Barbecue Pulled Pork

My friend, Amy, introduced me to the Facebook group "Slow Cooked Wonders", then sent me the recipe for "Epic Pork". I'd done something similar in the slow cooker before, so this is my personal take on the recipe. It made a big difference to get rid of some of the cooking liquid before adding the barbecue sauce, and although it would be easier to use a shop-bought sauce (in which case I like Paul Newman's Original Sticky BBQ Sauce), it didn't take much more effort to make my own version. And the great thing about that is that I get to plug Colman's OK sauce. I am very attached to this sauce, as I was responsible for installing the process plant at Colman's in Norwich, which makes it! Now that the memories of falling into bed at 5am, exhausted after a night of commissioning, to be woken at 5.30am by an operator saying "we need you to come in, we can't get the clean working", are in the dim and distant past, I remember my time in Norwich very fondly.



Colman's OK Sauce - a product close to my heart!

The recipe on the Facebook group mentioned discarding the rind after the slow-cook, but being Chinese stingy, I rendered the fat in a frying pan, poured it off, and made myself an enormous pork scratching instead. The children had the pork in sandwiches, but we ran out of bread, and the adults had it with boiled rice and stir-fried greens - both meals were very good.

 

Ingredients

• 1 pork shoulder, 1.7 - 2kg
• 1/2 glass white wine
• 1/2 glass apple juice
• 2 slices of ginger

Barbecue Sauce

• 35g butter
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 mug of cooking liquid from the slow cooker
• 1/4 mug of tomato ketchup
• 3/4 mug of Colman's OK sauce (or use a brown sauce)
• 2 tbsp worcester sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp paprika
• (optional) 1 tsp chilli flakes
• (optional) 1 dessert spoon of cornflour, mixed with 50ml of water for thickening

Serves 8-10

 

Instructions

• Wash the pork shoulder and scrape/burn/pull off any stray hairs
• Place the shoulder (skin side up) in a slow cooker. Add the white wine, apple juice and ginger. Cook on low for 8-10 hours
• When the pork has finished cooking, remove it from the slow cooker, cut off the rind (you can discard this or make it into a pork scratching) and set aside
• (If you are making your own barbecue sauce, take a mugful of the cooking liquid)
• Pour the cooking liquid away and return the pork to the slow cooker. Shred with two forks, then pour over the barbecue sauce and mix thoroughly
• If you have time, leave the pork and the barbecue sauce to slow cook for an hour, to let the flavours mingle
• Serve with crusty bread, or with rice and green vegetables

Barbecue Pulled Pork with Crusty Bread

 



• To make your own barbecue sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan
• Add the chopped onion and minced garlic, and soften over a moderate heat for 5 minutes
• Add the cooking liquid from the slow cooker, tomato ketchup, OK sauce, worcester sauce, ground black pepper, balsamic vinegar, honey, paprika and chilli flakes and stir well to combine
• Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 25 minutes
• After cooking, remove from the heat and blitz to a puree with a stick blender or in a liquidiser
• If you wish to thicken the sauce, return to the hob, and add 1 dessert spoon of cornflour, mixed with 50ml of water. Bring the sauce to the boil and stir until the sauce is thickened

• To make a pork scratching, use a knife to score the fat on the underside of the rind
• Heat in a moderate frying pan until the fat renders - pour off the fat periodically
• When most of the fat is rendered, turn the heat up and place the rind skin-side down. Press down with a spatula until the rind is bubbling and crisp
• Drain on kitchen towls, grind over salt and pepper, cool and enjoy

Enormous Pork Scratching

Chicken and Mushrooms Fried in Oyster Sauce (雞肉炒蘑菇)

I always saw this on the menu at chippies and Westernised Chinese restaurants, and remember it was popular with the customers when I was waitressing in 1998. I don't think I've ever ordered, or eaten it before! However tonight, I had one solitary chicken breast remaining in the fridge (I foolishly froze four in one solid lump and have been working my way through them for the last few days), and half a box of mushrooms remaining from an epic cottage pie batch cook. The dish was surprisingly pleasing - the mushrooms were still firm and full of bite, which complemented the tender chicken meat. Mushrooms are the one thing guaranteed to turn the children green, so husband and I got this to ourselves whilst they chowed down on some leftover spaghetti bolognaise (with the mushrooms chopped up so finely that they didn't even notice, hah!)

