Fusion Style Pan fry Pork Chop, served with boiled Asparagus & Cherry Tomatoes

I love asparagus. I would always order them when i dine out because I had never cook them at home (till today). I havent tried to cook them again after my first not so tasty experience back in Singapore, when I was in college like over a decade ago. I had the small narrow ones and I had prob not bought the freshest of the lot and so it turned out chewy...

So today, after reading through this French cookbook that taught me how to prepare asparagus and cook them, I decided to give it a go and ....they turned out beautifully!!!! Apparently there are several ways to cook them but I reckon this simple French way is the best. Even without seasonings, the asparagus was naturally sweet and retains the crunch when bought fresh. I kid u not.

Unseasoned Boiled Asparagus & cherry tomatoes

Time to Cook both vege and meat concurrently: 15mins
Time to Prep: 10mins
Time to marinate pork: Minimal 2hours before hand.
Served 2 pax

Ingredients

- a pack of fresh asparagus that should be firm at the stalk, and no holes through the stalk.
- 1.5tbsp of salt.
- a pot big enough to lay the asparagus horizontally flat while cooking

Cooking Steps

- After purchase, fill a cup or container with cold water and stick asparagus upright until u are ready to cook them.

shaved asparagus upright in container

- Peel the asparagus from the stalk, use a small vege knife cut 1/16 into the layer to remove the woody chewy layer. As you move progressively up to the tip, the cut gets shallower. You should see the tender lighter green under surfacing as you slice away the top layer. Stick them back in the container.
Tip: Dont use peeler, it's not effective enough.

- Once peeled and ready,  Fill the uncovered pot with enough water to be able to cover the asparagus. that's prob abt 1/3 pot guide.

- Add the salt and bring to a boil.

- Add the rinsed peeled asparagus into the salted water pot. When the water starts to boil again, turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 10-12 mins, pot uncovered. (time depending on the thickness)

- To check if its ready, take one out. If your butter knife cuts into the bottom stalk, its cooked.

Remove from water and ready to serve.

Tip: If you like, u may pop the cherries into the hot water for a quick soak before serving. Read somewhere that cooked tomato skin delivers more antioxidants than uncooked ones. 

Tip: Asparagus can keep for another 20mins after cooking. If u are cooking ahead, you can dip the cooked asparagus in ice cold water to stop the ongoing cooking within the veg, and then quickly dip into hot water when ready to serve warm. 

Ingredients for the pan fried pork

- 2 pork chop with bone in (about 1 inch thick)
- half red onion
- a quarter cinnamon stick (optional)

Marinate sauce
- 1tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp of chinese rice wine
- 1 tsp of pepper
- dash of salt
- slightly under 1tbsp of light soy sauce (i used the kikoman less salt version)
- 1tbsp of sugar.
- 1 egg white

Cooking Steps

1. Mix all the sauces together. Taste for salty level and adjust to taste. Cut back the salt if too salty

2. Add the egg white and beat lightly together with the sauces.

3.  Pour the mixed sauce into the zip lock plastic bag and add pork in. Fully cover the meat with sauces to marinate.

4. Leave the marinated meat in fridge for at least 2 hours. Best 4 hours.

5. When ready to cook, add butter or olive oil or coconut oil to frying pan at medium heat

6. Add the pork. For me, I would cover the lid to ensure my pork is being cooked inside.
Note: Semi-cooked pork contains parasites that may host inside your brain...

7. Turn the flame down to low with lid covered so that you dont burnt your meat.

8. Flip over after about 5 mins, your skin would be nicely brown. Repeat for other side for another 5 mins.

9. Depending on your meat thickness, if yours is a thin slab, after 3-4mins on the other side, you could take it out and slice a little near the bone to check if its thoroughly cooked. if not, then give it the full 5 mins.

10. Remove from pan and rest the meat on the side.

11. Add the onion in the pan and quicky stir fry with a quarter of cinnamon stick till it is soft..

12. Add a little water to the marinate sauce left over and bring to boil with onion. Adjust taste as needed with salt or sugar. Because of the eggwhite, it will not be clear sauce, so filter and sieve off as preferred.

