Killing me softly with pork crackling (Chicharon)

Oh My. Pork crackling (a.k.a chicharon).  This gives us Filipinos a bad name. When it comes to fried and fatty foods, we have a reputation for being good at it.  Filipinos love chicharon and it can be found being sold all over the Philippines.  My parents and their friends used to joke about chicharon and called them "killing me softly" as you can imagine, these can not be good for your health.  In fact, my brother and I monitor their chicharon intake.

My parents had perfected the art of making these little crunchy gems many years ago.  As a young girl, I remember large hand made nets strewn across the back yard when they used to dry the pork rind under the sun for 2 days before deep frying them.

My parents now use the oven to dry out the pork rind.  It only takes half the time and is not dependent on the weather. 

To dry out the pork rind, preheat the oven 75degC.  Lay the rind in a single layer on a tray.  Cook for 12 hours or until the skin is really dry and hard.  Mix it up every hour or so.

It can now be stored until ready to be deep fried.

When deep frying the rind, only fry a few at a time and keep them submerged in the hot oil.  You can do this by placing a frying basket on top.  Fry until they are slightly golden and has expanded double it's size.

Remove and drain on paper towel or sieve.  These little babies are best eaten with white vinegar  with salt, pepper, chopped chillies and crushed garlic.

Kulinarya Cooking Club June 2010 : Pinoy BBQ three ways

Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and it's colourful cuisine.

Each month we will showcase a new dish along with our family recipes.  By sharing these recipes we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino food as we do.

This month's theme is Pinoy BBQ!

Filipino's love BBQ. In Philippines, when walking down the small streets in my Auntie's subdivision, people are barbecuing all sorts of meat in front of their homes to sell.  Some meats I know, some... hmmm, I don't want to know.  But, no matter what is cooking on their barbecues, it always smell so enticing.  The smell of barbecues gets me drooling all the time.

Barbecue is another one of those foods that are always present at a Filipino gathering. It is also found at all Filipino Fiestas. Most especially, barbecue pork on skewers.

Here's what I barbecued.

Whole Squid stuffed with raw sugar,then 

head and tentacles secured by 

toothpick

Pork chops marinated in salt, vinegar and garlic

Pork skewers marinated in Filipino BBQ sauce

Marinade for the pork skewers is very simple.  I don't usually measure out the ingredients but play it by feel.  The main ingredients I always include is lemonade, tomato sauce, pineapple juice, sugar, salt and pepper.  The marinade needs to be thick so it can coat the meat.  Sometimes, if I find that the marinade is a little thin after marinading the meat, I place in a small pot and reduce it.  I then baste the meat with the thickened marinade.

It is currently Winter down here in Melbourne, so it was very cold when we were barbecueing (or should I say, Hubby and my dad, were barbecuing).  However, no matter the temperature or weather outside, barbecues are always welcomed at meal times.

Other members of the Kulinarya Cooking Club:

Kath - http://www.acupcakeortwo.com/
Trisha - http://sugarlace.com/
Trissa - http://trissalicious.com/
Olive - http://www.latestrecipes.net/
Caroline - http://whenadobometfeijoada.blogspot.com/
Ninette - http://bigboldbeautifulfood.blogspot.com/
Peach- http://www.thepeachkitchen.com/
Althea- http://www.busogsarap.com/
Asha - http://forkspoonnknife.blogspot.com/
Malou - http://www.impromptudiva.com/
Cherrie - http://sweetcherriepie.blogspot.com/
Acdee - http://acdee.blogspot.com/
Valerie - http://www.acanadianfoodie.com/
Sheryl - http://crispywaffle.com/
Divina - http://www.sense-serendipity.com/
Anna - http://www.anniesfoodjournal.blogspot.com/
Dahlia - http://www.energychef.blogspot.com/
Joy - http://joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com/
Maribel - http://www.foodgeek.webs.com/
Tressa
Jen - http://www.jen-at-work.blogspot.com/
Pia - http://bisayajudkaayo.blogspot.com/

Malaka - http://thegrandinternational.com.
Mimi - http://lapinchecocinera.blogspot.com
Erika - http://ivoryhut.com/
Kat - http://www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk/default.aspx

Coconut Noodles with Honey Glazed Pork Belly : An International Incident

I was really excited about this month's theme for the International Incident. It is Noodles!  This month I really wanted to cook something I would have never tried if it wasn't for this challenge.  I also wanted to try something a little different.

