Pork loin

This is a just done pork loin, cooked to 165℉. After salt and peppering it, I smeared on dijon mustard, garlic, thyme and rosemary. Put into a 350℉ for until it browns a little and then turn it down to 300℉ until done. Just a hint on pink, very juicy.

Lingcod

I bought some frozen lingcod from Fresh Off The Boat in the winter market. Turns out they are not bad at all, not as good as the very fresh but better than almost all frozen ones I have had. Here I simply salt and pepper and sautéed it and added a little browned butter. Quite nice.

Sunchoke

Sunchoke is one crazy looking thing. It is good eating though. The winter farmer's market yield some wonderful pieces.












Mash is good and I like to cut it up with skin on, boil it until the smaller pieces are soft but there is still a little crunch with the bigger and pieces with skin. It is blended with a little milk and butter. The result looks like a nice mash potato but there are invisible slight crunchy sweet bits mixed in. It goes so well with this braised pork.

Braised Pork Shoulder

I figure that it is good with chops, it is probably good with larger cuts. The shoulder roast is cut into serving pieces, salt and pepper then browned. Onion is sautéed till brown, carrots, pine nuts, cloves, thyme, oregano, frozen cranberries, garlic and ginger are added. It is then deglazed with red wine vinegar. The pork is added, some water, season and bring to a boil. It is finished in a warm oven till fork tender.

Fine Snack

The Oyama Sausage Company must be one of the finest sausage maker in the world. There maybe better maker of this or that sausage or ham here and there, but to make thousands different kinds so excellently is just ridiculous but true. Here is have their Serrano style and Jambon des Ardennes. The cheese is a very ripe St. Alban. My own bread. Local Gala apple.

Wild Winter Mushrooms

Louis said he picked these winter oyster mushrooms out of the snow. They looked wet but turned out to be firm and nice. What a surprise.












Here I chopped them up and sautéed them with ginger, scallion and garlic before adding some xo sauce. Tofu went in with some chicken stock, oyster sauce and salt. A couple of minutes later, a warming and tasty dish is done.

Oysters

One of the great things about Vancouver in the winter is oysters. The water is cold and the oysters are sweet and crisp. I don't eat raw oysters in the summer because the taste tends to be murky and the texture chalky then. But now, they are all sweetness and freshness and crispness.

Seefood Pasta

I have so much stuffs in my ice box that I need to use them. A little frozen shrimps and a little frozen scallops are the main ingredients. A little garlic, chili, oregano, thyme and a few leftover canned tomatoes made the sauce. I also realized I still had quite a few of my own dried tomatoes, so I added that too. A hand full of parsley finish the thing. The sauce was so sweet because of the dried tomatoes, reminded me of the summer before last. I should start planning my garden now.

Sugar and Vinegar Pork

Usually this is made with spareribs. I have a large shoulder chop instead. Why not, I though. I browned the cut up chops light before adding ginger and garlic. When the garlic takes on some colour, I added sweat vinegar (baby vinegar), raw sugar, star anise, Shaoxing liquor, salt and dark soy sauce. The whole thing cooked for half an hour or so. It is very tasty indeed, the meat though is a little on the dry side because it is so lean. There is reason for things but sometime the alternative isn't as good but not too bad either.

Goating

I defrosted some goat meat and realized that it is more bones and tandons than meat so I decide to reverse the plan and use the meat as the flavour for tofu skins and bamboo shoots instead. Pretty much the classic recipe I posted here before but proportionally less meat and more other things. I didn't have sugar cane and water chestnuts either. Still, it comes out quite good. Because there is more skin, bone and tendon, the sauce is a little creamier, not a bad thing. Sort of a poor man's stew, if it were the old days, but now the vegetables are more expansive than the meat, so this may very well be the rich man's stew instead.

Something Old, Something New

Reheating the chicken and eat it with some sautéed potato and it feels like a new dish.

Bean Soup

I left the back of the chicken out of the chicken stew to make a soup. I browned the back pieces before adding water and bay leave to cook for a couple hours. Onion, celery, carrot and garlic are sautéed in the pressure cooker before tomato, the stock and soaked beans are added. It cooked under pressure for half an hour and voilá!

Chicken Stew

This is kind of a franco-italian stew I suppose. Carrot, onion, celery and garlic are sautéed before browned chicken is added. A few tomatoes, white wine, salt, mushrooms, potatoes, bay leaves, thyme and oregano go in and the whole things cooks for 20 or so minutes. There is a nice freshness to this dish and it makes me forget that it is gray and cold outside.

Shrimp and Bittle Melon

This is a recipe from the Hong Kong celebrity chef Chow Chong. The shrimp is dusted with a little cornstarch and oil blanched for couple of minutes; the bitter melon is blanched in water. Pre-soaked dry orange peels, garlic, cured black beans are fried lightly in a little oil before the bitter melon is added. Cooked for a minute or so and add the shrimp with oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, touch of sugar, a little water and cook covered for 3 minutes. Thicken with a little cornstarch in cold water.

Ugly Food

I have this thick big squid in the freezer and I don't know what to do with it. I decide to just go and make some pasta with it. Unfortunately I realized too late that I don't have any dry paste left and it is too late to make fresh ones. I thought, well, why not some rice noodles? I blanched the diced up squid quickly. Garlic and chili pepper are sautéed with anchovy paste, the squid are then added with yellow pepper. The result if good but nothing exciting. I think it would be a lot better by itself, without the noodle. It is, however, a decent enough quick meal.

Fried Tofu

I usually deep fried tofu but this time I tries shallow frying and it works. Ginger, garlic, scallion, salt and chili pepper are quickly fried in just a little oil and toss in the crisp tofu. Good with beer.

Scallops and Tofu, Steamed

This is a simple but elegant dish--scallops are place on top of tofu pieces, cured black beans, ginger, garlic and just a touch of sugar are placed on top, steams for a few minutes until the scallop is just cooked. A few scallions are placed on top, a couple table spoons of hot oil is poured
over to bring out the fragrant. Good soy sauce finish the dish. Simple.

Fridge Special Fried Rice

Most days I decide what to cook and eat, but some days, like today, the fridge decides. Ground beef, celery, carrot, scallion and egg made this fried rice. Seasoned with a little soy sauce and sambol sauce. Simple and help clear the fridge a little.

Roast Chicken Thigh

The kitchen sink approach: ginger, garlic, scallion, salt, sugar, shaoxing liquor, soy sauce, sambol sauce and sesame oil make the marinate. The pieces are roasted hot 400℉ convected. It got a little smoky but the skin is crisp and the meat extra tasty.

More Double Boiling

This is the classic cough tonic: Ya pear, chuanbei and rock sugar. The pear is halved and cored, puts into the double boiling pot with chuanbei, hot water and rock sugar. The whole things is steamed slowly in a larger pot with the double lid of the pot closed. Takes a couple of hours at least but the result is just the most tasty.