Famous Asian Recipes Blog

Ingredients

200 grams minced pork, 2 blocks firm tofu, 1 piece salted fish (thumb size), bunch of spring onions (chopped and only use the white stems), 2 stalks Chinese leek (sectioned into 2-inch size), 100 grams soy beans, 500 ml chicken stock,  salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Soak soy beans in cold water for 4 hours then drain dry.
• Heat up enough oil in a sauce pot and deep fry soy beans until the beans become crispy. Drain and set aside.
• Steam salted fish for 5 minutes, mash only the meat and mix it with minced pork and chopped spring onions. Stir in one direction only until mixture become gluey.
• Cut the two blocks of tofu into 8 rectangular pieces, hollow each of the tofu pieces in the middle part and stuff with the meat mixture.
• Deep fry stuffed tofu until golden brown (you can use the balance oil that deep fried the soy beans).
• Heat up chicken stock in a clay pot, add deep-fried soy beans and leek in then bring to a boil. Turn to low heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes until beans turn soft.
• Place tofu in and add seasoning to taste. Simmer dish for another 2 minutes and serve hot.

Salt-baked chicken is no doubt one of the most recognized Hakka dish. There are many versions of preparing this dish as Hakka people has migrated to many different part of the world, and the dish also evolved into many ‘style’ to suit the local taste and availability of ingredients.

But if you go back to the ‘root’ of this dish, you will discover that it is not too difficult to prepare it with the original and authentic way. Let me share the  method and ingredients on how to prepare this delicious Hakka salt-baked chicken with you.

Ingredients

1 chicken (prefer free range chicken), 10g ginger, 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp five spice powder, 1 tbsp cooking oil, 600g coarse salt, 1 piece baking paper, 1 piece aluminium foil

Method

• rinse and wash chicken, hang it to dry then rub with 1tsp salt and ginger in and out. Leave the ginger inside the chicken.
• Mix the coarse salt with five spice powder in a large bowl and set aside.
• massage the chicken with 1 tbsp of cooking oil (this is to prevent the chicken from sticking onto the baking paper).
• wrap the chicken completely with the baking paper.
• place the paper-wrapped chicken on top of the aluminium foil, make it into a tube with one end open.
• carefully pour the coarse salt mixture into the tube, shake lightly to ensure the salt spread and cover chicken evenly. Close the tube.
• place the chicken into a boiling steaming pot, cover the lid and let it bake for 1 hour 20 minutes under medium heat.
• when done, remove the aluminium foil, brush off the salt, cut open the baking paper and serve when chicken is appropriately cooled.

Arrowhead does not mix well with other vegetables, but it makes perfect combination with pork, especially oily pork. Try this Hakka dish with the recipe here.

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I have been posting quite a lot of Hakka food recipes in this website and I would like to talk about Hakka cuisine further. I have just posted a write up about Hakka culinary culture in my website and there will be more authentic Hakka food recipes on the way. read more

Hakka Stuffed Bitter Gourd Recipe

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Introducing this Traditional Hakka dish from the Ho Po Hak

Ingredients A

200g fish paste, 600 g minced pork, 50 g salted fish or dried prawns, 3 tbsp chopped garlic, 1 tbsp fennel seed ( toasted and ground finely)

Ingredients B

12 blocks of firm bean curd, 300g soya beans (soaked over night, drained)

Seasoning A

1½ tsp salt, ½ tsp light soy sauce

Seasoning B

1 tsp salt, 1 tsp light soy sauce, pinch of pepper

Instruction

• heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil and stir-fry dried prawns 0r salted fish to fragrant. Dish out and leave it to cool then chopped into small pieces.
• to prepare the fillings, use a large bowl to mix fish paste, minced pork, 2 tbsp chopped garlic, ground fennel seed and seasoning A and chopped salted fish or dried prawns. Mix it well.
• pat dry bean curd and cut into half. Cut an opening on the halved bean curd, drizzle a little bit of salt and marinate for about 20 minutes.
• stuffed fillings into the opening of the bean curd and deep-fry with sufficient cooking oil until both bean curd and filling turn light golden brown. Drain well and set aside.
• heat little bit of oil in a pan and saute 1 tbsp of garlic to fragrant, Add 1.5 liters of water in and bring it to a light boil then add in the soaked soya bean.
• simmer until the soya bean become soft then add stuffed bean curd and toss well with the gravy. simmer for a while, then add seasoning B to taste. Serve 6.