I decided to replicate a dish I had at Fenix in Richmond, Victoria from memory.  Fenix has since changed from a fine dining restaurant to a Wedding and Function centre.  It is owned by Raymond Capaldi and Gary Mehigan (from Masterchef Australia).  When it was a restaurant, Hubby and I used dine there often.  In fact, it was Hubby's favourite restaurant.

My favourite entree dish that I always had was the coconut noodles with caramalised pork belly in a Laksa style sauce.  This is the dish I made for the Noodles Party.

The first part of the dish was to make the coconut noodles.  It basically is coconut milk and agar agar.

agar agar

Coconut Jelly 

400ml can coconut milk

200ml water

50g agar agar strands

Place all the ingredinets in a pot on medium heat

Stir constantly till agar agar dissolves

Pour through a sieve into a dish

Refrigerate until set

When the coconut jelly is set, cut into into long noodles

The dish is served with pork belly.  I used a honey glaze on my pork belly. 

honey glazed pork belly

Honey Glaze:

1/2 cup honey

2 tbl dark soy sauce

1 tsp five spice powder

1 tsp ground ginger

Place all the ingredients in a small pot and cook over a low heat for 5-7 minutes.  Strain and reserve until needed.

800g pork belly

6 cups hot chicken stock

2 medium onions quartered

Placed the pork belly in a large pot or casserole dish and pour over the hot chicken stock and add the onions.  Place in the oven covered and cook for 2-3 hours or until the pork is tender.

Once the pork is cooked, remove from the oven and place on a baking tray with another tray on top and a weight (for example, 2 cans of beans) to help weigh down the pork.  Place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.  Overnight is preferable.

Preheat the oven to 180degC

Once the pork has been pressed, remove the trays and cut into portions about 5cm wide.  Place the pork skinn side down in a cold, non-stick pan with a little olive oil and begin to crisp the skin over a low-medium heat.  Spoon half of the honey glaze over the pork.

Place the pan into the hot oven and colour all the sides of the pork, spooning over the rest of the honey glazw.  Keep a close eye on the pork as it can burn easily.

Once it's coloured and crispy, remove fro  the oven, cut in small slices and set aside till ready to use in the dish.

Laksa Style Sauce:

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp ground almond

1 lemongrass stalked finely sliced

1 tsp shrimp paste

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp tumeric

2 tsp ground coriander

Place all ingredients in a mortar and pestle and pound until it forms into a paste.  Vegetable oil may be needed to blend easier.

To make the sauce, place tthe paste in a small pan and sauté gently until fragrant.  Add 250ml coconut milk.  Simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes

 To dish up, place the coconut noodles in a circle in a bowl, place the pork belly scattered around.  Pour a little of the laksa sauce into the bowl.  To garnish, add blanched snow peas and finely sliced chilli.

Fellow Party People:

• Penny – Jeroxie (Addictive & Consuming) – Homemade ban mian with minced pork and mushrooms
• Christine – Christine’s Recipes – Spicy Pork Mince and Noodles in Crisp Lettuce Cups
• Mardi – Eat, Live, Travel, Write – Ginger scallion & Butter noodles
• Conor - Hold the Beef – As Above
• Shirley – Enriching your kid – Vermicilli Biryani with Tahini
• Natasha – 5 Star Foodie – Homemade Soba Noodles
• Anges – Off the spork – Handpulled noodles at home
• Joanne – Second Helpin
• Tracey - Tangled Noodle
• Evelyne - Cheap Ethnic Eatz – Incidental Noodles
• Ms Baklover - Footscray Food Blog – Zha Jiang Mian
• Casey – Eating, Gardening & Living in Bulgari
• Tamar – Koreanfornian Cooking – Tteokbokki
• Billy – Half-Eaten – Pumpkin Miso Noodles in Shitake Dashi Broth
• Nina – Consumed Food Love – Vietnamese Noodle Salad
• Suresh – 3 hungry tummies – Twice cooked pork with rice noodles
• Anh – A food Lover’s Journey – Taco Soba Noodle

 Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Filipino Dumpling Soup and Deep Fried Dumplings. An International Incident.

