Recipe: Pork knuckle/trotters with black vinegar 猪脚醋

Pork knuckle /pig trotters are popular ingredients used during Chinese New Year (CNY). When I was dining at a Chinese restaurant last month, I was flipping through their CNY promotion booklet and saw a pork knuckle dish. I asked the waitress why pork knuckle is served during CNY and she told me that it's because it symbolises a hand clawing in more "gold and money" for the coming year. Chinese sure loves ingredients with prosperous sounding homonyms and symbolism.

The Hokkiens, including my family usually serve pork knuckle with sea cucumber (recipe here) during CNY. I read in an article last week that Hakka households serve pork knuckle cooked with black vinegar 猪脚醋 during reunion dinners, which in the dialect means "soaring high". Though I've never had it before during CNY, this was one of my favorite things to eat during confinement (confinement is the 30-day period an Asian woman undergoes after giving birth).

Pork knuckle / trotters with black vinegar 猪脚醋

To cook this dish, you can use either pork knuckle or pig's trotters (I love pig trotters, as they're more gelatinous- yummy!), which is simmered with water, old ginger, gula melaka (palm sugar) and vinegar. How long you cook it depends on how you like the texture - for us, we like the pork trotters to be soft with a slight bite and melting layers of gelatinous fat within. It is best to set it aside for 4-5 hours for the flavours to develop before serving. You can always cook a big pot, and eat it over a few meals - the flavours just get better and better!

I simply love the combination of sweet and tangy flavours of the braising sauce (yup, you can drink it all) - so appetizing! I'm so happy that my mum taught me how to cook this chu kiok cho 猪脚醋 dish. Thanks mum!

Pork knuckle/trotters with black vinegar 猪脚醋
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours
Serves 4

Ingredients
1kg pork knuckle or trotters
320g old ginger, sliced and bruised
900ml water
400ml spiced vinegar
135g gula melaka (palm sugar)
1/2 tsp salt


1. In a large pot over medium heat, place the water, old ginger and gula melaka and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

We use Yuen Chun Cap Datuk spiced vinegar (cuka hitam) when we make this dish.

2. In a separate pot, bring a pot of water to the boil, then blanch the pork for about 5 minutes. This is to remove any impurities from the pork.

3. Add the pork and salt to the pot (from Step 1) and simmer over low heat for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove from heat and set aside for 4-5 hours for flavours to develop/infuse.

4. Before serving, heat over medium low heat for about 30 minutes.

Note: Use old ginger for this dish as it tastes better with a strong gingery taste.

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I am submitting this to the "Cook & Celebrate: CNY 2015" event which I am co-hosting with Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe. To join, simply cook or bake any Chinese New Year recipes for the whole month of February 2015.

Your post must be a current post i.e. posted in February 2015 - please do not link older posts.Please mention our "Cook & Celebrate: CNY 2015" event in your post and link back to Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Baby Sumo of Eat your heart out.

Happy cooking! Do check out the other bloggers recipe below:

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Dim Sum @ Tim Ho Wan Malaysia 添好運, The Boulevard, Midvalley, KL

Tim Ho Wan 添好運, Hong Kong's most famous Michelin-star dim sum restaurant has finally arrived on Malaysian shores, and will opening its doors to the public tomorrow (28th November) at 11am. Their first outlet is located at The Boulevard, MidValley (right opposite the water fountain in front of The Gardens Mall). I was delighted to be invited to experience Tim Ho Wan's dim sum in Malaysia at their pre-launch lunch event today.

 

Tim Ho Wan's 添好運 name means "add good luck" in Cantonese and its first hole-in-the-wall outlet in Mongkok, founded and run by Chef Mak Kwai Pui (麥桂培) earned a Michelin-star in its first year of operation. In their overseas outlets, people would queue up for hours just to get a taste of the delicious dim sum. Seating at the Malaysian outlet is also on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The menu at Tim Ho Wan Malaysia features their signature items, the "Big 4 Heavenly Kings", vermicelli rolls, steamed items, deep fried items, rice, congee, vegetable and desserts. Despite the restaurant being full with invited guests, service was polite and efficient.

Not to be missed is the famed Baked Bun with BBQ Pork 酥皮焗叉烧包 (RM10.80). I have drooled over these whenever my friends have posted them on Instagram/Facebook and am glad that I have finally gotten the chance to taste them. The baked bun has a crisp yet fluffy exterior and slightly sweet tasting with a savoury, meaty filling. Really good, I have to say!

Crisp, fluffy, sweet and salty.. all in one!