 

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast, sliced thinly
• 2 shakes of light soy sauce
• 1 tsp Knorr chicken powder
• A thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated finely
• 1 tsp sunflower oil
• 1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 onion, finely sliced
• 200g mushrooms, large ones sliced in half
• Sunflower oil for frying
• 2-3 shakes of oyster sauce
• 30-40ml water
• 1/2 tsp cornflour in 20ml water, for thickening
• A dash of ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2-3 drops of sesame oil

Serves 2

 

Instructions

• Place the sliced chicken in a bowl. Add the light soy sauce, the chicken powder, the grated ginger and 1 tsp of sunflower oil. Mix to combine, cover and marinade for at least 30 minutes
• Heat the wok until it is very hot. Add 1 tbsp of sunflower oil and swirl around the wok. Add the chicken and stir-fry quickly until it is sealed all over. Remove from the wok and place to one side
• Re-heat the wok to a high heat, and add 1 tbsp sunflower oil. Add the sliced onions and stir-fry quickly for 30 seconds until the onions are coated in oil and glossy. Add the mushrooms and the garlic to the wok and stir-fry for a further minute, until the mushrooms are coated in oil and glossy. Do not let the mixture catch and burn
• Return the chicken the the wok, and mix well to combine. Add 2-3 shakes of oyster sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, a sprinkling of ground white pepper and 30-40ml of water. Mix well, lower the heat to moderate and cover the wok
• Gently boil for 3-4 minutes until the onions are softened slightly. When the vegetables are cooked, uncover the wok and add the cornflour/water mixture, stirring to mix in well. Bring back to the boil and let the sauce thicken
• Remove from the heat and add 2-3 drops of sesame oil. Place in a warmed dish and serve immediately

Chicken and Mushrooms Fried in Oyster Sauce (雞肉炒蘑菇)

Banana and Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

I recently was asked to take part in a competition, whereby I was to come up with a recipe using new Ski Lemon Cheesecake Low Fat Yoghurt. Sadly I wasn't the winner this time, but I hope you like the recipe. The muffins aren't too sweet, which makes them a nice "grab and go" for breakfast.

 

Ingredients

• 150g plain white flour
• 150g plain wholemeal flour
• 2 heaped tsp baking powder
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g frozen blueberries
• 2 large, ripe bananas
• 250g Ski lemon cheesecake yoghurt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 50g butter, melted and cooled
• A pinch of salt
• 40g porridge oats, plus extra for sprinkling 
• Grated zest of 1/2 a lemon

Makes 12

 

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees fan. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases
• Make your dry mix. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, and tip any bran reamining from the sieve into the bowl. Stir in the salt, sugar and oats
• Make your wet mix. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl, and add the yoghurt, egg, butter and lemon zest. Mix well to combine
• Make a well in the middle of the dry mix, and add the wet mix. Fold the two mixes together, so that they are well combined
• Spoon the muffin mixture into the baking tin, filling each case almost to the top. Sprinkle each muffin with oats
• Place the baking tin on the middle shelf of the oven, and bake for 20 minutes until the muffins are risen and golden on top
• Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes, before cooling completely on a wire rack

Banana and Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

My colleagues have the pleasure of these tomorrow!

Apple Crumble

My husband has a sweet tooth. We have a running joke that the only time he ever gets a pudding prepared for him is when I go on maternity leave, but before I have the baby. And because the only pudding I can make is crumble, he usually gets a crumble of some description.

I think he's had about 5 crumbles from me in his life.

Last week, a friend (Flo) dropped off some Bramley apples from her tree, exactly the right amount to make crumble number 6. My eldest loved rubbing the crumble mixture together in her hands whilst I cooked up the apple filling, and the sweet and tart flavours certainly rang the seasonal changes. We have gone from glorious sunshine to bluster, rain and hail in the space of a week, it seems! This recipe is tweaked from one in the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book, with a few additions.

