Soy Braised Pork with Eggs #FoodieExtravaganza

Also known as lor bak or dau yew bak, depending on the Chinese dialect, this braised soy sauce pork with eggs dish has the most delectable sauce, delightfully flavored with spices like star anise, cloves, black pepper, as well as ginger and garlic. You will be licking your plate to get the last drops.

Many years ago when we were living in the small oilfield town of Macaé, Brazil, one of my close neighbors was a Singaporean woman named Millie. Our girls were about the same ages and we hit it off immediately over a love of cooking. Millie only had to make this dish once and I was hooked!

Sadly, I don’t think I ever got her recipe, or perhaps I misplaced it because I distinctly remember making it way back then.

Once the internet became a thing, I would occasionally search for soy sauce pork with eggs. I always thought of it as a Singaporean dish, and I really didn’t remember what Millie called it, which made it tricky to find online. None of the recipes I found seem quite right. Whether that was my faulty memory is up for debate.

I finally decided I was just going have to do a mash up of several to make what I did remember. But at least with all the research, I now know what to call it.

Braised Soy Sauce Pork with Eggs

The easiest way to slice the pork into very thin pieces is to freeze the pork loin first. Take it out to thaw and use a sharp knife to slice it as thinly as you can while it’s still quite frozen.

Ingredients
For the marinade:
4 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

For the braised pork:
2 lbs or 900g pork loin
10 cloves garlic
1 thumb-sized piece ginger
1 tablespoon canola or other light oil
3 star anise
2 to 3 whole cloves
2 sticks cinnamon, 3 inches in length
1 teaspoon black (or mixed) peppercorns
1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder
4 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups or 480ml water
6 hard-boiled eggs

Optional to thicken sauce:
2 tablespoons cornstarch

To serve:
Steamed rice
Green onion tops for garnish

Method
Use a sharp knife to cut your pork into thin slices. (See tip above the ingredients list.)

In a large bowl, mix the marinade ingredients: dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and Shaoxing wine. Pile the pork in and use your clean hands to turn the slices in the marinade until they are all well coated.

Cover the bowl with cling film and pop it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile crush and roughly chop the cloves of garlic and peel and mince the ginger. I also find it helpful to measure out the other liquid ingredients into a measuring cup or bowl so I can pour it in all at once when needed.

In a heavy based pot, heat up the cooking oil. Add the star anise, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, and five-spice powder. Fry till fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add in the garlic and ginger and fry for a few more minutes.

Turn the heat up to high and add the marinated pork and any marinating liquid that wasn’t absorbed by the meat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly.

Add dark soy, light soy and sugar.

Add 2 cups or 480ml of water. Mix well and bring to a slow boil.

Lower the heat to simmer and cover the pot. Braise for about 20 minutes. Add the eggs in and turn them to coat with the sauce. Tuck them into the pork as much as possible.

Braise, covered, for another 20 minutes more or until pork is tender. If your eggs aren't deep enough, you will want to turn then halfway through to get proper color on all sides.

If desired, you can thicken the sauce with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch thinned with a couple of tablespoons of cold water. Remove the eggs from the pot with a slotted spoon, so you don’t break them up by stirring.

Add the cornstarch slurry to the pot and cook on medium high until thickened about 5 minutes.

 Pop the eggs back in. Sprinkle with chopped green onions.

Serve with steamed rice. Enjoy!

Today is National Egg Day so this month our Foodie Extravaganza celebration is all about eggs. Many thanks to our host, Karen from Karen's Kitchen Stories.

Check out everyone's recipes with eggs:

• Baked Scotch Eggs from Making Miracles
• Balaleet (Emirati Sweet Vermicelli and Egg Omelet) from Tara's Multicultural Table
• Country Biscuit Breakfast (Copycat) from Palatable Pastime
• Pathare Prabhu Style Egg Drop Curry from Sneha's Recipe
• Smoky Honey Chili & Paprika Deviled Eggs from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Sourdough Waffles and Eggs from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Soy Braised Pork with Eggs from Food Lust People Love
• Spanish Tortilla from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Umami Egg Salad on Homemade Sourdough from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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Java Dry Rub Sous Vide Pork Roast

This Java Dry Rub Sous Vide Pork Roast is made with a Boston butt roast, covered in a savory spice blend. It’s cooked with a sous vide precision cooker for 18 hours, then finished off in a hot oven, which keeps it tender and juicy. Start this recipe one day ahead of serving time. Yes, it’s a long time but most of it is hands-off. Set the sous vide and go about your life.