Beautiful crisp golden exterior... ;)

Their other signature items include the pan fried carrot cake 萝卜糕(RM9.80), steamed egg cake a.k.a Malay cake (RM7.80) and vermicelli roll with pig's liver (RM10.80). We super love the steamed egg cake 马来糕, which apparently takes 3 days of preparation for it to become soft and fluffy. Indeed we love the soft texture with a nice caramel flavour. Baby D, who is on his first food review with mummy today had almost the whole one to himself. A must-try!

The vermicelli roll with pig's liver was a bit too gamey for my liking, I'd stick to the regular ones with BBQ pork or shrimp next time.

All mine :D

We also enjoyed the Braised Chicken Feet with Abalone Sauce (RM9.80) - the chicken feet here have a more bouncy texture and is wonderful paired with the sauce. Comes in 4 generous pieces.

This was my mum's favorite, steamed spinach dumpling with shrimp (RM7.80) with smooth, translucent skin. Tim Ho Wan prides itself in using only fresh and quality ingredients, and their dim sum is made to order to retain dim sum's flavour and texture.

Love the spinach and shrimp filling!

Another must-order for us when eating dim sum, siew mai aka pork dumpling with shrimp (RM10.80). Simple but well executed.

Pork rib with black bean sauce (RM8.80)

 The wasabi salad prawn dumpling (RM10.80) - crisp and juicy, topped with ebikko and wasabi mayo sauce for a spicy kick.

The next 3 items I did not try, took the photos from our neighbour's table ;)

Prawn dumpling (RM11.80)

Vermicelli roll with BBQ pork (RM12.80)

Beef ball with beancurd skin (RM7.80)

There are 2 desserts to choose from, the mango sago pomelo (RM8.80) and tonic medlar & osmanthus cake 杞子桂花糕 (RM6.80). The mango sago pomelo was really good and refreshing, and not too sweet either. At first we ordered one bowl to share, but it was so yummy, we had to order another ;)

Jelly on a plate, wibble wobble... ;)

Tim Ho Wan's Malaysia menu

My Top 5 Must-try items from Tim Ho Wan are: baked bun with BBQ pork, steamed egg cake, steamed spinach dumpling with shrimp, wasabi salad prawn dumpling and braised chicken feet with abalone sauce.




Opening times: 11am to 10pm (last orders 9.30pm).


Serves Pork.

Price: Prices start from RM7.80 for dim sum items.

Location: Tim Ho Wan, 27-G, Ground Floor, The Boulevard, Midvalley Megamall, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (opposite the water fountain in front of The Gardens Mall)

Website: https://www.facebook.com/TimHoWanMalaysia?fref=ts



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Recipe: Honey-Mustard Glazed Pork Ribs in Oven and Broiler (Bobby Flay)

Hi everyone! We're finally at my favorite month of the year :) And for the whole month of November, we will be cooking along to Bobby Flay's recipes. Sadly, this would also be our last "Cook Like a Star" event, so do join us!

Bobby Flay is a well-known American celebrity chef, and restaurateur. He is also the resident grill master for Food Network. After browsing through his recipes, I came to a few conclusions - 1. Bobby Flay likes cooking on the grill, 2. he loves chilli (Fresno, ancho chile powder, habanero, Thai birds eye chili, jalapeno, poblano.... he loves them all) and 3. his recipes in general have a long list of ingredients.

Sweet and sticky honey-mustard glazed pork ribs

Although my kids can take moderately spicy food, most of his spicy recipes sound a bit too hot for them. Hence the first recipe I chose to try is his honey-mustard glazed pork ribs - it has received good ratings on the website, doesn't contain chilli (want my kids to be able to enjoy whatever I'm making) and it has a relatively short ingredients list.

And boy, we sure enjoyed this! The ribs does not require any pre-marination, so just pop it in the oven with the soy sauce, water and ginger mixture and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours until the meat is falling off the bone. Then glaze and place under the grill for several minutes until crusty. I really loved the glaze, sweet and sticky, super appetizing and delicious. Am definitely using this glaze next time I cook grilled ribs or even chicken. Overall, super easy and super delicious!

 Sure is finger-licking good.

Honey-Mustard Glazed Pork Ribs in Oven and Broiler
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from Bobby Flay
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 1 3/4 hours
Serves 6


Ingredients
For the honey-mustard glaze:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
3 heaping tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the ribs:
20 pork ribs, about 3 kg
1 cup light soy sauce
4 cups water
2 to 3-inch piece ginger, skin-on and sliced thinly



For the honey-mustard glaze:
1. In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar and brown sugar over high heat and
cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved and
mixture reduces slightly, about 5 minutes.