 

Ingredients

CRUMBLE TOPPING

• 50g plain white flour
• 25g plain wholemeal flour
• 75g light muscovado sugar
• 50g ground almonds
• 50g fridge-cold unsalted butter
• A small handful of porridge oats

FILLING

• 700g (or thereabouts) Bramley apples
• 50g unsalted butter
• 75g golden caster sugar
• A pinch of cinnamon
• A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Serves 6

Instructions

• To make the crumble topping, sift the flours into a bowl, then add any bran left in the sieve. Stir in the sugar and the ground almonds, then work in the butter, using your fingertips, to make a very crumbly mixture. Add the porridge oats and stir to combine
• Peel and core the apples, and cut into 2.5cm chunks. Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the apples and sugar, and cook, stirring over a gentle heat until the apples start to soften and break up. Transfer to a 1.7 litre (3 pint) pie dish
• Spoon over the crumble topping and bake at 175 degrees fan oven for 30 minutes.
• Serve warm with cream, ice cream or custard

Apple Crumble

Crispy Roast Belly Pork (燒肉)

Yum. Yum yum yum. Just the thought of whole bellies of crispy pork in the window of a Chinese restaurant has me salivating. It took several attempts to get this right, and even now it doesn't always go to plan. For example, today I took the belly pork out of the oven and thought "Hmm. It looks rubbish, and I promised Mum and Dad I'd give half to them. They'll be disappointed." The skin had not bubbled up enough, and I thought it would be rock-hard, but surprisingly, it was not bad.

I ran into the fabulous butcher near work, Edge & Son in New Ferry, 5 minutes before closing time on Friday. Although the shelves had been emptied, I got a lovely belly of Gloucester Old Spot. Thing is though, and I'm not sure if it's the same with supermarket pork belly, there were still many bristles attached - not long, just stubbly. I scraped with a knife, but even after 2 hours with a pair of tweezers (and it was 2am by this stage), still struggled to get rid of them all. Apparently I need a blow torch! Suggestions welcome, anyway. The bristles weren't too noticeable in the finished dish, but I knew they were there.

I saw Larkin from Masterchef do interesting-looking things with a hair dryer to his belly pork, presumably because he only had 3 hours to dry the thing out, and I'm tempted to try this technique sometime - my usual method is just to leave it with a kitchen towel over the skin in the fridge, overnight. I poured a kettle of boiling water over the skin, as this shrinks it and is said to make the skin crispier. However, I wonder whether that's why it was so hard to remove the bristles - next time, will try without. A halogen oven seems to give a better success rate, but you can also roast the belly pork in a normal conventional or fan oven. You can crisp the skin up under a grill after cooking, but keep an eye on it, as it burns quickly.

 

Ingredients

• Approx. 1kg pork belly (leave the rind unscored), ribs removed
• 1 tbsp yellow bean sauce
• 1 tsp five-spice powder
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• A few pinches of salt

 

Instructions

• Scrape the pork rind with a sharp knife and remove any remaining bristles with a blow torch or a pair of tweezers. Place the belly, skin-side up, onto a chopping board or tray over a sink, and slowly pour a full kettle of boiling water over the skin. You will see the skin shrink and tighten
• Dry the belly with kitchen towels, turn over, and score the flesh lengthways, making incisions around 0.5cm deep, approx. 3cm apart
• Place the belly skin-side up. Take a skewer or a small, sharp knife, and stab the rind all over, several times (think Psycho shower scene). You want to have as many small holes as possible in the skin, as these will bubble and crisp when the belly is cooking. Although it isn't advisable to stab through the entire thickness of the belly, it's such a forgiving joint that I am not too careful
• Prepare the marinade by mixing the yellow bean sauce, five-spice powder, light soy, honey and hoisin sauce in a bowl. Using a pastry brush, brush this generously over the flesh, working it into the incisions. Do not brush over the skin
• Place the belly, skin-side up, in a tray. Sprinkle with salt and rub into the skin. Place a folded kitchen towel over the skin and leave in the refrigerator overnight to dry out

