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...

  Every time a festival is celebrated, this dish of boiled white meat (pork belly) must be prepared for worship. After the worship, the boiled white meat will be sliced, and then dipped in soy sauce with chilli to serve with rice. I'm sharing a special condiment today that I made with hot chilli oil for this dish. Whe preparing it, we need to bring the cooking oil to a boil then gently pour the hot oil into the bowl with the chili flakes and other spices, stirring constantly with a spoon or chopsticks so the chili flakes and spices can absorb the flavor of the hot oil. There is no seasoning that compares to this hot chilli oil always possesses. Just add a spoonful of it to the food, no matter how much there is, whether it is meat or vegetarian, steamed buns, or noodles. It becomes appetizing and satisfying. I always enjoy making extra chilli oil. You'll want to pour it on everything once you get hooked. To make the dipping sauce for the boiled white meat is simple and str...

  During gatherings for New Year, holidays, or special occasions, we always have various challenging dishes to support the scene. This braised pork with preserved or plum vegetables (Mei Cai Kou Rou / 梅菜扣肉） is one of them. Many people choose to eat this dish outside, perhaps because they think the restaurant's version tastes better or maybe because they think the recipe takes a lot of time.   Yes, it is made from scratch, it’s taken a long time to make it. The toughest part is to deep fry the pork and to clean the preserved veggies.   And the rest of the process is to put all the ingredients into the bowl and steam it. It’s easy once you figure it out. It's not difficult at all. Cleaning the preserved veggies is the most difficult aspect of this dish—it's crucial to give them a thorough cleaning. And the preserved veggies are a unique for this Chinese pork belly. The flavor added by this preserved mustard greens is unique and appetizing. I am using two types of pres...

  This is another tangyuan （汤圆） recipe I would like to share for the DongZhi （冬至） festival. It is a sweet dessert. They are made with flavorful sweet potatoes with custard filling. These glutinous rice balls taste like mochi. They  are distinctive from others since they are made with flavorful sweet potatoes. The custard filling is wrapped in a glutinous rice ball, which is not only distinctive in form but also incredibly eye-catching . Glutinous rice balls are made of glutinous rice and have a high viscosity, which makes them difficult to digest for some people. This tangyuan uses more sweet potatoes and less glutinous rice flour. For those who like to eat tang yuan but worry that it will cause stomach bloating. This is the right recipe for you. Making this tangyuan with the kids is a delightful project since you may shape and fill the rice balls with your own paste. I am using two different types of sweet potatoes, which are orange and sweet potatoes. I combined mas...