I know I’m a little weird but I think the sous vide machine humming away in a corner is a happy sound because it means another perfectly cooked whatever is in our future. When my son-in-law gave me the sous vide precision cooker for Christmas several years ago, I had no idea how much fun I’d have experimenting and playing with it.

One thing that amuses me about the sous vide process is that if you are cooking a large piece of meat, you have to plan and cook several meals in the interim. So different from my usual "choose meat - season meat - cook meat - serve meat right now" method of meal planning. I enjoy the planning as much as the process: which cut to choose, how to season it, then figuring out the optimum time and temperature.

Java Dry Rub Sous Vide Pork Roast

Total time for this recipe is 19 hours, 18 in the precision cooker and then 1 hour in a hot oven to brown the outside. In order to simplify this recipe, I have published dry rub ingredients and how-to on another page. Click here for those instructions.

Ingredients
1 boneless Boston butt roast (about 6-7 lbs or 2.7-3.2kg)
3 tablespoons java dry rub, divided
Time!
Optional for roasting: add potatoes and carrots for a full meal!

Method
Make the java dry rub. (See note above.)

Thoroughly massage 2 tablespoons of the rub into your pork roast.

Tuck it into a large leak-proof bag. Slowly lower the bag into a bucket or sink filled with water to vacuum pack the roast and remove all the air from inside the bag. Seal tightly.

Set your precision cooker to 145°F or 63°C – this temperature and time will create a sliceable tender pork roast.

When the bath is at temperature, add sealed bag with pork and cover with foil or plastic wrap. Leave to sous vide for 18 hours.

When the time is up, if you aren’t planning to roast the pork immediately, you can refrigerate it, still in the vacuum bag until you are ready. If the roast is completely chilled, keep in mind that it will need extra time in the oven to get up to serving temperature again.

To finish the roast in the oven: Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400°F or 200°C. Remove pork from sous vide bag and carefully blot dry with paper towels.

Rub reserved spice mixture into the surface of the pork. Place pork in a large iron skillet or roasting pan and place it in the preheated oven. If you’d like to turn this into a full roast dinner, add some peeled potato and carrot chunks that have been tossed in some oil or duck fat. Roast about 1 hour.

Remove the roast from the oven and leave to rest for about 10 minutes before carving.

I promise, it melts in your mouth! Any drippings can be used to make gravy.

Enjoy!

It’s MultiCooker Monday again! Many thanks to Sue of Palatable Pastime and Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for their behind the scenes work. Check out all of the great recipes my friends are sharing, using their various small appliances.

• Carrot Halwa from A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Crispy Air Fried Cod Fillets from Karen's Kitchen Stories 
• Homemade Chicken Stock (Crockpot) from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking 
• Instant Pot Lasagna Soup from Making Miracles 
• Java Dry Rub Sous Vide Pork Roast from Food Lust People Love 
• Lauki Bahar - Pressure Cooker from Sneha's Recipe 
• Punjabi Goat Curry (Instant Pot) from Palatable Pastime

Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group.

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Cider-braised Pig Cheeks with Apples #FoodieExtravaganza

These cider-braised pig cheeks with apples are a triumph of slow cooking at its tender-making best. Both the pork and the apples are melt in your mouth delicious, a perfect bowl of Autumn on a chilly day.

I’ve been reading about pig cheeks for ages, without every actually coming across any. Apparently, along with their bovine counterpart, pig cheeks became a trendy cut for chefs, presumably originally, because they were inexpensive, yet divine when treated properly, that is to say, cooked long and slow. Well, like all ingredients that become trendy – I’m looking at you, oxtail and marrow bones – the price goes up.

Imagine my delight then, to find a package labeled “Pig Cheeks” in the frozen section of the pork department in my Dubai grocery store. And it was relatively affordable.

Cider-braised Pig Cheeks with Apples

For the two tart apples, use a variety like Granny Smith or, if you are so fortunate, Cox’s Orange Pippin. The two sweeter apples can be whichever you prefer for eating straight out of your hand, for instance, Royal Gala or Red Delicious . If you don’t have pork stock (or a pork stock cube to dissolve in water), you can substitute chicken or vegetable stock. This recipe is adapted from one of Nigel Slater’s in his Guardian newspaper column.