Dinner is served with rice.

Alternate mixture will be with sauteed mushrooms & brocoli as below.

Chinese Style Pan Fry Fish Fillet with Soy Sauce

I normally like my fish steamed but once in a while when I crave to have porridge
 (Not congee. Congee is the Cantonse style where rice is completely disintegrated but porridge is the type you still see the rice grain in full and you get the benefit of rice soup/water - which is good to stop tummy runs.)

Tried frying fish for the first time.
I think I overcooked mine, forgetting that mackeral is less fatty than salmon and thus 5 mins was excessive.... However, all in all, it was good and definitely something I would want to perfect to make it taste like mum's. Not quite there yet for mine. I will come back here after i refined the recipe.

Pan fry fish

Ingredients:

- Mackerel or any white fish fillet you like.
- Sliced 2 inch of ginger into thin slices for frying
- 1 stalk of spring onion for garnish
- Shaoxing wine - 1 capful
- 2 tbsp of dark soya sauce
- 2 tbsp of light soya sauce
- dash of sugar into the soya sauce combined
- dash of white pepper
- 1 tbsp of sesame oil

Cooking Steps:

1. Marinate fish fillet with shaoxing wine, salt (dash) for about 20mins.
(throw in thin slices of ginger if you have extra on the fish to marinate as well)
2. Heat oil in frying pan. When oil is ready, add in sliced ginger slices. Remove from pan once it starts to brown.
3. Add fish fillet to pan fry until it turns brown. Remove from pan.
4. The remaining combined soya sauces, throw to the pan and heat. Drizzle over the fish. Add garnish.

PS: From my experience, it prob takes about 2 mins on one side or less depending on your thickness.

Carmelised Onion with Pan fried Chicken Cutlet (De Boned Chicken Thighs)

Tried a new western recipe - Caramalised Chicken Thigh Cutlets. Takes about 20mins to prepare in advance and another 20mins to cook.

Ingredients

- 2 teaspoons veg oil

- 4 chicken thigh cutlets skin on (800g) WITHOUT bone.

- 1 medium red onion, sliced thinly

- 3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly

- 1/4cup (55g) brown sugar (I usually put less than this. it's up to individual preference)

- 1Tablespoon dark soy sauce

- 1 Tablespoon fish sauce

- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander

Cooking steps

1. Preheat Oven to 200/180 degree cel. fan forced

2. Heat oil in frying pan, pan fry chicken till brown on both sides. Then place chicken in baking tray to bake (uncovered) for another 2-5min till cook through.

3. At the same time, heat clean pan. Reuse a small amount of the oil (previously used to pan fried chicken) and cook onion, garlic stirring until onion softens.

4. Add the sugar and sauces. (I personally will add a little water just to dilute it alittle if you are not using a non stick pan) Stir and cook for another 3 mins or so ( or until you visually see that onion has soften to the level that you like. Some like it more crunchy while like it really soft)

5. Return chicken to pan with coriander. Turn chicken to coat in sauce mixture.

Serve.

Personal Note: (What the recipe doesnt tell you)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- You can choose not to panfried the chicken till its brown. I just pan fry for about 5-10mins depending on how large the pieces are.

- I just panfried without oil in a non stick pan till the chicken fat is suitably melted before I chuck it into the oven. I personally would prefer Light olive oil instead of peanut oil.

- Always, always cook with the skin side first. The skin acts as an insulator preventing your meat from being cooked too quickly.

- Neither do I bake till the chicken is fully cook as instructed by recipe. Rather I had it baked till about almost cooked (i think 5 mins is a good gauge). The reason is that the chicken still need to undergo more heat cooking when mixing with the sauces. This way, the cutlet will not be tough from being overcooked. At least if its under cook (baked) , easy breezy, just stick it on the pan with sauce longer:P

- Or you can choose not to bake and just pan fry till the meat is cook.