Five-spice Crispy Pork Belly - 燒肉

 

Ingredients

500g pork belly

Olive oil

1 teaspoon of five-spice powder

1 teaspoon of ground white pepper

1 tablespoon of sea salt

Method

1. Preheat halogen oven at 200 degrees
2. Score the skin of the pork belly with a sharp knife
3. Rub pork belly with olive oil
4. Sprinkle five-spice, white pepper and sea salt on pork belly and massage these evenly on both sides
5. Place pork belly (skin side up) in preheated oven and roast for 40-50 minutes (depending on the thickness of the cut).  Pay attention to the crackling to ensure it doesn't burn, you will know that it's almost ready when you see the crackling bubbling up.
6. Remove pork belly from the oven and place on rack to cool for 10-20 minutes (the crackling will be chewy if it's not cooled properly)
7. Place skin down on chopping board and cut pork belly into eatable chunks
8. Serve with English mustard

 

Thai Beef Salad

Ingredients

100g mixed salad leaves
1 capsicum (sliced thinly)
1 cup of herbslaw
1 cup of cherry tomatoes
300g scotch fillet steaks

For the sauce: 

1/2 tablespoon of lime juice
1 tablespoon of chilli sauce
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
Handful of coriander leaves
Handful of  mint leaves
2 tablespoons of chopped roasted peanuts
1 red chilli

This is pretty straight forward.

Just grill the steak (a couple of minutes on each side), I did 4 minutes on each side and I was using a hot plate so it takes forever to cook something.  For gas cooker, you would probably want to cook the steak for about 2-3 minutes each side depending on the thickness of the steak.  I try to choose steaks with a good amount of fat (try to look for a nice marble pattern).

Once the steak is done, let it sit for about 2 minutes, the steak will still continue to cook while it's resting so you don't want to overcook it. 

Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

Cut the remaining ingredients and steak into bite size pieces and mix well with the sauce.  Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the top as garnish.

This is what I made for valentines day and it was very nice with a glass of sav.

Enjoy.

Baked Salmon with Lemon and Dill

Ingredients

1 salmon fillet
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of dill
1 lemon - thinly sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven 200 degrees C.
2. De-bone salmon fillet, remove excess skin and fat.
3. Rinse the fillet with cold water and pat dry with paper towel.
4. Put a few pieces of the lemon on foil and place the salmon fillet above the lemon.
5. Season the fillet with salt, pepper and dill.
6. Wrap the foil into a loose parcel and double wrap with another layer of foil.
7. Bake for 20-25 mins, until easily flaked with a fork.

I think salmon and dill are the perfect combination.
You can use fresh dill and they are pretty easy to grow.  For convenience, I've used the dried ones and they are pretty good.

Scrambled eggs with truffle oil

With a few drops of truffle oil, you can turn ordinary scrambled eggs into a culinary delight!

Serves 2

Ingredients

6 eggs (I think free range eggs taste better and richer)
6 tablespoons of milk or cream (Lewis Road Creamery's double cream is awesome)
1 tablespoon of butter (Lewis Road Creamery's organic butter)
coarse sea salt and black pepper to taste
a few drops of white truffle oil
few slices of toasted ciabatta

Method

1. In a medium bowl, lightly mix eggs with milk (do not whisk)
2. Melt butter in frying pan until sizzling and then turn the heat down to low
3. Pour egg mixture into frying pan and stir slowly with a wooden spoon
4. Turn the heat off just before the eggs are fully cooked.  The remaining heat in the pan should finish the eggs off to perfection
5. Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper, transfer to plates
6. Drizzle with truffle oil and serve with toasted ciabatta on the side