Everyone has their own method to do. But this is how I did it for my Chilli Crab dish today.
Showing posts with label The "How To" in the Kitchen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The "How To" in the Kitchen. Show all posts
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Superior Chicken Stock (鸡上汤)
When it comes to festive season that requires lots of cooking, I will prepare this. The broth produced by these simple ingredients could give you full flavor in almost every Cantonese cooking.
It's magical!
Some people called it superior stock, some called it chicken stock, some called it gou-tong (高汤) and some called it sheung-tong (上汤). Whatever. As long as you have this pot of goodness in your kitchen to standby, I bet you will be able to cook up some good Chinese food! :)
I shall cut this post really short. The trick is to use a good chicken and DO NOT opt out chinese ham. This ham gives the soup the superior taste!
Ingredients
Method
Divide the broth with plastic bags or small containers into portions. Remember to well seal them and air-tight. Freeze away. If you need to use them, just take it out, thaw and you have superior chicken stock!
You totally don't have to use any MSGs for your cooking!
Give it a try :)
It's magical!
Some people called it superior stock, some called it chicken stock, some called it gou-tong (高汤) and some called it sheung-tong (上汤). Whatever. As long as you have this pot of goodness in your kitchen to standby, I bet you will be able to cook up some good Chinese food! :)
I shall cut this post really short. The trick is to use a good chicken and DO NOT opt out chinese ham. This ham gives the soup the superior taste!
Ingredients
- 1 Kampung Chicken, preferably old hens (老母鸡)
- 150g Chinese Ham (金华火腿) ** See Note
- 2 to 3 Chicken carcass (鸡骨/鸡壳)
- 15g Ginger, sliced (姜)
- 3 parts Spring Onions, white part only (葱)
- 4L Water
Method
- Clean chicken, and chicken carcass. You don't have to cut them into pieces. Just leave it whole.
- Prepare ginger and spring onions accordingly.
- Using a big pot, put in all the ingredients and pour in 4L water. Bring to a boil.
- Scoop away the scums that float up, but do not scoop away the chicken oil. Those are flavors.
- Let the soup boil for 10mins, and reduce to very low fire to let it slowly simmer for at least 4 hours.
- Once the soup is cooked for 4 hours, let it cool abit. Strain the liquid and discard all the soup ingredients, and keep only the broth.
Divide the broth with plastic bags or small containers into portions. Remember to well seal them and air-tight. Freeze away. If you need to use them, just take it out, thaw and you have superior chicken stock!
You totally don't have to use any MSGs for your cooking!
Give it a try :)
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
How to prepare Small Pork Intestines (如何处理猪小肠)
Ah... I know lots of modern people don't take intestines nowadays. But intestines is a common food to me. It's like, another meat dish. Such small pork intestines can be fried, steamed, or braised. They can be served as a dish on it's own, eat with noodles, rice or even porridge.
I love intestines. I love it's sweet taste, it's bouncy texture and it's chewiness. And did you see how attractive the braised sweet intestine is? They are not ordinary small intestines. They are STUFFED!
And for the 1st attempt, I only did 4 layers. You can take a look at the difference.
Earlier on, I shared how to prepare pig stomach. This time, it's gonna be small pork intestines.
It may sounds tedious, but if we wants to enjoy this nice meaty small intestine, it's unavoidable. Unless you want to eat outside :)
The saddest part about this stuffed small intestine is that, it is almost impossible for you to get this type of stuffed small intestine easily. Simply because it is just too much work for people to do it for business. I knew there are some authentic Chinese restaurant does, but they are super high priced. One very small (almost pathetic) portion of braised stuffed sweet intestine could easily cost S$9.90. Oh well, but if you are not fussy, Kway Chap is everywhere around the hawker center. They do have sweet intestines, but they are not stuffed for sure.
