Away on Holiday in Singapore

Dear all,

My apologies for the silence but guess where I am?Home sweet home in Singapore!


Being a food paradise I am still carving my path through my favourite dishes and will update when I'm back:)

Have fun trying the recipes and leave me a comment if you have any questions:) I have been getting a few from friends who were inspired to try them out, so let me know how they go!

Dongting Stir Fried Duck Breast

This was my first time trying this dish since duck breast normally comes in the form of roast ducks or duck rice when I eat them in Singapore.We got this frozen duck breast in Sweden but I'm sure you can use other dark meat like beef to substitute. I like how simple this dish is and will definitely make this for my dad :)

Ingredients

1 boneless duck breasts, sliced thinly and marinated with 1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce and 1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce

2 spring onions

2 red chili or 1 red bell pepper sliced thinly

1 garlic clove finely sliced

About same amount of ginger, peeled and finely sliced

salt and 1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoon oil for cooking

Steps

1. Marinade the sliced duck breast while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Cut the white and green part of the spring onions into 1cm chunks and the green parts to 3cm sections. Cut the chili into 0.5 cm slices or the bell pepper into small squares about the size of the duck slices.
3. Heat the wok over high heat until smoke rises, then add the cooking oil and swirl it around. Add the duck slices and stir fry it until it is nearly cooked.
4. Add the garlic, ginger, white and green portions of the spring onions and chili/red pepper and stir fry until fragrant. 
5. Season with salt to taste and when everything is smelling good, stir in the spring onions greens, stir in the sesame oil and serve.

Sweet & Sour Pork - Söt och Sur Fläskött

Johan loves this dish and its not uncommon for it to be on the dinner menu when we are preparing a feast for the family. This version is quite different from the normal ones you might be used to which may use ketchup and chili sauces to make the final sweet and sour concoction as Chinese black vinegar and sugar are used instead. That's why you won't see the dish appearing orangey or with bits of pineapples or cucumber or paprika, but just purely the meat itself with some spring onions. This is taken from Fushia Dunlop's book 'Land of Plenty', do get a copy for yourself, it's really very good!

Ingredients

Boneless pork loin cut into 1/2 inch thick stripes/cubes, about 400-500g marinade with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
Batter - 2 eggs with enough potato flour (about 1/4 cup) to make a thick batter
Sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons black Chinese vinegar
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
2.5 teaspoons potato flour
3 spring onions, green parts only finely sliced
3 tablespoon cooking oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
3/4 cup stock
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Steps

1. Marinade the pork for about 30 minutes. While waiting, combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat up the oil for deep frying about medium-high heat, beat up the eggs and combine with enough flour to make a thick batter so that when you dip one cube of pork in it and lift it up, the batter is still coating it thinly. Add the pork into the batter and mix it well. Add the pork individually into the oil to prevent it from sticking together, separating them with your chopsticks if necessary. Fry them for about 3 minutes or until they are just cooked through. Remove and drain. You may need to do this in batches.
3. Reheat the oil when you have deep fry all the pork once through, add them back again to the oil in batches and fry until they are crispy and golden. Remove and drain, keep warm in the serving dish while you prepare the sauce.
4. Heat about 3 tablespoon oil in a clean wok over medium flame, add the ginger and garlic and stir fry till its fragrant and add the stock, bringing it to a boil. 
5. Add the sauce ingredients which you have previously prepared into the boiling stock and stir briskly as it will thicken quickly, add in the spring onions and sesame oil and stir it once or twice and pour the sauce over the pork in the serving dish. Serve warm.