Make a Date

For us Chinese, Chinese New Year was something to anticipate and look forward to. The preparations would commence months before the actual festival, which usually falls in January or February. Worn out furniture would be replaced, new bed linens and curtains procured, and walls would receive a fresh coat of paint.

As kids, we would be pampered with new clothes and a haircut. There was another activity that I was especially eager to participate in. In those days, most festive snacks were prepared by family, friends, or neighbours. The cooks and their assistants would gather at a common area; ingredients would be laid out and duties assigned. Every participant seemed to know his or her role in some unspoken way.

Some peeled, others sliced, and the more experienced would cook. There were no recipes and no instructions, yet everyone knew what to do. The novices would help in the more menial tasks, and watch the others to study the steps of preparation and cooking.

Festive snacks were not taken lightly. Each snack had its own auspicious significance and even the sequence of cooking mattered. This particular snack is known as “Smiling Dates” or  笑口枣. Traditionally, dough was rolled into a ball and smothered in sesame seeds. During deep-frying, the ball would burst open and resemble a smiling face.

It was believed that this snack would bring happiness and smiles to the family for the next 12 months!

Smiling Dates (笑口枣)

Sugar                                       60 g

Water                                      20 g

Cake flour                               180 g

Custard powder                     10 g

Baking soda                            3 g

Bicarbonate of soda                ¼ tsp

Salt                                          ¼ tsp

Egg yolk                                 40 

Butter                                      30 g, room temperature

White sesame                         ½ cup

Method:

1.    Melt sugar in water. Set aside and let it cool.

2.    Mix flour, custard powder, baking soda, bicarbonate of soda and salt, sieve well.

3.    Mix all ingredients, except white sesame, and form a dough. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.

4.    Roll dough into a long rod. Cut into small pieces.

Take a small piece and roll it into a ball. Dip in water and roll the ball onto the sesame seeds.

Hainanese Pork Chops As I Remember It

Personally, I feel that one of the greatest inventions by the Singapore Hainanese chefs is Hainanese Pork Chops. From the European households whom most of the chefs worked for, they learnt how to use foreign sauces such as HP sauce, Lea & Perrins sauce, and the wonders of roux as thickener in making sauces.

While the British were used to apple sauce and mustard as accompaniments to their pork chops, the Hainanese substituted these with HP sauce and Lea & Perrins, as they agreed better with their taste buds.

Over the years, Hainanese pork chops would undergo further changes to make it even more appealing to the Chinese rather than the Caucasians. That included the use of ketchup as the key ingredient in the sauce. And bread crumbs or Jacob’s crumbs – one of the original ingredients – also disappeared from the recipe in most restaurants.

The recipe I’m trying to replicate here is much closer to the version I was brought up on in the 60s, the version that was served at most coffee houses and Hainanese restaurants.

Hainanese Pork Chops

Pork chop                                           6 slices, about ¾ cm thick each

Flour                                                    2 cups

Egg                                                      2, lightly beaten

Bread crumbs/ Jacob’s crumbs            2 cups

Oil                                                       3 cups

Potato                                                  2, cut into chunks

Mixed vegetables                                1 cup

Marinade:

Oyster sauce                                       1 tbsp

HP sauce                                             ½ tsp

Pepper                                                 ¼ tsp

Corn flour                                           1 tsp

Sauce:

Butter                                                   3 tbsp

AP flour                                               3 tbsp

HP sauce                                             4 tbp

Lea & Perrins                                       3 tbsp

Meat stock                                           ¼ cup

Pepper                                                 a dash

Salt                                                      ¼ tsp

Sugar                                                   2 tbsp

Method:

1.    Use a heavy mallet to break up the muscle fibers of the pork chops.

2.    Rub marinade into the pork and chill for at least 30 mins.

3.    Dust pork chops with flour, soak the meat thoroughly with egg mixture, dust with bread crumbs. Put it aside to rest for 5 minutes. This step will prevent excessive crumbs from falling off the meat during deep frying.

4.    Deep fry pork chops until both sides turn golden brown. Drain off the oil and slice into ½ cm thick. Place it on the serving plate.

5.    Boil potato until it is cooked. Drain and shake off the water completely. This step will create uneven surfaces on the potato, which will give the chips extra crisp. Deep fry the potato chips until golden brown. Drain and transfer to the serving plate.

6.    Pour sauce generously over the pork chops and serve immediately.

Sauce:

1.    Melt butter over medium heat. Saute mixed vegetables for 1 min.

2.    Add flour and cook for another 1 to 2 mins to create a roux.

3.    Add the rest of the sauce ingredients gradually and whisk until the sauce thickens.

4.    The sauce should not be too thick. If it is too thickened, add some stock to dilute it. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar.

5.    Set aside and keep warm.

There’s Nothing Like Oxtail

I have a soft spot for any dish that contains oxtail. Although this animal part seldom sat on my family’s dinner table, I’ve always loved its rich robust flavor. And I’m always on the lookout for it whatever the cuisine. I haven’t had much luck, though, searching for oxtail in Chinese cuisine; I’ve done much better with Malay and western food.

I remember that when I served oxtail at the restaurant I used to own in Hong Kong, it would draw ooohs and aahhs whenever the lid was lifted off the pot, because the space would immediately fill with its luscious aroma.

The following recipe is the one I used in Hong Kong.

Oxtail Stew with Guinness

Oxtail                          750 g

Plain flour                   4 tbsp

Oil                               4 tbsp

Onion                         2, chopped coarsely

Carrot                          2, diced 

Celery                         4 stalks, diced

Potato                         2, diced

Button mushroom     150 g, halved

Salt                              1 tsp

Butter                          2 tbsp

Bacon                          100 g, diced

Garlic                           5 cloves

Shallot                         5

Red wine                     ¼ cup

Tomato paste              3 tbsp

Guinness stout            1 can

Coconut juice              1 cup

5-spice powder           1 tbsp

Lemongrass                 2, bashed

Salt                               1 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat oven at  180 degree C.
2. Dust oxtail with flour. Brown oxtail with oil. Set aside.
3. Saute the vegetables and salt with the remaining oil in the French oven for 5 mins. Lower the heat, cover the pan, and sweat the vegetable for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
4. Saute bacon, garlic and shallots with 1 tbsp of butter. Return oxtail to the pot and deglaze it with red wine. Add tomato paste and stir well.
5. Pour Guinness stout and coconut juice into the pot. Add 5-spice powder and lemon grass.
6. Put parchment paper directly onto surface of the stew. Make sure parchment paper covers the surface completely.
7. Cover the lid and bake for 1½ hours.  Add the sauted vegetable and continue to bake for another 30 minutes.
8. Season with salt and serve.