This is the 1st time I did this. But I'm glad that I did it. When I called my mom and tell her I wanna cook small pork intestines, I get 'piang'ed by my mom with her first sentence "Aiyahhhh... You don't know how to prepare one lahhh!!!"
You know? It's like, confidence level gena flushed down by one big pail of ice-cold water? Haiss... But nevermind. Anyway, it's okay. It's part of my learning stage. Based on my mom's description through phone, courageously, I learn to do it myself :)
I bought some really nice small intestine and some ribs, because I planned to braise them (recipe will be out soon). For some people who don't know where does these small intestines comes from, here, this photo could gives you a clearer picture, although not in detail. The part in red. That's the small intestine (小肠) that I'm talking about. Some people called it pork intestine, some people recognize it as sweet intestine as usually major supermarts will label it as "sweet intestines".
But please do not mixed up. To my understanding, sweet intestines is the first portion of the small intestines called duodenum, also known as 粉肠, which is usually much more pricier than small intestines as it is not easy to get. Unless you are the butcher's good friend, and that should be easier :)
One of the nicest thing of eating intestines is that, we consume every part of the animal instead of wasting it. It's absolutely desirable to make good use of every part of the intestines and turn them into nice dishes. They have different structures and taste.
Cleaning Sweet Intestine method
1. First, snip away the inner layer of whitish skin-look-alike thing that originally joint together with the intestine. You don't need those. Once snipped away, your small intestine will then turned into a looooooong and straight piece.
2. Prepare bowl of salt and a bowl of corn flour (or tapioca flour).
NOTE : For hygiene reason, DO NOT take your salt straight from your salt container with your bare hand and just rub it on the intestine, and then take the salt again! Urgh! This is really not hygiene. Please pour the salt on a bowl. If you can't finish those salt in the bowl after you cleaned the stomach, discard. Your finger touches the stomach, and then the salt, and then the stomach again... You still want to keep those salt? Hahaha...Anyway, this same applies to the corn flour / tapioca flour.
3. Apply a handful of salt on the intestine surface, give it a good rub. Leave it there for awhile and then rinse with running water. By now, you should get rid some of the slimy and greasy residue and smell. Rinse with running water. Repeat this at least twice to ensure they are well cleaned.
4. . Once it's done, flip the intestine inside out and wash the inner part. Refer to below photo, we just kinda stuff one side into the other side, and then you will be able to flip the inner part over. Once it's done, repeat the step 3 washing until they are well cleaned.
5. Rinse with water until water runs clear and drain it.
6. Next, we will need to stuff the intestine into layers (4 layers or more if you want). Decide how many layers you want your sweet intestine to be. 4 layers? Cut them into 4 equal length. You want more? Divide accordingly. Don't forget. You need to divide them into equal length :)
7. Just use two fingers to expand one end of the intestine into a big hole, stuff in one layer. Once done, you get 2 layers of sweet intestine. With the double layered sweet intestine, take another intestine, expand the other end and stuff it in again. Like that, you will have 3 layers. Repeat the step for the 4th layers and if you want more, just repeat the steps again until you finished up the intestine.
Because the intestine itself is smooth and slimy in texture, it will be able to slide in on it's own pretty well. Do it gently. Once you get the flow right, it's actually quite fun to do it :)
6. Once 4 layers are done, use a toothpick to poke on both ends. This is to secure the position of the stuffed intestine. And you could see from the photo. They are expanded into bigger size.
This one... 4 layers.
This one..... 8 layers!!!
7. Boil the intestine in a boiling water for 5 minutes. The five minute boil will set it's shape and it also cooked away the slimy impurities. Once the stuffed intestine contact with hot water, it will shrink. And this explains the reason why we need to use toothpick to secure it's position. With this, it won't affect the stuffing effort that you just did.
8. Dish up the stuffed intestine and put them into tap water to let it cool down. There may be some impurities water might trapped inside the intestine. You may want to gently press the intestine to release the impurities water.
And after stuffing them, I only have that much of intestine for braising. Not alot actually.