Pork Belly, Stabbed, Skin Salted, Marinaded and Ready for the Fridge

• Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees fan. Remove the kitchen towel from the pork belly. Place on a rack on a baking tray and roast for 50-60 minutes - turn down the heat to 180 degrees if the skin looks as if it is burning
• Remove from the oven and rest for at least 20 minutes. Cut off any burned marinade from the sides of the flesh. place skin-side down on a chopping board, and chop into pieces through the incisions
• Serve with rice

Don't worry about burned marindade - the flesh will be moist and white underneath

 

Crispy Roast Belly Pork (燒肉)

Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

I adore this dish, but sadly we don't make it very often nowadays. "Mapo" translates as "pock-marked grandmother", so this dish is sometimes known as "pock-marked grandmother's tofu".

The children aren't yet ready or willing to eat this lip-numbing Sichuanese dish, so the portions I've measured out will make enough for two adults. You can buy ready-made jars of mapo sauce (麻婆醬) in the Chinese supermarket, but I have made it using a spicy ground bean sauce, tobian jiang (辣豆瓣酱).

Lee Kum Kee Chilli Bean Sauce (辣豆瓣酱)

 

Ingredients

• Approx. 150g pork mince (I minced a single pork loin steak)
• 200g firm tofu, cut into 1.5cm cubes (I used Cauldron tofu from the supermarket)
• 2 tsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sunflower or vegetable oil
• 2cm cube raw ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 150ml chicken or pork stock
• 2 tsp chilli bean sauce (la toban jiang 辣豆瓣酱)
• 1/2 spring onion, finely sliced on the diagonal
• A small handful of frozen petits pois
• A few drops of sesame oil
• 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil for frying
• 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 tsp cornflour, mixed with 20ml water

Serves 2

 

Instructions

• Dry-fry the Sichuan peppercorns for 20 seconds, or until they begin to release their aroma. Crush them lightly and set aside
• Add the light soy, dark soy, sugar, Shaoxing rice wine and 1 tsp sunflower oil to the pork mince and mix thoroughly. Set aside and marinade for at least 20 minutes
• Heat a wok until very hot. Add 1 tbsp sunflower oil and swirl it around the wok
• Add the pork mince and fry it quickly, lifting and chopping the mince with a spatula to cook it. Once it is sealed, add the minced garlic and ginger and fry quickly for 20 seconds
• Add the chilli bean sauce to the mince mixture with any remaining marinade and stir-fry, ensuring that the sauce is thoroughly mixed with the mince
• Add the chicken or pork stock to the mince and bring it to the boil. Cover and boil gently for 5 minutes
• Add the cubes of tofu and petits pois and stir gently to mix with the pork mixture. Bring back to the boil. Add the cornflour/water mixture to thicken the sauce, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes, until the petits pois have cooked through and the tofu has taken on the flavours of the sauce
• Remove the wok from the heat and add a few drops of sesame oil. Place in a warmed serving dish, garnished with the ground Sichuan peppercorns and spring onion. Serve immediately

 

Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

Stir-Fried Tofu and Crunchy Vegetables with Black Bean Sauce (豉汁豆腐炒糖豌豆)

It's taken me 3 attempts to get this recipe to something acceptable, and I finally managed it tonight. The veggies are extra crunchy, so keep the lid on the wok for a minute longer if you prefer them to be a bit softer. It was eaten by all three children, which is a small triumph - even though the eldest only ate the sugar snaps, the middle only ate the baby corn, and the youngest only ate the tofu.... still, between us we managed to finish the dish!

Ingredients

• 150g sugar snap peas
• 150g babycorn
• 200g tofu, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1/2 onion, finely sliced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped finely
• 3 tsp black bean sauce, mixed with 30ml water
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 slice raw ginger, peeled and bashed with the flat of a cleaver
• A few drops of sesame oil
• (Optional) 1 tsp cornflour, mixed with a little water to thicken
• Sunflower or vegetable oil for deep frying

