Recipes: pork dish

Serves 2-4

1. Place a piece of parchment paper over one piece of pork and tenderise using a rolling pin or food mallet. Repeat to tenderise all pieces.
2. Finely grate one brown onion into a bowl. Smother each piece of pork in this onion puree and refrigerate overnight. This injects so much flavour into the meat!
3. Just before cooking, set up your crumbing station with 3 shallow bowls:

• 1 bowl filled with the AP flour
• 1 bowl filled with beaten eggs (heavily seasoned with salt & pepper and a dash of vanilla extract)
• 1 bowl filled with panko breadcrumbs

4. remove all the excess onion puree from each piece of pork and lightly dust them in AP flour.
5. Slide each piece of pork (one at a time) into the bowl of beaten eggs. This egg mix will allow the crunchy coating to stick to your pork.
6. Coat each piece of pork with panko breadcrumbs. Gently press in the crumbs with your fingers to cover the entire surface area of each piece of pork.
7. Heat a wok, deep fryer or deep skillet to 180C (355F). Ensure that there is enough oil to fully submerge each piece of pork, leaving enough room for the oil level to rise in wok/skillet when you add in the pork pieces.
8. Deep fry your crumbed pork pieces in batches  (no more than two at a time) turning each piece over so that all sides are golden. Because each piece of meat is thin, it doesn't take long for each piece to cook.
9. Drain on a cooling rack lined with a sheet of paper towel. The rack helps air circulate under the tonkatsu and keeps it crunchy longer.

Use the tonkatsu as you please. Over a bowl of piping hot ramen or roll it into a sushi and pack it for a delicious lunch.

Makes 6

1. Wash and cook your rice.

2. While your rice is cooking, prepare the filling:

• Slice SPAM into 6 thick slices. Heat up a large skillet with 1tsp oil. Add SPAM slices and pan fry until each side is golden. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside.
• Crack eggs into a bowl and add a dash of milk/water. Season with salt and pepper and whisk well to combine. Heat up a non-stick skillet with 1tsp oil. Pour in egg mix and make one omelette. Slide omelette onto a chopping board and slice into 6 portions.

3. Once cooked, transfer the rice to a large bowl and mix in sushi seasoning to taste. Divide the rice mix into 12 portions.

To make each onigirazu:

1. Place a large sheet of cling film down on your bench.
2. Place one sheet of nori on top of your piece of plastic.
3. Place one portion of seasoned rice in the centre of the nori. Flatten it down to make a small square, rotated 45 degrees to the direction of your piece of nori. The rice acts like the bread in a sandwich.
4. Add a piece of omelette on the centre of your rice.
5. Add a piece of SPAM on the centre of your omelette.
6. Squeeze on Kewpie mayo to taste.
7. Tear up ½ a lettuce leaf to fit your rice square and layer on top of the mayo.
8. Grab another portion of seasoned rice and compact it in your hand before placing on top of the lettuce.
9. Fold each corner of nori over your ‘sushi sandwich’ to completely wrap your sandwich.
10. Wrap the cling film around your nori parcel so that it stays firmly in shape.
11. Allow your onigirazu to sit for 10 minutes to help set it before slicing in half.

Repeat with remaining ingredients to make the other 5 onigirazu.

Serves 30-50

Make the Dumplings

1. Add dumpling filling into a bowl and mix until well incorporated. Fill dumplings using store bought wrappers, sealing them with a bit of water. You can make these ahead and freeze in one layer (do not allow them to touch each other). Cook them directly from frozen (do not thaw).
2. To cook, bring a large pot of water to the boil. When it’s at a raging boil, add dumplings and cook in batches, for 5-6mins each batch, or until the dumplings are cooked through.
3. Remove dumplings with a slotted spoon/spider and place directly into the prepared sauce. Toss to coat then garnish with sliced spring onion and toasted sesame seeds.

Make the Chilli Oil Sauce

4. In a large shallow bowl, add garlic, sugar, Chinese five spice, chicken powder and Szechuan peppercorns in the centre.
5. Heat oil to smoking point then pour over the garlic mix to release the flavours. Give everything a stir then add the rest of the ingredients and mix through. Set aside.

1. Add all meatball ingredients into a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and let it run on medium speed for about 5mins. This will give your meatballs stickiness and bounce. Alternatively, you can use a pair of chopsticks to stir vigorously in one direction until you notice the ingredients transform into a cohesive, sticky mix. Chill this mix for 30 mins.
2. Meanwhile, add the water, soup cubes and coriander roots to a large pot and bring to the boil. Stir to dissolve the cubes.
3. Once the soup is rapidly boiling, throw in bok choy and let them cook for about a minute (less if they are small). Remove the bok choy and place 4 x halves into each serving bowl.
4. Form meatballs with your hands. I got 24 out of these. The yield will depend on the size of your meatballs (eg: the smaller the meatball, the more meatballs you will get). Gently add them to your pot of bubbling soup and cook for 8 mins.
5. Remove meatballs and evenly distribute amongst the serving bowls. Ladle in remaining soup (discard coriander roots).
6. Garnish with fresh coriander, sliced spring onions, fried shallots, cracked white. Serve hot.