Ingredients
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2.2 lbs or 1 kg pigs’ cheeks, cut in chunks
4 medium sized purple onions
4 apples - 2 tart, 2 sweet
2 1/2 cups or 600ml pork stock
1 large can dry cider 440ml – I recommend Strongbow
Flat leaf parsley to garnish

Method
Warm the oil in a large Dutch oven over a moderate to high heat. Sprinkle the pigs’ cheeks with salt and pepper, then brown then in the oil. You will have to do this in batches, removing the browned pork to a bowl as you go.

Pig cheeks, or I should say, the pig cheeks available in Dubai (imported from Kenya) are very fatty. Nigel doesn’t mention this at all so perhaps my so-called pig cheeks were some other fattier cut, but never mind. Once the fat is rendered, we are going to pour it off and continue apace.

While the cheeks are browning, peel the onions, quarter them then cut them into thick slices.

Once all of your cubed cheeks are golden, pour off most of the rendered fat. Turn the heat down and add the onions to the pot. Sauté them until soft and translucent.

Preheat your oven to 325°F or 163°C.

Once the onions are tender, remove the Dutch oven from the stove. Add the cubed pig cheeks to the pot and give the whole thing a stir.

Cut the apples into quarters, removing the cores as you go. Add them to the Dutch oven and top with the stock and the cider.

Put the pot back on the stove. Over a medium flame, bring the liquid to a quick boil. Remove from the stove, pop the lid on tightly and put the pot in the preheated oven.

Braise the cheeks, covered, for 2 1/2 hours, stirring them gently, and checking the liquid level about half way through. Add a little water if they look like they are going dry.

When your cooking time is up, remove the lid and bake the cheeks uncovered for about 20-30 minutes or until the liquid is lovely and spoon-able, like a good stew - not too thin.

Check the seasoning, adding a little more salt and pepper, if needed.

Sprinkle with some chopped parsley for garnish. Serve in warmed bowls, making sure every one gets some pork, onion and apple in each.

Enjoy!

Check out the other apple recipes my Foodie Extravaganza group is sharing today. Many thanks to our host, Kelley from Simply Inspired Meals.

• Apple Crisp by Simply Inspired Meals
• Cider-braised Pig Cheeks with Apples by Food Lust People Love
• Crock Pot Apple Butter by Making Miracles
• Double Apple Beignets by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Pork Tenderloin with Bacon, Apple, and Gruyère by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pot Roast with Apples and Onions by A Day in the Life on the Farm/
• Vegan & Sugar Free Oats & Apple Porridge by Sneha's Recipe

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

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Beef and Smoked Sausage Cabbage Rolls #FoodieExtravaganza

Ground beef and smoked sausage cabbage rolls smothered in a rich tomato sauce are the perfect meal. Vegetables and protein, all in one neat and tasty package.

I’ve never done one of those DNA tests, but with one grandmother whose maiden name was Fleming, I always figured that I am at least one quarter Irish. And while most of the recipes I learned from that grandmother were of Cajun origin (Mo, as we called her, grew up in southern Louisiana after all) a few probably came more from her Irish heritage.

Her cabbage rolls, for instance. Definitely not a Cajun thing. The way I remember it, when I was growing up, my mom used to make cabbage rolls using both ground beef and pork because I’m pretty sure that’s how my grandmother used to make them as well. Mo was always one to mix meats. She would never cook a beef pot roast alone. She added a pork roast to the pot saying that together they made each other taste better.

All my life, that’s what I’ve always done too, until just the other day when I decided that smoked sausage would be an even better idea than plain ground pork in cabbage rolls. And since I was trying to go low carb when I made them, I also left out the traditional rice my mom and grandmother would have added. If you'd like, you can add a 1/2 cup or 50g of raw rice to the filling mixture. But I promise you won't miss it if you don't.

Beef and Smoked Sausage Cabbage Rolls

Back in the day, my mother and grandmother would have blanched the cabbage leaves in hot water to soften them. By accidentally freezing lettuce at the back of my too-cold refrigerator, I discovered that freezing them does the same magic with way less fuss and bother.

Ingredients - serves 4: 2 cabbage rolls each
For the rolls:
8 whole cabbage leaves

For the filling:
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 smoked sausage link (8 oz or 225g), cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic
2 large eggs
1 lb or 450g ground beef
1/2-1 teaspoon ground cayenne
Few generous grinds black pepper
Salt to taste
2 cabbage leaves, finely chopped (hard ribs removed and discarded)
Optional: 1/2 cup or 50g uncooked rice

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 anchovy fillets
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1/2 cup or 120ml dry red wine
4 cups or 1 kg canned chopped tomatoes with their juice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Parsley to garnish

Method
Put the whole cabbage leaves in the freezer to soften them.

