Ginger Vinegar Trotter - 猪脚姜醋

Hello to all the Asian mums! I am sure you are familiar with this dish which brings back memories during your “Confinement - 坐月” days? Ginger Vinegar Trotter (猪脚姜醋) is one of the traditional "must have" confinement dish that is good for expelling the wind from the stomach, the calcium in the trotter plus the heat from the ginger  which helps to revitalize and replenish nutrients in the mother's body.

To prepare this dish, the two key ingredients are matured (old) ginger and black vinegar. Matured ginger is used because it imparts a stronger and more intense flavour for the dish and most of the folks also believe that Black Vinegar purifies blood and cleanses the arteries of stale blood while Old ginger drives out the wind in the body. And in order to prevent the vinegar for being too acidic and weakening the stomach; glutinous ligaments and collagen of the pig's trotters are added to serve as a lubricant.

Ingredients: (serves 2 -3)
1 Pig's Trotter, ask for the front trotter and cut into big pieces
2 Big Piece Of Old Ginger (老姜), about 500g
1 Small Bottle (375ml) Of Black Rice Vinegar (黑甜醋)
1 1/2 Bottle Of Water, use the same vinegar bottle
1 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
50g Rock Sugar/Brown Sugar
4 Hard Boiled Eggs

Method:
1. Scrap, wash and cut the old ginger into big pieces then flatten slightly.

2. Heat up sesame oil in a large claypot and saute old ginger till fragrant.

3. Pour in vinegar and water, covered and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat, cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, remove from heat and leave it to stand over night.(alternatively you can transfer the mixture to a slow cooker and cooker for AUTO for about 3 hours then switch it off and let it stand over night)

4. Trim the pig's trotter, rinse and blanch into boiling water for about 3 minutes. Remove, rinse again and drain well.

5. Preheat frying pan with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, saute the prepare trotter for a few seconds to seal the meat.

6. Next bring the vinegar mixture to boil, add in the pig trotter and cooked for 30 minutes on low heat then add in the hard boiled eggs. (or you can transfer the mixture back to the slower cooker and cook over AUTO for another 2 hours before adding in the egg and cook for another 30 minutes or so).

7. Continue to simmer for another 20 - 30 minutes till the trotter is soften to bite then add in sugar to taste.

8. Remove from heat and serve hot or you can prepare this in the morning and let the mixture stand till the adsorb the flavour from the vinegar broth. and serve in the evening.

Note:
~ Cooking in Slow Cooker prevent the soup from drying out when compare to simmer it over the stove on low heat.

~ Ask for front trotter from the butcher as it contains more meat than bones or replace it with pork belly for more meaty dish.

Although this dish might seems a bit time consuming to prepared but you can always prepare the vinegar broth a day ahead and add in the trotter on the second day. Between this dish taste better after one or two days and you can store the unfinished portion in the fridge too but remember not to use plastic container for this dish due to the vinegar reaction to the plastic.

Seafood Bee Hoon Soup

One dish meal is always the best dish to be served on the dining table during weekday’s menu. If you are bored with rice or bread perhaps you can try out this quick and easy Seafood Bee Hoon Soup. You can add in whatever seafood that you prefer to give the soup its natural sweetness.

That day I managed to find some very big and fresh "Clams - 蛤蜊" in the wet market and instantly I knew I want to use them to add extra flavour to my seafood soup. This clam is very cheap and good which cost about $4 per kg and you can also use it to cook herbal clams soup, pasta with clams and etc.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 Piece of Dried Bee Hoon
500g of Clams
8 Medium Fresh Prawns
1 Bunch of Choy Sum
2 - 3 Slices of Ginger
1 Stalk of Spring Onion, cut into section
1.5 Litre of Water
1 Ikan Bilis Stock Cubes, optional

Method:
1. Soaked the dried bee hoon in water for about 30 minutes till it soften. (you can cut it into a few session for easy consumed)
2. Trim the choy sum and cut it into sections and soaked in water for a few minutes to wash away the dirt. Rinse then set aside.
3. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a soup pot, add in ginger and spring onion, saute them until fragrance then add in water and bring it to boil.
4. Simmer the soup for about 5 minutes, then add in stock cubes and season to taste. Set the broth as side while blanching the seafood.
5. Bring another pot of water to boil, add in the clams and cook for about 30 seconds or less, when it opens removed it from the water immediately and rinse with cold/ice water.
6. When the clams are done, turn off the heat, and add in the prawns into the hot water. Let it soaked for about 1 minutes, removed and rinse with water.
7. Next bring the soup broth to boil, add in the soft bee hoon, when it comes to boil again add in the prawn and choy sum and cook for another 1 minutes or so.
8. Lastly, served the bee hoon and other ingredients in a big bowl, top with some clams and pour over some hot broth and serve immediately with some cut chilli and dried shallot.

Note:
~ You need to soak the clam in some salt water for about 10 - 15 minutes to remove the soil and dirt in it.
~ Blanching of the seafood before cook is to retain their crunchiness especially for the prawn so that it will not be overcooked and the soup broth will be clear.


So with all these wonderful ingredients, you can also served your very own Seafood Bee Hoon Soup at home in less than 30 minutes time. And most important you can assure that all ingredients used are fresh and full for bursting flavour. If you don't preferred clams, you can always replaced it with fish slices, squid or etc that suits your family preference.

Matcha & Chestnut Chiffon Cake

It has being almost a year for chiffon cake baking since my last tried on “Banana & Passion Fruit Chiffon Cake”. While preparing the ingredients I was still kind of worry and nervous whether the texture of the chiffon cake will turn out with desire outcome.

Today’s combination idea came from my Matcha Madeleines. After using that new Matcha powder that I bought a few weeks ago, I was delighted to try out another recipe using it. So in order to have something light and healthy I decided to bake this Matcha & Chestnut Chiffon Cake.

HOPPY - Herbal Duck @ Johor

Talking about "Roast Duck - 烧鸭 " or "Roast Meat - 烧肉", which is your favourite stall in Singapore that you love to patronise. Is it "Kay Lee Roast Meat Joint - 琪利珠江烧腊" or "Dian Xiao Er - 店小二". But no matter which is your choice, perhaps you might like to try out this "Restoran HOPPY - 好比港式烧鸭" which is about 2 streets away (10 - 15 minutes walk).

The "Dang Gui Ya - 当归烧鸭 " shown above is one of the top 3 selling item in this stall. The meat is nicely roasted and infused with a light and fragrance Dang Gui scent which leaves you crave for more after each bite.

"Restoran HOPPY - 好比港式烧鸭" owns a shop at No. 31, Jalan Meldrum, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia that is just beside "Bee Cheng Hiang - 美珍香" shop at the junction.

Second on our list is "Pao Sheng Roast Duck - 泡参烧鸭". The taste of the herbs is not very strong so it suitable for every members in the family including the kids. The herbal sauce that drizzles on the duck taste great with the steam rice.

The main item that brings us to this stall is their Roast Pork - 烧肉. The top layer of the skin is so crispy and fragrant when bite and the meat itself is so tender and juicy. I love this dish as you can have a few layer of taste when you bite it.