Serves 2-3

Instructions

• Remove the fibrous string on the sides of the sugar snap peas by pinching the stem of the pea and "unzipping" the string. Cut the babycorn into halves, widthways at an angle, so that the lengths of babycorn are roughly the same length as the sugar snaps. Wash both thoroughly and place to one side
• Pour approx. 4-5cm depth of sunflower or vegetable oil into a wok, and heat until a wooden chopstick bubbles when placed into a wok. Carefully place the tofu cubes into the hot oil, an deep fry for approx. 8 minutes, shaking occasionally so that the tofu does not stick to the bottom. When the tofu has taken on a golden colour, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen towels. Place to one side
• Pour most of the oil out of the wok, leaving approx. 1-2 tbsp. Reheat the oil to just below smoking, and add the ginger, stirring around to flavour the oil
• Add the sliced onion and stir fry quickly for 1 minute until the onion is glossy and coated with oil
• Add the sugar snap peas and stir fry for another minute, until they are glossy and coated with oil. Throw in the chopped garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds until the garlic is aromatic. Remove the ginger from the wok
• Add the tofu and babycorn and stir-fry quickly for approx. 1 minute, until all of the ingredients are mixed together
• Add the black bean sauce/water mixture and the sugar, and stir-fry to mix the ingredients. Cover the wok and cook for a further minute
• Remove the wok from the heat and add a couple of drops of sesame oil. Stir the ingredients, transfer to a warmed plate and serve immediately

Stir-Fried Tofu and Crunchy Vegetables with Black Bean Sauce (豉汁豆腐炒糖豌豆)

Cottage Pie

I've just been away to Paris for a long weekend, to celebrate a significant anniversary. We had an absolutely wonderful time - despite buying a book of 10 metro tickets, we only used 3 each - to get from the airport, to get to Montmartre, and to get back to the airport. We walked and walked, and ate and drank, and slept. It was fab.

Part of the reason why it was so fab was that I felt freer from responsibility and forward planning than in day-to-day life. However, with usual uptighted-ness, everything was planned to the nth detail in the run-up - including a weekly plan and a drill of instructions for our nanny and my in-laws, and late-night cooking the day before we left - in case the children starved without me!

So there I was once again, piping mashed potato gone midnight. I mentioned in a previous post that M&S cottage pie was one of those great, exotic, non-Chinese dishes we were allowed to buy every so often, and it still brings me comfort, especially with a portion of rice. This recipe has a really tasty mince, with a few unusual ingredients in the sauce.

Ingredients

• 500g beef mince
• 2 medium onions, chopped finely
• 250ml beef stock
• 1tbsp sunflower oil for frying
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1-2 tbsp plain flour
• 1-2 tbsp Marmite
• 1 tbs worcester sauce (has to be Lea and Perrins for me)
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce for colour
• Plenty of ground black pepper
• Approx 1kg white floury potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
• (Optional) 1 handful of grated cheddar cheese
• 25g butter
• 2-3 tablespoons milk
• Salt and ground black pepper

Serves 4

Instructions

• Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy bottomed pan, and add the onions. Fry on a medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until softened - don't let the onions catch and burn
• Add the beef mince and turn up the heat, turning until the mince is browned
• Add the plain flour to the mixture and stir to mix in thoroughly. Cook for 2-3 minutes
• Add the beef stock, worcester sauce, tomato puree, Marmite, dark soy sauce and plenty of ground black pepper. Stir to combine well, cover the pan and reduce the heat. Cook for 45 minutes until the flavours are well combined and the sauce is thickened
• Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Boil gently for 25 minutes, then drain and return to the pan. Mash the potatoes, then add the butter and milk, with a touch of salt and ground black pepper. Adjust the milk until you have the consistency you require. Allow the potatoes to cool slightly whilst the mince is cooking
• Place the mince into a large baking dish

Mince for cottage pie - dark soy sauce gives it that lovely rich colour

• Add the potato on top, either spooning the mash on top, or piping it - working from the outside of the dish into the centre, and add a sprinkling of grated cheddar cheese on top if you like

(1 kg of potatoes gave me just under 2 layers of mash piped on top. You'll use more if you spoon the potato on top, but it should be ok)

Piped mashed potato and a sprinkling of grated cheddar

• Place in the oven at 185 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the mashed potato is browned and crispy on top (I let this cool and left it in the fridge overnight for heating up the next day

Cottage pie