jessiefoodinthekitchen

Braised pork trotter is a very rich, savory dish which requires hours of cooking for the meat to become soft, tender, and glossy. We refer to these braised pork trotters as Yuan's trotters （元蹄） , which stand for harmony and family reunion. This dish is especially suitable for serving during Chinese New Year and festivals. Pork trotters can be prepared in a variety of ways, such as marinating them in Huadiao wine, ginger, and rock sugar, then deep-frying them until they are crispy. There are also baked herbal trotters. Braised pork trotter is Shanghai cuisine, but I haven't tried it, so I'm not quite sure how it tastes. But I am willing to share my version of braised pork trotters to impress your family and friends. It is very straight forward recipe. To me braised pork trotter is just something like usual braised pork, just that you going to cook the trotters in a big piece. Some might say that this dish is too greasy, every bite of fatty pork is too greasy. But facin...

  Making pineapple jam is a yearly tradition in the weeks preceding the Lunar New Year. This is because pineapple tarts, a festive dessert that historically represents prosperity and good fortune, are made with the delectable filling of pineapple jam. Due to the laborious cooking process that requires a lot of elbow grease over the stove, pineapple tarts are traditionally very expensive to purchase. There are two types of pineapple tarts – open and closed. I made an open-faced pineapple tart where the pineapple pulp is exposed, that is the pulp is placed on a butter cookie which I made with a flower cutter. This cookie recipe is relatively stable. It is made using flaky buttery pastry crust as its base, wrapping within is our homemade pineapple jam. With a beautiful shape appearance, they look so cute and filled with Chinese New Year atmosphere. The flavor of pineapple jam has fully combined with flaky pastry crust, sour and sweet. Personally, I more prefer this type of flaky Pinea...

  Sachima (萨琪玛） takes me back to my early years. When I was younger, I really liked eating this. They taste very good. They are popular snacks for both adults and children, and they are the ideal edible gift for Chinese New Year.   Making sachima dough is like making egg noodles. So, basically, they are egg noodles that have been deep-fried till they are puffed, occasionally topped with additional ingredients for flavor, bonded together with melted sugar, pressed into a square pan, and then sliced into squares. Sachima is distinguished by its beige hue, crisp and delicate flavor, sweetness and delectability, and rich maltose aroma. One of Ipoh, Malaysia's regional specialties!   A few years ago, my husband and I made a trip to Ipoh's "Mistress Lane" ( 二奶巷 ) to try the local Sachima, which has been there for more than 50 years. There are a lot of different kinds of sachima including ones with sesame, pumpkin seed, walnuts, cranberries, and almonds. According to the...

Everyone has probably heard of winter melon soup, which is cooked with red dates, shitake mushrooms, and chicken or pork hocks. It can turn into a bowl of deliciousness. Have you ever tried winter melon Gēng 羹 ? Or a thick winter melon soup? Soups can be referred to as tong 汤 or Gēng 羹 in Chinese. In what way does Gēng vary from soup? The term "tong" is more broadly used to describe watery soup. The "thick" soup Gēng  is referring to has a thicker consistency. I had my first taste of thick winter melon soup at a wedding banquet. Crab flesh and egg drops are cooked in a bowl of soup, which is thickened with cornstarch. So, I am going to copy it today. In this recipe, I'm using chicken broth. You can use finely chopped lean pork. For this soup, I’m going to keep things simple. Additional ingredients, such as dried scallop and mushrooms, can be added to the soup. You can use fresh crab meat, which is much nicer, but I'm using frozen crab meat and fresh pr...