Another International Incident Party and this time, it's a dumplings party.  If you follow me on twitter, you will know that I was stressed about my dumplings however I had plenty of help from Penny from Jeroxie - Addictive & Consuming blog and she reminded me that this party was  meant to be fun and not stressful.  After finally deciding what I was going to make, it started to be fun. 

I decided to make two versions.  I wanted my first dumplings to be traditional so I decided to make a Filipino version and did a little research and found Pancit Molo.  

Filipino Dumpling Soup or Pancit Molo looks and tastes a lot  like a Chinese Dumpling Soup, simply because it is.  The Chinese in the Philippines have influenced not only some of our culture but, of course, our food.  This dish was named after a district in the province, Iloilo and unlike other pancit (noodle) dishes, this is a wet dish and there's no actual noodles.  The wonton is considered to be the noodle.

To make mine that extra special, I made the chicken stock from scratch.  I was able to control the flavour and balance of the broth.

For my other version, I also decided to deep fry a few of the dumplings.  I knew my daughter, would love these.  She is, after all, my toughest critic.  I am happy to say, she loved it.  "Mummy, I love the texture.  It's so light"  Hahaha!  She has been watching Masterchef Australia with me

I have never made dumplings before so I had many questions. Most of them about the wrapper.  I wanted to make my own wrappers and I was given a couple of different good recipes.  However, after doing a bit of research and asking questions, I opted to buy my wonton wrappers

The filling is definitely Chinese inspired with the classic mixture of pork and prawn.  I did not finely mince the prawn as I wanted a little more texture with the mixture.   

To wrap the dumplings, I felt the most stressed.  However, I was guided to a great website http://www.asiandumplingtips.com  Andrea Nguyen has great tips and instructional videos on all thing dumplings.  I was able to easily follow her instructions and got into a routine and made plenty of dumplings in no time.

• CHICKEN STOCK
• 1kg chicken bones
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 1 carrot chopped
• salt
• pepper corns
• 4 bay leaves
• .
• DUMPLINGS
• 220g fresh prawns, deveined and minced
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 200g mince pork
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 ground black pepper
• wonton wrappers
• .
• Spring onions
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tbl oil

1. In a large pot, add all the ingredients for the stock. Add enough water to cover. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
2. In a bowl, mix the pork, prawn and half the onions. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Take one wonton wrapper. Place 1 tsp of the mixture in the center and fold over to create a triangle. Seal with water. Take the corners on the left and right sides, dab with water and bring the sides together and press together. Repeat for all the dumplings
4. In a pot add the rest of the chopped onions and garlic. Sauté till lightly browned.
5. Pour 6 cups of stock into the pot and let it come to a gentle simmer.
6. Add the dumplings and poached. It will rise to the top when cooked. This will take about 5 minutes.
7. Add the spring onions and cook for a further 2-3 minutes
8. Serve immediately and garnish with a spring onion stem.

Filipino Dumpling Soup Pancit Molo @ Group Recipes

Now that I've finally made my dumplings, I am very happy with the way it turned out.  I'm extremely happy that my family loved it as much as I did.  I am not scared about making my own dumplings anymore but I think I want to try my hand at making fresh wrappers.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

Family Celebration : A big day for Thomas

Last Sunday was a big day for our family.  It was the day my son, Thomas was Baptised.

My son was definitely a star on the day.  He didn't cry during the ceremony and most importantly didn't cry when he was getting baptised with the holy water.  I think he knew the significance of the moment and was quietly taking it all in.

The star of the feast was the lechon.(whole suckling pig).  I was so excited about eating this.  When dad walked through the door carrying the pig there were lots of "oooh" and "aaahh"s from the guests.

Roast pig.  YUM! The meat was tender and flavourful.  The skin was so crispy

For hor d'oeuvres : salad wrapped in  prosciutto with honey and mustard dressing and prawn cocktail.

Pancit (Filipino noodles)

Potato Scallops

Pizza Pie 

Fried rice made by Sis-in-law

For dessert, I asked a few family members to bring something.

lime tart made by mum-in-law

butterscotch snaps with caramel topping made by another sis-in-law

delicious trifle made by my brother @MrEd2U

An Indonesian cake made by Thomas' Godmother

I made red velvet cake and decorated the Baptism cake.

Photographs by  @MrEd2U and @MrJamesMoore