5) Serve on a bed of cous cous.

Crab cakes

I saw a tin of crab meat in the supermarket and thought to myself - I had to have it! I've often seen Nigella and Jamie and other chefs using it in their cooking to make crab cakes, crab pasta, etc but was always dismayed that I didn't know where to find it in Australia or Singapore. In the UK, it's available in gourmet shops which our chefs undoubtedly would know the locations of. Me, I don't know any fancy smancy gourmet shops here, or even if I did, they usually stock the usual (boring) stuff like cheese, olives and other preserved vegs, and if lucky, more exotic things like Mediterranean sauces. After trawling the internet for ang mo and Thai versions, here's my version of an East-West crab cake.

Ingredients
1 tin (250g) crab meat, drained
1 potato, peeled and grated finely (squeeze out any juice that comes out)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp mayo (I like the Japanese version)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

Method
1) Combine the crab meat, potato, egg, mayo, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix well. Pour in the beaten egg and 1/2 cup of the panko bread crumbs and combine well. Set aside in the fridge for about 1/2 hour to harden up, otherwise it will break apart when handling.

2) Take tablespoons of the mixture and form into a ball. Transfer into a plate of panko breadcrumbs and press down the ball to form a patty. Coat each side of the patty carefully and transfer onto a non-stick baking sheet. At this point, if you want, you can put the whole baking sheet into a freezer and freeze the patties for later use. These can be baked or fried from frozen at a later date.

3) As soon as you have coated all the patties, heat up a pan with a little oil. The coated patties shouldn't be allowed to sit out too long, otherwise, the newly coated panko will absorb all the moisture from the mixture and get soggy. These crab cakes don't need a lot of oil (they're pan fried, not deep fried). When the oil is hot, fry each patty. Fry each side for approximately 2 minutes per side, till golden brown. Serve immediately with Thai sweet chilli sauce.

4) The patties can also be baked. Spray a little cooking oil spray onto each patty and baked them on the baking sheet in a pre-heated oven for approximately 10 minutes at 200 deg C. Remember to flip halfway and spray the top with cooking oil.

Bur bur pulut hitam

One of my favourite desserts but I've only made this twice in my life, because the rice is quite difficult to find, so was very pleasantly surprised to find it in Australia WMD showcased in Better Homes and Gardens! But of course, ang mo cooked it western style as a savoury rice when it really is meant as a dessert.

Ingredients:

1 packet of rice, approx 250g or 3 cups

18-20 cups of water: this rice is thirsty!

100g rock sugar (add more to taste)

Method

1) Wash the rice by rinsing at least 3 times. This rice seems more sandy than normal rice, or maybe it's my imagination.

2) Put the rice and water into the pot and bring up to a boil, then turn down to simmer. Keep pot uncovered or half covered as it will boil over. Skim off any scum.

3) When the rice has softened, approx 40 mins, add in the sugar. Continue simmering till sugar has dissolved. 

4) Turn off the flame and cover with the lid to allow the rice to rest. It never really breaks down to a gruel unlike normal rice, but it will break up the more it's simmered.

5) Serve with a dollop of coconut cream or some coconut milk.

ABC soup

A long time favourite, there are so many combinations on the web. What does abc stand for? The variations I've seen are:

A = ang mo kio

B = bawang

C = carrot or corn or (c)kandang, or sometimes, celery

Which one is correct? Answer: whatever you like! I chose whatever was in my fridge, so it turned out to be tomato, onion, carrots and potatoes. I even threw in giam chai for more sourness!

Ingredients

1.2 kg of chicken thighs or drumsticks

3 carrots

2 tomatoes

1 onion

1/2 sio bak choy of giam chai

2 potatoes

1 tsp ginger

Black pepper

1l water

Method

1) Peel and chop everything into roughly equal sized cubes.

2) Blanche the chicken in boiling water, drain.

3) Put everything into a stock pot or slow cooker and crack in some black pepper.

4) Bring to a boil, and skim off the scum and fat. Then turn down the flame and simmer for approximately 40 minutes to 1 hour. Periodically return to skim off the fat for a clearer soup.

5) Add salt if desired. Serve immediately with steamed rice.