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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Ingredients

1 cup of peanut oil or corn oil, 1/2 cup of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of dried red chili flakes, 1 tablespoon of Szechuan pepper corns, 1 tablespoon of smashed ginger, 3 large scallions (cut into thick rings)

Method

• Use a heavy, non-aluminium saucepan and combine all ingredients into it.
• Over moderate heat, bring mixture to a bubbly 225°F, stir occasionally and simmer for 15 minutes. Check to ensure temperature does not rise. Remove from heat and let it cool or overnight.
• Strain oil into an impeccably clean glass jar without pressing the solid ingredients.
• Keep it at cool room temperature.

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Related Recipe

Chili oil is a very common ingredient in Asian cooking. It provides a wonderful spicy addition to noodles, sauces, fillings, and marinades. Once made, store this bitingly fragrant treasure in a clean glass jar and keep it in a cool place. Just use the oil whenever you want to light a spark.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of dried chili flakes, 1/4 cup of sesame oil, 2 cups of cooking oil, 2 tbsp of minced ginger, 1 star anise, 3 cloves of garlic (lightly smashed)

Method

• Combined all ingredients except the cooking oil in a clean glass jar.
• Use a heavy, non-aluminium saucepan to heat up the cooking oil with moderate temperature.
• Off the heat when the oil temperature reached about 230°F.
• Pour the hot oil into the glass jar that contained  chili flakes mixture.
• Leave it to cool or overnight then store at cool room temperature.

Mustard green cooked with rice is a traditional dish from Fu Jian Province China. In Fu Jian or Hokkian dialect, it is all Kua Cai P’ng. The slight bitterness of the vegetable blend in well with Chinese roasted pork, dried oyster and mushroom. It is a simple dish that will take you only 20 minutes to prepare. You can keep it warm in the rice cooker and eat it whenever you feel like it.

Here are the ingredients

1 kg mustard greens (cut into small pieces and blanched before used), 200 grams Chinese roasted pork (cut into small pieces), 4 pcs Chinese dried mushroom (soaked and diced), 2 pcs dried oyster ( cut into small pieces), 1 tbsp ginger (minced), 3 pcs shallots (chopped), 2 cloves garlic (minced), 1 tbsp fish sauce, sugar and salt to taste

Method

• Heat up some cooking oil in a wok, add ginger, shallots garlic, dried oyster and mushrooms. Saute till fragrant.
• Add the roasted pork, blanched mustard green into the dish then add seasoning and toss well and off the heat.
• Rinse 3 cups of rice in a rice cooker, add the dish onto rice then top up normal amount of water for cooking rice.
• When rice is cooked, let it sit for 15-20 minutes then serve.

Ingredients

1 Red snapper or Pomfret (size about 300 grams), 10 small onions (sliced) , 3 cloves garlic (Minced), ginger (shredded), 1 fresh chili (sliced), 1 tablespoon fermented bean paste, 4 tbsp tamarind juice, 1 stalk spring onion (sectioned), 10 tbsp of cooking oil

Method

• Clean fish, wash and drain then pan fried fish till brown, set aside.
• Leave about 3 tbsp of cooking oil in the wok, saute onion, garlic and ginger to fragrant.
• Add fermented bean paste and stir fry until aromatic then add in the tamarind juice. Add sugar to taste, if required.
• Add fish and chili to simmer for about 1 minute, dish out and serve warm or cold.

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.

It has been a long time I did not visit to Sarawak and I have been longing to taste this unique noodle which you can only find in this land of the Hornbills. It is actually very similar to the Wanton Mee in West Malaysia except that they do not add the dark soy sauce and pork lard.

But Kolo Mee in Sarawak also prepare in different way in different town. Some serve with just plain cooked noodle toss with onion oil and seasoning, top with few slices of barbecue pork and a bowl of plain soup which is the most basic order.

You may also choose to have minced pork and pig innards mix with the noodle or be served with a bowl of pig innards soup separately. I like that so much and end up having Kolo mee for breakfast in my week long stay in Sarawak.

And do you know what is the secret that makes this Sarawak noodle unique?

The answer is ”white vinegar”!

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