Once stuffed intestine is completely cooled, remove the toothpicks at both end and it is ready to use/cook. With such stuffed intestine, it is usually used as braising. You could do this a week or two ahead, and stock up in your freezer! No fuss at all.
This is my braised small intestine. Take a look at this! Look at the nice layers of intestine. Isn't it pretty? And no! it doesn't only gives you pretty look. It's yummy too! By stuffing the small intestines into multi-layers, it could gives bouncier and chewier texture. It makes you wanna eat more because they are so so so nice to chew! And the the braised sauce trapped in every layers, it gives every mouthful of intestine chew and flavor too!
I really love the delicate taste, the soft, smooth and yet bouncy texture. I simply couldn't tell you how much I love this! And I hope you are sold by now :D
For those who don't take intestines, I urge you to give it a try again. As long as you wash the intestine clean and prepare it well, you will learn to appreciate it.
For braising of small pork intestine, you may refer to this recipe :
Happy cooking!
I love intestines. I love it's sweet taste, it's bouncy texture and it's chewiness. And did you see how attractive the braised sweet intestine is? They are not ordinary small intestines. They are STUFFED!
8 Layers!!!!
And for the 1st attempt, I only did 4 layers. You can take a look at the difference.
Earlier on, I shared how to prepare pig stomach. This time, it's gonna be small pork intestines.
It may sounds tedious, but if we wants to enjoy this nice meaty small intestine, it's unavoidable. Unless you want to eat outside :)
The saddest part about this stuffed small intestine is that, it is almost impossible for you to get this type of stuffed small intestine easily. Simply because it is just too much work for people to do it for business. I knew there are some authentic Chinese restaurant does, but they are super high priced. One very small (almost pathetic) portion of braised stuffed sweet intestine could easily cost S$9.90. Oh well, but if you are not fussy, Kway Chap is everywhere around the hawker center. They do have sweet intestines, but they are not stuffed for sure.
This is the 1st time I did this. But I'm glad that I did it. When I called my mom and tell her I wanna cook small pork intestines, I get 'piang'ed by my mom with her first sentence "Aiyahhhh... You don't know how to prepare one lahhh!!!"
You know? It's like, confidence level gena flushed down by one big pail of ice-cold water? Haiss... But nevermind. Anyway, it's okay. It's part of my learning stage. Based on my mom's description through phone, courageously, I learn to do it myself :)
I bought some really nice small intestine and some ribs, because I planned to braise them (recipe will be out soon). For some people who don't know where does these small intestines comes from, here, this photo could gives you a clearer picture, although not in detail. The part in red. That's the small intestine (小肠) that I'm talking about. Some people called it pork intestine, some people recognize it as sweet intestine as usually major supermarts will label it as "sweet intestines".
Photo Credit : Westpol
But please do not mixed up. To my understanding, sweet intestines is the first portion of the small intestines called duodenum, also known as 粉肠, which is usually much more pricier than small intestines as it is not easy to get. Unless you are the butcher's good friend, and that should be easier :)
One of the nicest thing of eating intestines is that, we consume every part of the animal instead of wasting it. It's absolutely desirable to make good use of every part of the intestines and turn them into nice dishes. They have different structures and taste.
Cleaning Sweet Intestine method
1. First, snip away the inner layer of whitish skin-look-alike thing that originally joint together with the intestine. You don't need those. Once snipped away, your small intestine will then turned into a looooooong and straight piece.
2. Prepare bowl of salt and a bowl of corn flour (or tapioca flour).
NOTE : For hygiene reason, DO NOT take your salt straight from your salt container with your bare hand and just rub it on the intestine, and then take the salt again! Urgh! This is really not hygiene. Please pour the salt on a bowl. If you can't finish those salt in the bowl after you cleaned the stomach, discard. Your finger touches the stomach, and then the salt, and then the stomach again... You still want to keep those salt? Hahaha...Anyway, this same applies to the corn flour / tapioca flour.
