Fried Bee Hoon with Canned Pig Trotters

I'm HOME ALONE today. Yay!! Time to cook up yummy stuff!

There's cabbage in the refrigerator... and I remember seeing a can of braised pig trotters in the cupboard... I know! I can make fried bee hoon (rice vermicelli) with the pig trotters! Yummy but sinful stuff! *chuckle chuckle*

I remember my mum requested for twelve cans of pig trotters from Mr Tofu (boyfriend at that time) for Guo Da Li. The canned pig trotters is right most container featured here. She said this was what Teochew mothers would request as part of the formal wedding gifts. Mr Tofu and his sister (the matchmaker) had a hard time carrying them to my house (very heavy lor) that day. LOL...



Fried Bee Hoon with Canned Pig Trotters

Ingredients (serves 4)

200g Bee hoon or rice vermicelli (soaked in cold water)
1 can Braised pig trotters (chilled)
Half a Cabbage (cut into thin strips)
3 cloves Shallots (chopped)
3 cloves Garlic (chopped)
1.5 cups Water
1 tbsp Oyster sauce
1 tsp Soy sauce
1 tsp Salt


Preparation

• Soak bee hoon in cold water till it turns from translucent to opaque white.
• Chill the entire can of braised pig trotters. Let the layer of oil in the sauce harden and turn white. Remove the hardened oil. Remove the bones of the pig trotters. Place the meat and the sauce in different bowls.
• Mix pig trotter sauce, water, oyster sauce, soy sauce and salt in a bowl.

Method

1. Fry shallots and garlic till light golden brown.
2. Add de-boned braised pig trotters and fry with the shallots to draw out the fragrance from the pork.
3. Add cabbage, bee hoon and water-oyster sauce mixture and turn down fire to let it simmer. Allow bee hoon to absorb the liquids (takes about 5 minutes).

Wondering why I'm home alone but cooked 4 portions?

1 portion for lunch today

1 portion for dinner today

1 portion for breakfast tomorrow

1 portion for lunch on Tuesday

~ hahaha... that's how much I love fried bee hoon... :D

Apple Pie

STORY

Ms Moon: The assistants really helped a lot in my work. If one of them goes on leave, it would feel as if I had lost an arm.

Ms EY: Do you frequent the bakery?

Ms Moon: (confused by the sudden change of topic) Huh??

Ms EY: Do you often buy a kind of pastry called the HUMBLE PIE from the bakery to eat?

Ms Moon: Ohhh.... Hahahaha..... I'll take that as a compliment (-____-)lll

Hahahaha... This was what happened at work this afternoon.... I was telling a colleague that I have to rely much on the expertise of my capable assistants at work. She, in turn, teased me on my humbleness... I honestly wasn't trying to be humble.... arrgh... but the more I tried to clarify, the more she teased me.... We would usually use the Chinese proverb 越描越黑 to describe a situation like this... hahaha.... XD

Coincidentally, Aunty Ann showed me the pictures of her recent visit to her aunt in UK. During the visit, Aunty Ann's aunt made apple pies, so I linked it with the HUMBLE PIE incident to present the next recipe.


Apple Pie


Filling:
1/3 to 2/3 cup Sugar
60g Plain flour
1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
1 pinch Salt
8 Apples (Granny Smith are the best)
2 tbsp Margarine

Crust:
1 pkt Frozen shortcrust pastry

Method:
* Heat oven to 200`C.
* Peel, core and slice the apples. Try to keep the size of the slices even.
* Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl.
* Stir in apples.
* Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.
* Cover with top crust and seal the edges. Cut slits in the top.
* Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.


 














Bottom of the picture: Aunty Ann's husband does not like apple pie, so they made a special chicken-filled pie for him.

German Pork Knuckles

Yesterday, Mr Tofu surprised me by suggesting to go Werner's Oven for dinner. It wasn't any special occassion, but I just agreed as it was one of the rare times that he expressed an idea on what to eat (usually, I'm the one who is full of ideas).

Opened since 1998, Werner's Oven is a German restaurant owned by a Singaporean lady and her German husband. In the restaurant, you can see many photographs of the restaurant in its older days.  I remember one of my ex-colleague, Mr EL, telling me how he was a good friend of the boss's son and how the guys used to go to the restaurant for free lunches during their teenage days.
















The pork knuckles are usually marinated for a week before they are boiled and roasted. Boiling softens the meat and roasting creates a crisp skin for the knuckle. I could feel the tenderness of the meat as I cut through it. The skin was crispy too. But I got the feeling that they deep-fried the knuckle to achieve that texture. I couldn't find the smell of wine and herbs that I read on the Internet on Werner's pork knuckle. To me, it tasted more like Chinese roasted pork belly or shio bak (烧肉).

The knuckle was served with sauerkraut (German sour cabbage) and mashed potatoes. Sauerkraut helps to take away some of the greasiness from the meaty kunckle. As for the mashed potatoes, I guess provides carbo to make you feel full.

Also decided to have green pea soup, after hearing the waiter say that most Germans who visit the restaurant will order it.

Hot Dog Buns

These hot dog buns turned out springy with a hard crust (like French loaf). I'm still trying out different recipes to get the BREADTALK texture and will post if I find the right one.

For hot dogs, I like to use VALLEY CHEF brand.