Pulse the sausage chunks, quartered onion and garlic cloves in a food processor till they are turned into small pieces.

Add in the two eggs and pulse again until just combined. In a large bowl, combine the sausage/egg with the ground beef. Season with the two peppers and mix well.

Fry a couple of teaspoons of the mixture in a small pan. Taste and add more pepper, if necessary. I put more cayenne because we like things spicy. Here’s where you can add some salt if needed as well. My smoked sausage added enough saltiness to the mixture for my taste. You may want more.

Add in the finely chopped cabbage (and optional rice if using) and mix well again. Chill the filling while you get the sauce ready to go.

In a pan big enough to eventually hold 8 cabbage rolls, sauté the garlic and the anchovies in the olive oil until the garlic softens and the anchovies turn to mush. Sprinkle in the paprika, cumin and fennel.

 Give it all a quick stir then add the wine. Pour in the chopped tomatoes. Bring the pan to a boil and then lower it to a simmer. Sprinkle on some freshly ground black pepper.

Cook for about 10-15 minutes with the lid removed. Add in the baking soda. Stir till the bubbles stop. Adding baking soda to a tomato sauce was a trick I learned from an Italian mama. It sweetens the sauce slightly by reacting with (and reducing) the natural acidity of the tomatoes.

Pop the lid back on and turn the fire off while you stuff your cabbage.

Remove the cabbage leaves from the freezer. As they thaw, they should be soft and pliable.

Use a sharp knife to cut out the hard ribs in the middle and discard them. Stuff the cabbage leaves with the filling, folding the leaves around it.

 

Fit the cabbage rolls into the sauce pan.

Spoon sauce over the tops. Put the lid of the pan on and cook over a low fire for about 50-60 minutes. Check from time to time and add a little water if the sauce looks like it's drying out.

My grandmother never considered a dish finished without some parsley for garnish. Sprinkle on a little chopped parsley before serving.

Enjoy!

This month my Foodie Extravaganza friends are celebrating National Irish Food Day, or National "Eat Like an Irishman" Day (March 17th) early, by cooking and sharing Irish recipes. Many thanks to our host Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories for her behind the scenes work and this fun theme.

• Beef and Smoked Sausage Cabbage Rolls from Food Lust People Love
• Colcannon from Sneha's Recipe
• Colcannon (Irish Potatoes and Cabbage) from Caroline's Cooking
• Cold Irish Day Cocktail from Our Good Life
• Dublin Coddle - Irish Bacon, Sausage, and Potato Stew from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Instant Pot Dublin Coddle from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Irish Cheese and Walnut Biscuits from Simply Inspired Meals
• Irish Coffee from Tara's Multicultural Table
• Mushy Peas from Pandemonium Noshery
• Traditional Shepherd's Pie from Cookaholic Wife

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays by posting delicious recipes your family will love. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a home cook looking for tasty recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

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Slow Cooker Confit Pork Belly

Using a slow cooker makes it simple to cook pork belly that is succulent and tender. Finishing it off in the oven ensures that crunchy crackling we all fight over.

A couple of years ago, my mom and I were traveling together in France so we made a quick stopover in Jersey, one of the islands in the English Channel. At a pub lunch one day, I ordered the confit pork belly and we both swooned. I knew it was just a matter of time before I’d recreate that dish.

The first time I made it, I also added a bunch of peeled garlic cloves to the slow cooker about three quarters of the way through the cooking time and served them, all soft and mellow, alongside the pork. I also left the skin tender since I was trying to duplicate the dish we'd enjoyed at the pub. Divine!

The second time, I left out the garlic and served the confit pork belly with a spicy chutney I’d made from nectarines, kumquats and habanero peppers. And, I added the oven step to make the crackling crunchy. This became our favorite.

The spicy sweet and sharp chutney is the perfect accompaniment to the melt-in-your-mouth pork.

Slow Cooker Confit Pork Belly

Confit is a method of slow cooking meat in its own fat but in this recipe, I use canola oil instead of lard. The oil can be strained through a clean cloth and stored in the refrigerator in a sterilized jar, to be used to make this dish a second time.

Ingredients
1 lb 10 oz or 750g pork belly, skin on
Canola oil to cover (about 3-4 cups or 720-960ml)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
If your butcher has not already done this, score the skin of the pork belly with a sharp knife. Rub it liberally with the salt on both sides. Set it in the refrigerator uncovered for a couple of hours or overnight.

Transfer the pork belly skin side up to your slow cooker and pour in enough canola oil to just cover it.