3. Apply a handful of salt on the intestine surface, give it a good rub. Leave it there for awhile and then rinse with running water. By now, you should get rid some of the slimy and greasy residue and smell. Rinse with running water. Repeat this at least twice to ensure they are well cleaned.
4. . Once it's done, flip the intestine inside out and wash the inner part. Refer to below photo, we just kinda stuff one side into the other side, and then you will be able to flip the inner part over. Once it's done, repeat the step 3 washing until they are well cleaned.
5. Rinse with water until water runs clear and drain it.
They are now cleaned and drained. Looks like I have alot of them yea. Read on, and you will know that they are not alot actually.
7. Just use two fingers to expand one end of the intestine into a big hole, stuff in one layer. Once done, you get 2 layers of sweet intestine. With the double layered sweet intestine, take another intestine, expand the other end and stuff it in again. Like that, you will have 3 layers. Repeat the step for the 4th layers and if you want more, just repeat the steps again until you finished up the intestine.
Because the intestine itself is smooth and slimy in texture, it will be able to slide in on it's own pretty well. Do it gently. Once you get the flow right, it's actually quite fun to do it :)
6. Once 4 layers are done, use a toothpick to poke on both ends. This is to secure the position of the stuffed intestine. And you could see from the photo. They are expanded into bigger size.
This one... 4 layers.
This one..... 8 layers!!!
7. Boil the intestine in a boiling water for 5 minutes. The five minute boil will set it's shape and it also cooked away the slimy impurities. Once the stuffed intestine contact with hot water, it will shrink. And this explains the reason why we need to use toothpick to secure it's position. With this, it won't affect the stuffing effort that you just did.
8. Dish up the stuffed intestine and put them into tap water to let it cool down. There may be some impurities water might trapped inside the intestine. You may want to gently press the intestine to release the impurities water.
And after stuffing them, I only have that much of intestine for braising. Not alot actually.
Once stuffed intestine is completely cooled, remove the toothpicks at both end and it is ready to use/cook. With such stuffed intestine, it is usually used as braising. You could do this a week or two ahead, and stock up in your freezer! No fuss at all.
This is my braised small intestine. Take a look at this! Look at the nice layers of intestine. Isn't it pretty? And no! it doesn't only gives you pretty look. It's yummy too! By stuffing the small intestines into multi-layers, it could gives bouncier and chewier texture. It makes you wanna eat more because they are so so so nice to chew! And the the braised sauce trapped in every layers, it gives every mouthful of intestine chew and flavor too!
I really love the delicate taste, the soft, smooth and yet bouncy texture. I simply couldn't tell you how much I love this! And I hope you are sold by now :D
For those who don't take intestines, I urge you to give it a try again. As long as you wash the intestine clean and prepare it well, you will learn to appreciate it.
For braising of small pork intestine, you may refer to this recipe :
Kampar Braised Pork Ribs Platter (金宝 "马来王" 卤排骨) - (MFF - Perak)
Happy cooking!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
How to wash and prepare pig stomach
Earlier on, I did shared about how to wash Pig Stomach for Pig Stomach's Soup.
I'm gonna share with you MORE this time... on how I wash and prepare the Pig's Stomach, and it can be in advance. This time, pictures are included!
Now.. read on...
Face it! Everyone of us have to go thru this tedious part if we wants to enjoy this nice meaty sweet intestine.
Unavoidable. So, don't complaint :)
But..... you could do this a week or two ahead, and stock up in your freezer! No fuss!
I'm gonna share with you MORE this time... on how I wash and prepare the Pig's Stomach, and it can be in advance. This time, pictures are included!
Now.. read on...
Face it! Everyone of us have to go thru this tedious part if we wants to enjoy this nice meaty sweet intestine.
Unavoidable. So, don't complaint :)
But..... you could do this a week or two ahead, and stock up in your freezer! No fuss!
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