Crispy Roasted Pork Belly 烧肉

Hi

I had a big success at the first attempt on this recipe!  

Thanks to brother Simon for his dedicated teaching.  He is one of the great cook in my church (Hope Church Singapore).  It was a wonderful afternoon learning how to make this roasted pork belly from him.  

My hubby and children are big fans of crispy roast pork belly.  I attempted making previously from other recipe but failed miserably.  I’m so happy that I have finally made it.  

As this is my first success and may not be my best work per se, but I’m there and it is all that counts.

HAPPY ROASTING!

INGREDIENTS

1 kg                      Pork belly

6-8 cloves           Garlic

Marinade

2 tsp                    Five spice powder

1 tsp                    Black pepper

1 tbsp                  Five spice salt

1 tsp                    cinnamon powder

3 (or more)       Sage leaves (fresh or dried)

Baking

200g-300g        Sea salt

4-6                      Large yellow onions

1 (or few)           Fresh or dried thyme

1 (or few)           Fresh or dried rosemary (I skipped as I couldn’t get it at the small neighborhood supermarket near my house)

STEPS

(1)Wash and dry the port belly.

(2)Prick the skin laboriously [but not prickling through the skin] until the skin is completely punctured with holes.  This is crucial in order to create a crispy skin on top of the pork belly.  [I was too engrossed with the prickling and have missed out taking pic]

(3)Make deep horizontal stabs in the sides of the belly, insert garlic cloves into each cavity and push them in deep. [I was trying hard to insert the garlic into the meat and simply to extra hands to take pic]

(4)Rub the meat sides with the five spice power, five spice salt, cinnamon powder and sage (finely chopped or pressed on whole).

(5)Marinade overnight, leave cling-wrapped in fridge or in food bag – keep chilled.

(6)Preheat oven to 180°C, line bottom of pan with thick-sliced onions and a cup of water.  Line pork belly skin side up on a rack over the onions.

(7)Pat dry pork belly skin, then layer the top with the salt evenly to form a coat.

(8)Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes, grill mode. 

(9)When salt crust forms, the skin should be dry.

(10)Remove the pork belly from the oven, raise oven to 240°C.

While oven is heating up, pull off the salt crust and discard.  

(11)Add rosemary and thyme to onions, check water level, it should be about 5mm high (to prevent drying out).  Place the pork belly back in the oven immediately, roast for another 10-15 minutes. 

(12)Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes on a cutting/serving board. 

(13)Cut and serve immediately.

Portuguese Peri Peri Chicken

Hi

I learnt this dish from Daniela Romeo, a young Portuguese lady at International Cooking Club Singapore Limited, which I was accepted into the club through my friend, Cecilia Yap for Friday evening group.

The last meeting, which I attended was hosted by Daniela.  She prepared 6 Portuguese dishes for 9 of us.  There were so much fun and lots of laughter while we were helping up in preparation of dishes.  It was an awesome evening where we got to experience the authentic Portuguese dinner together and had fellowship.

I particularly like this dish so I decided to cook for my family.  A great recipe for an authentic Portuguese chicken.  It’s utterly delicious and very easy to make.  I grilled the chicken a little longer to create a nice and crisp ‘burnt’ on the outside skin.  Of course, the chicken is best done over a flame charcoal but for not having an outdoor grill in my humble apartment, I baked it in the oven instead and the chicken came out great too.

HAPPY COOKING!

INGREDIENTS

4 tbsp        Olive oil

4-10 pcs    Bird’s eye chilli depends on the heat level of your choice [I used 6 pcs of normal chilli]

4 cloves     Garlic, or 1.5 tbsp garlic powder for a thicker

                   consistency

¼ cup       Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp        Paprika

1 pce          Bay leaf

1 tsp           Oregano

1 tsp           Sea salt

½ tsp        Pepper [I used freshly grated black pepper]

1                 Chicken - in butterfly cut style

                   Extra sea salt, optional

METHOD

(1)In a blender combine everything except the chicken and the extra salt, blend until very smooth.

 (2)Score chicken legs with a knife a few times.  [I overlooked this part]

(3)Pour 1/3 cup of the sauce over chicken and toss well.  I sprinkle a few dishes of extra salt on top of chicken.  Marinade the chicken at least 1 hour or overnight.

 (4)Grill or bake it.  To bake, preheat the oven to 220◦C.

(5)Place the chicken on a baking pan lined with foil, spray with oil, and place chicken.  Bake for 15 minutes, turn over, baste with extra sauce, and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked and browned.   

Pistachio White Chocolate No Bake Cheesecake

Hi

You will never go wrong with no bake cheesecake.  It is a guaranteed success cake in comparison with other cakes.

My family had tried no bake cheesecake with fruits topping and layer of jelly over it.  However, we would still prefer baked cheesecake over the no bake one. 

 

But this Pistachio White Chocolate Cheesecake really blow our mind and we were surprised at how well this cake turned out to be.  Sometimes the creaminess and the moussey-ness texture are what makes the no bake cheesecake so delicious and full of flavor.

HAPPY EATING!

INGREDIENTS

Biscuit Base

100g          Unsalted butter, melted

300g         Oreo cookies

Cheesecake Filling

500g          Philadelphia Cream Cheese

300g         Double cream

30g            Icing sugar

300g         White Chocolate, melted

100g          Chopped Pistachios

Decoration

25g            Chopped pistachios

50g            Melted milk chocolate

80g            Whipped cream

METHOD

Remove the cream sandwich between the oreo cookies.  Blitz the biscuits in food processor to a small crumb.  Add the butter, mix well and press down firmly onto the bottom of the pan firmly.  Leave it aside.

Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Leave it aside to cool.

Beat the cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth.  Add in the double cream and continue to beat to soft peak – until it’s able to hold itself. 

Fold in the cooled white chocolate.  Add in the chopped pistachios and fold through again.

Spread the mixture over the biscuit base, smooth over and chill in the fridge for at least 5-6 hours, or preferably overnight so it will definitely be set.

Remove the cheesecake from the fridge when it is completely set.  Drizzle over the melted milk chocolate and leave it to set for few minutes.  Decorate the cheesecake by pipping some whipped cream and sprinkle some chopped pistachio.

Serve.