Set it to cook on low for four hours. Turn the pork belly over and cook for an additional two hours. Since the pork belly chuffs up while cooking, it won't be covered with oil any more.

Remove the pork belly from the slow cooker and place it on an ovenproof baking pan. Use the broil (US) or grill (UK) function in your oven to cook the skin till crunchy. Keep a close eye on it so that it doesn’t burn. This doesn't take long.

Sprinkle on a little more salt and a few good grinds of black pepper. Slice the confit pork belly to serve. I also recommend accompanying it with something sweet and spicy, like my nectarine kumquat habanero chutney.

Enjoy!

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Fried Sausages and Apples + #Giveaway

Nothing goes better with fried sausages, especially ones made with pork, then apples. The recipe for this classic combination comes from the newly released book, chock full of information, The Hamilton Cookbook: Cooking, Eating, and Entertaining in Hamilton’s World by author Laura Kumin.

Hamilton the Musical debuted on Broadway in August 2015 but by Christmastime that year, both of my daughters were completely smitten and knew every single word. Each time we got in the car to go somewhere, Bluetooth automatically hooked up to their phones and the sing-along began. The tunes are catchy, the story engaging and I was drawn in as well. I can’t sing along as rapidly or as accurately as they can, but I thoroughly enjoy the music and lyrics.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that this past August my daughters and I traveled the width of the United States in a rental car, from the east coast of Massachusetts to the shores of the Pacific near Los Angeles. The Hamilton soundtrack accompanied us along the way.

Much to our delight and surprise, when we reached LA, we were able to buy last minute tickets to a performance of Hamilton at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre where it had just opened. Sure, we were in the very back row, but who cares? We were ecstatic to be in the audience at all!

This is all to explain why I jumped at the chance to review Laura Kumin’s newly released The Hamilton Cookbook: Cooking, Eating, and Entertaining in Hamilton’s World. With her background in research and skills in the kitchen, I knew that Laura would be the perfect author to combine two of my favorite things, cooking and Hamilton.

Aside from the 30 recipes, Laura shares a whole lot of historical information on the life and times of Alexander Hamilton. If you are a fan of the show, or the man, you are going to love this book. The publisher did send me one book but (keep this hush-hush, please!) I had already preordered another for my son-in-law as a Christmas gift way back in October. I was that excited about this book!

Fried Sausages and Apples

From The Hamilton Cookbook: Cooking, Eating, and Entertaining in Hamilton’s World. Recipe reprinted by permission. The Hamilton Cookbook takes you into Hamilton's home and to his table, with historical information, recipes, and tips on how to prepare and serve the food that our founding fathers enjoyed. It's on sale now at Amazon (<affliliate link) or your favorite bookstore.

Adapted from “Fried Sausages,” Hannah Glasse,
The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.
Serves 2 (as a main dish)
This dish is great for a weeknight dinner; it is quick to prepare and uses just one large pan. It makes a full meal with just a salad and a loaf of crusty bread.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 to 3⁄4 pound thick country or other similarly spiced chicken, turkey, or pork sausage (about 1-inch in diameter) 350g German Weiss sausage

4 to 6 apples, preferably of mixed varieties, peeled and quartered. Any apples that keep their shape will work (e.g., Granny Smith, Yellow and Red Delicious, and Fuji). Quarter, and thinly slice half of the quartered apples.

1. In a large, heavy pan, start the sausages cooking under medium-high heat. As soon as the sausages begin to render their juices, add the thin apple slices. Turn both the sausages and the apple slices so that they brown evenly.

2. Once the apple slices begin to brown, add the apple quarters, and stir occasionally. After 2 to 3 minutes, cover the pan for a few minutes. That helps the apples soften and brown. It will also allow a bit of liquid to accumulate in the pan. Uncover the pan and continue cooking until the sausages are fully cooked. (The time required to cook the sausages depends on their thickness, typically about 10 to 15 minutes. You can ensure that the middle cooks thoroughly by cutting the sausages down the middle vertically to butterfly them after 10 minutes, laying them flat to continue cooking for another 3 to 5 minutes.) The thin apple slices will slightly disintegrate into a chunky applesauce, while the quarters will remain whole.

3. Serve on a platter with the sausages in the middle along with the applesauce, surrounded by the apple quarters.

Want to win your own copy? Enter below. Entrants must be 18 or older with a shipping address in the continental United States. The winner will be randomly chosen at the close of the entry period. He or she will be notified by email and must respond in 48 hours or an alternate winner will be chosen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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