2. Remove from the heat and whisk in the honey and mustard and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Let cool to room temperature.

For the ribs:
1. Preheat the oven to 250°C/500°F. (I used the no-fan setting)

2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the soy sauce, 4 cups of water and the ginger and bring to a boil.

3. Arrange ribs in a roasting pan (I used one with a lid) and pour the mixture (from Step 2) onto the ribs. Wrap the pan with foil or cover with the lid and roast until the ribs are tender, about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours.

4. Remove the ribs from the oven and transfer to baking sheets lined with foil or parchment paper. Turn on the broiler/top grill in your oven (high heat) and let heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Brush the ribs all over with the glaze, and broil until golden brown and a crust has formed about 7-8 minutes. Do keep an eye to avoid the ribs from burning. Brush with remaining glaze and serve.

Note: It will be best if you can get baby back ribs or St Louis style ribs for this recipe, however since I could not get those from the wet market, I just used spare ribs.

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I am submitting this to the "Cook Like Bobby Flay" event which I am co-hosting with Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Grace of Life Can Be Simple. To join, simply cook or bake any recipe from any Bobby Flay websites or cookbooks for the whole month of November 2014.

Your post must be a current post i.e. posted in November 2014 - please do not link older posts.Please mention Cook like a Star in your post and link back to Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Grace of Life Can Be Simple and Baby Sumo of Eat your heart out.

Happy cooking! Do check out the other bloggers recipe below:


If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates. Thanks :)

Taste Enclave Classic + Chapter Two @ Pavilion KL

Taste Enclave Classic has been open in Pavilion KL since August 2014, and this week we stumbled upon it when we were looking for a lunch place. Located on Level 2, you can find authentic hawker fare here, and the difference with Taste Enclave in Avenue K is that you get table service here i.e. you will be seated by the staff, and will receive table service (look through the menu, the staff will take your order and serve you). I guess you could call this a "classy food court".

There was a slight queue when we arrived since it was lunch hour but still, we were seated within 5 minutes. Over here you can chooose from the famous Sentul Ah Yap Charcoal Hokkien Mee, Ah Hu Bak Kut Teh, Nasi Ayam Singapura, Tong's Roast, Jalan Kayu Prata, Heun Kee claypot chicken rice and more. There is also a cafe here, Coen cafe, which serves Scandinavian cuisine.

Hubby decided to try the Penang char koay teow with duck egg (RM12.90) from Sentul Ah Yap stall. It was decent enough, but slightly lacking in wok hei. Should have went for the Hokkien mee since the last time we had it in Avenue K, it was really good.

Kopi ping (RM3.30) and tea (RM2.30). All their cups and even chopsticks are branded with Taste Enclave.

I thoroughly enjoyed my order of dry wantan mee from Tong's Roast; I opted for roasted duck (RM14.90) and requested for duck breast. The duck meat was juicy and flavorful. It also came with a small bowl of soup and two wantans. We also ordered a plate of char siew (honey-glazed BBQ pork) and siew yuk (roast pork) to share - I was pleasantly surprised that the portion was quite generous and I would happily pay the RM20 charged for it. The siew yuk was excellent, one of the best I've had - super crispy crackling (don't you just love hearing the "cruk cruk" sound as you bite into the crackling) and the char siew wasn't too shabby either.

Dry wantan mee with roasted duck

Roasted duck breast

A glorious plate of porky goodness!

Overall, we had a nice meal here at Taste Enclave Classic. Prices are a bit higher than normal food court/hawker stalls, but it's worth paying for the nice ambiance and dining comfort. Yup, I don't need to sweat buckets to enjoy these local delights.

Checked out the Moschino store in Pavilion KL and spotted these McD-inspired bags and shoes

After some shopping, we stopped by at Chapter Two cafe (near Mercato supermarket) for some coffee and cakes. We shared a slice of tiramisu mille crepe (RM12.90), and it was really really good. The texture and flavours were spot on. I'm impressed.

Really lovely kolam display at Pavilion KL for Deepavali/Diwali

Opening times: 8am - 10pm on Sundays to Thursdays and 8am - 11 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and public holidays.

Non-halal.

Price: Total bill RM58.75.

Location: Taste Enclave Classic, Lot 2.65.00-2.67.00&2.74.00, Level 2, Pavilion KL, 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Chapter Two, P1.02.00, Level 1, Pavilion KL, 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2110 6968

Website: www.tasteenclave.com



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