Dinner. NYE. 2013

Felt like having scallops. And for the longest time, felt like having a good steak. So went shopping in Isetan, and was hovering around the beef section.

Miyazaki wagyu @ $32 per 100gms? Faints. Bought USA prime ribeye beef instead. About $12 for 150gms. Hmm...not exactly cheap also. Hope it taste good!

mine...all mine!

Have never cooked steak before, and was too lazy to see any recipe so just decided to marinate it with salt, pepper, sesame oil and a dash of soy sauce. Unfortunately, splashed too much of soy sauce!

absorbing the marinade

Kept the meat in the freezer till an hour before cooking time. Then, left it to sit at room temperature.

cook all with butter

The scallops didn't sear enough, but didn't want to overcook it as it might turn too rubbery. *imagine Gordon Ramsay throwing all those rubber scallops back at ya*

pan seared scallop with some wilted vege in balsamic and butter

Scallops were alright. Was abit worried that it might be undercooked, so popped it into the toaster for another 5 minutes. Texture was similar to lightly boiled/cooked scallops. A darker sear on its outerside would be perfect.

ribeye steak - well done

As the steak was a little thin, should've just sear it for less than 10 seconds on each side. Thought it was cooked well done, prime ribeye beef is a piece of good meat. Tender, and plenty of fats. Yums. Just need to tone down on the marinade, next time.

Bon appetit~ Have a Happy New Year!

homemade roast pork 101

Meat. I like meat. Ever since I was a tiny tot (maybe not so tiny, but about four or five years old?), I remembered eating char siews and siu yuk (roast pork) for lunch, with plain porridge. Charred bits, fatty bits with soy sauce and crackling skin. Double yums.

So, made a tiny suggestion to my sister and here's her second attempt at making roast pork.

Ingredients:

A good slab of pork belly (400 to 500 gms)
Nam yu (preserved bean curd that's reddish in colour)
Five spice powder
Mashed garlic
Salt
Shao Xing Hua Tiao wine

shao xing wine, five spice powder, preserved bean curd

Prepare the rub mix:

just a dash of wine into the mixture of smashed garlic, bean curd, five spice powder and salt

mix well

Prepare the meat:
Pat dry the meat
Use knife and poke into its skin
Turn the meat over and make vertical slits on its meat

make tiny slits

rub into the slits, cover all areas of the meat only

Place the pork with meat side down.

make sure there is something to hold the meat so that its underside can be aired dry

rub salt onto its skin part

Shove the meat into the fridge and forget about it for a couple of hours to dry it as well as letting the rub sets in. Minimum four hours but longer better.

When it is ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to about 220 degrees celcius.

pre-heat the oven

ready to be roasted

When it's halfway done, take the meat out to dab away the oil from its skin.

aiyo, so oily

Then, use a satay stick and stab at the skin to make tiny holes. Or, use anything you like, as long as it can make tiny holes into the skin. Oil will ooze out after that, so make sure to dab away.

Brush rice vinegar onto the skin and put it back into the oven.

in case, like me, you don't know how rice vinegar looks like

Cook till meat looks done and skin is crackling.

roast pork, do-it-at-home style

Let the meat rest for a few minutes.

homemade siu yuk

lovely crunchy skin

My sis cooked it. We took care of the eating part. Yums.

濁り酒

Sayuri Hakutsuru Sake

Nigori 濁り酒 (cloudy) sake. Sweet. Similar to Korean rice wine makgeolli. But probably a tad higher in alcohol content. To think I could get almost drunk from this.. funny.