Ingredients

1/2 chicken, 450 gram winter melon, few slices of Yunnan ham, 2 slices of ginger, salt to taste

Method

• Rinse and chicken thoroughly, cut into chunks and scald with boiling water. Drain and set aside.
• peel and remove seed from melon, cut into chunks and set aside.
• Place all ingredients into an earthern pot except melon, add 2 liters of water to cover the ingredients, bring it to a boil and simmer with low heat for 1 hour.
• Add melon into the soup, bring it to a light boil and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. Add salt to taste and serve hot.

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Mei cai kou rou is surely one of the best dish among Hakka Food. Whenever you think about the Hakka, this dish would certainly comes into your mind even if you are not very familiar with Chinese cuisines.

Some people are confused with the term mei cai and moy choy,  but this is just a different pronunciation of Mandarin and Hakka dialect. Mei cai is actually a kind of preserved dried vegetable which can be obtained in salty and sweet type. It is best to get both flavor blended into this steamed pork dish and I strongly recommend to mix both salty and sweet mei cai.

Mei cai need to be thoroughly clean to remove the fine salt and sand. Rinse it under clean running water until it is clean and then soak it for at least 45 minutes to 1 hour to remove the saltiness. It would be very unpleasant if you find the dish sandy and too saltish only after you have done all the hard work. So, make sure this preserved vegetables is well cleaned before used.

Mei Cai Kou Rou Recipe

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Today is actually not a day to celebrate because this is the day to remember a patriotic poet by the name of Qu Yuan who committed suicide 2500 years ago who wanted to send a strong protest to the King of Chu Guo in China for not listening to his advice in governing the state.

He was drown in the river and the prople who loved and respected him sent out boats to look for his body and at the same time thrown rice dumling packed in bamboo leaves to feed the fishes in the river hoping to preserved his body from fish bites.

This is how the tradition of Dragon Boat race and the making of Rice Dumplings has passed down from generation to generation to remember this great poet.

There are many types of rice dumpling or “zong zhi ” from the many clans of Chinese. The most popular is none other than this glutinous rice dumpling wrapping up the stewed pork, chestnuts, dried prawns and salted egg yolk.

View Recipes Here.

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The name of these prawns may not sound too pleasant but you will sure be overwhelm by it’s sweet flesh and good texture.
Ingredients
3 large pissing prawns (preferable live stock of about 200g each), 6 cloves of chopped garlic, 1 tsp of chopped ginger, 1 tbsp cooked oil, 1 tbsp Chinese parsley
Seasoning
2 tsp of cooking wine, dash of sesame oil, pinch of pepper, sugar and slat to taste
Method
Trim clams and slit open prawns on the spine and remove intsatines. Rinse well and drain then sprinkle with litter bit of salt and pepper.
Mix chopped garlic and ginger with seasoning and stir well. Stuff part of the seasoning into the open slits and spread the rest of the seasoning on top of the prawns.
Steam prawns over high heat for 8 minutes, pour cook oil over and garnish with Chinese parsley.

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What I am going to show you here is not a hand made noodles recipe because for a family of 4 or 5 person, it is not really worth the effort to make your own hand made noodle unless you are making a bigger quantity. There are quite some brands of hand made noodle which you can pick up from the super-market and it taste as good.
Ingredients
3 serves of hand made nooldles in packet
300 g minced pork
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp fermented soy bean paste
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tsp sugar
300 ml water
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp of pork lard
3 tsp of Thai fish sauce
3 tbsp ikan bilis (anchovies)-deep-fried till crispy
3 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp light soy sauce
Chopped spring onions for garnish
Method
Heat oil and saute chopped ginger and garlic to fragrant. Add fermented soy bean paste and sugar, mix well then add mince pork, dark soy sauce and continue to Stir fry for 2 minutes. Add water and seasoning to the dish and bring to a light boil. Dish up and set aside.

Boil 3 serves of noodles in boiling water for about 3 minutes or until noodles soften. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl, add pork lard, fish sauce, light soy sauce, mix well and split into 3 serves in separate bowls. Spread minced pork and ikan bilis into each bowl and garnish with chopped spring onion. Served hot.

*More Hakka Noodles Recipe*

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