Pork chops:

1. Add the lemongrass, eschalot and garlic into a food processor. Pulverise everything into a fine straw and add to a large mixing bowl. (If you don’t have a powerful processor, you can finely slice rings from your lemongrass before chopping it into small pieces. Mince your garlic and finely dice your eshalot)
2. Add the remaining marinade ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to combine
3. Tenderise pork chops by pounding each side with a meat mallet or the back of a knife. Cut 3-4 slits into the skin side of each chop and place into the marinade. Coat all sides of each pork chop with the marinade then cover and chill overnight.
4. When ready to cook, spray pork chops with oil. Place chops flat, in a single layer in your AirFryer basket*. Air fry for 10 mins on 230C. Turn, then air fry for a further 10 mins**

Spring onion oil

1. Place your spring onions to a heatproof bowl.
2. Add oil to a small skillet and bring to smoking point.
3. Pour the hot oil onto the onions. The onions will spit so be careful. Stir to mix and spoon them onto each pork chop

Enjoy as is or serve with broken rice and a fried egg (com tam) or even eat with rice vermicelli (bun) and salad. Don't forget the fish sauce! (nuoc cham)

* These can also be deep fried, or thrown onto the barbeque as well 

** Turn your chops again and air fry further if you like your chops dark.

Makes approx. 90 dumplings

1. Mix all the well ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
2. Fill the wrapper with about a teaspoon of the filling
3. Use your fingers to place some water around the wrapper and fold it in half and close it into a dome shape
4. Add some water to the two corners and bring them together
5. Boil the dumplings in 3 batches for 7-8 minutes (you can have a couple pots going at once to speed things up.
6. Dip into a vinegar, soy sauce & chilli oil sauce

1. Finely dice water chestnut and tomato .

2. Finely chop eschalot, brown onion and garlic. Thinly cut shallot for garnish and set aside for later.

3. In a medium bowl, add the pork mince, water chestnut, brown onion, garlic, fish sauce, salt, pepper, sugar and corn starch. Mix together by hand to combine all of the ingredients well. Let this marinate for 30 minutes. 

4. Using your hands, roll the meat into a golf ball size (or you can use ice-cream scoop to keep size consistent). 

5. Place the meatballs into steamer and steam for 10 minutes.                

6. In a medium pot on medium high heat add oil, garlic, eschalot and fry until frangant. Add tomato paste and cook this down. Add the diced tomatoes and mix together. Add water, fish sauce, salt, sugar and chicken powder for seasoning. Bring sauce to boil then reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 5 minutes.

7. Gently add meatballs into the sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

8. To make the sauce thicker, mix 2 teaspoons of corn starch and 1 tbsp water until smooth. Add the mixture to the sauce, combine gently. 

9. Place meatballs into a bowl and sprinkle the top with shallots and some pepper. 

10. Serve with bread roll.
 

1. Soak dried fungus in hot water and mung bean thread in warm water for 10 minutes. Rinse and drain them.  Cut dried black fungus and mung bean thread into small pieces.

2. Finely chop garlic and the white part of the shallots. Slice green part of shallots and coriander for garnish set aside.

3. Cut off the two ends of bitter melon and discard. Cut bittermelon into 5-6cm thick slices and use a small spoon to remove seeds.

4. Chop the pork bones into small pieces. Bring a pot to boil. Add a large pinch of salt. Add the pork soft bone and cook for about 5 minutes to remove all the impurities (this will keep the stock clear). Rinse the bones under cold running water until water runs clear and then drain it.            

5. Marinate the bones with 1/2 tbsp fish sauce, pepper and 1/2 tsp white part of shallots and 1/2 tsp garlic for at least 30 minutes.

6. (Meat Filling) In a large bowl, add pork mince, fish paste, eschalots, 1/2 the garlic and white part of shallots, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 pepper, 1/2 tbsp fish sauce, 1/2 tbsp sugar, black fungus  and vermicilli together. Mix well with your hand (this will make the mixture become chewy and have greaat texture). Marinate for 30 minutes.

7. Use a small spoon to stuff the filling into each bitter melon ring. Any left over filling can be rounded into small meat balls.

8. In a medium pot on high heat, add oil and remaining garlic and white part of shallots and fry until fragrant. Add the marinated pork soft bone and stir evenly. Cook for about 1-2 minutes then add water into the pot. Bring to boil and place the stuffed bitter melon and meat balls in. Add remaining raw sugar, fish sauce, salt, pork seasoning powder then cover pot with a lid, simmer on medium low for about 45 minutes or until the stuffed bitter melon are tender.

9. Place soup into a bowl and sprinkle the top with shallots, coriander and some pepper.

10. Serve with rice and main dish.