Come to the Dark Side

We have shoyu pork! Hee hee.

Mentioned in previous posts, recently picked up pork belly and dark soy sauce.

Prepped the pork belly (washed, pre-simmered, washed, refrigerated, cubed).

Medium high heat, oil, brown sugar (although I think I didn’t add enough sugar), pork belly, dark soy, regular soy, Shao Xing wine, water to cover. Simmer two hours.

Shoyu Pork!

Didn’t come out as “red” as I would have hoped, and I didn’t reduce the sauce for that “mahogany” glaze, but The Cat said the taste was there.

With the extra sauce, I simmered dried sliced shiitake, wood ear fungus, and canned bamboo shoot.

Side Dish

I thought about doing everything together but decided against it, the flavors might get all mixed up.

The Cat’s bento entrée this week. 🙂

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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Warehouse Shopping

No, The Mouse is not shopping for a warehouse, shopping at a warehouse, ChefZone. Potluck at the office this coming Wednesday. The Mouse kinda got “voluntold” into a crock pot mushroom dish. Went to the warehouse for inspiration.

Probably gonna do a mix of mushrooms, starting with dried sliced shiitake.

Bag

One whole pound. Humungous. But, can always use. Thought about buying the whole dried mushrooms, but sliced is probably easier to handle.

Dark Soy Sauce

Essential for making “red cooked pork”, Hong Xiao Rou.

Pork Belly

Picked up at the grocery store the other day. 🙂

Local Honey

On sale/clearance. Nothing wrong with the honey. Warehouse is phasing out their retail services and focusing more on bulk wholesale. Booo! Ugh!

Oh well, at least picked up the honey at more than 50% discount. I guess we won’t be visiting the warehouse too often in the future. Sigh.

Lunch was at nearby Lagoon Chinese Restaurant.

Crispy Gau Gee Mein

 

Crispy Gau Gee

On the side. I guess enough customers requested the gau gee on the side so it doesn’t get soggy. Good call.

Choi Sum with Oyster Sauce

Not gourmet, but solid local Chinese fare (menu has local plate lunches and burgers too). Ultra retro.

Ate half of the vegetable, took the other half home for The Cat’s noodle soup bowl.

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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Miso Braised Pork

New Year’s Eve potluck. Planned on soy sauce braised pork belly but could not find (either all out, or thinly sliced for shabu shabu). Sigh.

Plan B.

Pork Hock

“Pork for Soup”

Slow cooker overnight, drained and washed, back to slow cooker, sugar, miso, dried shiitake, dried wakame. Two hours on “high”.

Miso Braised Pork

Stew, “soup”, whatever, nice and hearty for winter.

Oh yeah, two Chinese teacups of this.

Magic Potion

🙂

Happy New Year y’all! Stay safe and healthy.

The Mouse (and The Cat)

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The Cat was Hungry

After the soju launch event finished, around 8:00, we went hunting for food. The Cat was starving, she didn’t really partake of the tapas. Chef P is still dealing with his teeth and gum issues so he wanted something soft and soupy, right up The Cat’s alley. Ended up at The Cat’s regular Chinese restaurant, Jade Dynasty in the mall.

The Cat’s usually has to have a little starch, more vegetables, a tiny bit of meat (or egg, or tofu).

Chicken Vegetable Look Funn Noodles

First up, chicken vegetable look funn soup noodles. Fulfilled Chef P’s request, and all of The Cat’s requirements. But since there were five of us, we had to order more. Sorry ’bout the fuzziness, had to take the picture quick, chefs were starting to dive in.

Shanghai Cabbage with Shiitake Mushrooms

One of my favorite vegetable combos.

Crispy Beef with Sesame Seed Gravy

A monthly special. Too bad we didn’t order rice or bread to sop up the gravy. 🙂

I guess The Cat felt we didn’t have enough soup.

Dried Scallop Egg Drop Soup

Oh yeah, as we were leaving the soju event, the president of Hwayao, Mr. Taekwon Cho, gave each of us two bottles of soju.Classy guy.

Bottles of Soju

The black one is 82 proof, and the white one is 34 proof. We may keep the lighter one and give the stronger one to the chefs to make more ganache (they prefer higher proof liquors anyway). We’ll see.

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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The Bacon Chronicles

So, a friend of The Cat’s was organizing a “food exhibition” tonight. Last weekend, he called to say that there wasn’t enough participants and if I could contribute a dish. Sigh. That’s why the kitchen was a little discombobulated. There was no planning for cooking at the site. And no preparation area. Double sigh. I had to make something that could be eaten at room temperature. I decided to make bacon spread (I’ve posted about it a couple times before).

Jam Jars

I was going to present in one large container but then I found these cute jars, just right for individual servings.

Bacon Spread

For the presentation, I pan-seared turnip slices,

Pan-Seared Turnip Slices

and simmered Shiitake mushrooms in ponzu sauce.

Ponzu Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms

And plated individual plates for judging.

Here Comes The Judge

Alas, this did not win, not even place. To quote Yoda: “Wars not make one great”. 🙂  It was a huge hit at the table we sat on though. I brought extra for the public to sample. Didn’t turn out that way, we scarfed it at our own table.

At the request from a little friend, I also made a batch made with hot chocolate (no milk) instead of green tea.

Bacon Spread, Hot Chocolate Bacon Spread

I topped it with a sprinkle of Kauai sea salt. This one turned out very good (in my opinion) needs a little tweaking, but has great potential.

The kitchen will return to normal tomorrow.

Enjoy. Eat well.

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