Pan Roasted Char Siew 叉烧

Last week I made Char Siew Rice during one dinner.  The kids are not fans of Char Siew so I make them something else.

The Char Siew was done using my Happy Call grill pan. However you can use any non-stick pan with a lid on. It's relatively quite easy to make but you have watch over it to prevent the char siew from burning.

I'm using the lowest heat I can get on my burner so I can roast the meat longer to make it tender without burning it. Have hot water on hand and if you find the sauce drying up, thin it by adding some hot water to continue cooking it.

This works well with ribs too. You don't really need an oven to do it. If you love to have ribs for this coming Christmas but do not have an oven, you might want to try this pan roasting method.

Ingredients:

• 500g Shoulder Butt Pork (pork with a bit more fats is preferred)
• 2 tablespoon Maltose
• 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Hoisin Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 100ml + additional 50ml Water

How to do it:

1. Combine all ingredients, except water, together.
2. Marinate for at least an hour.
3. Pour the marinate into the pan and add 100ml water.
4. Bring the sauce to a boil.
5. Add in the meat and cook on all sides first.
6. Reduce heat to low.
7. Cover the pan and continue cooking for 45 mins.
8. Turn the meat every 10 mins to coat it well with sauce as well as to prevent it from burning at the bottom.
9. Turn it more often when sauce reduced and starts to thickened. Add a bit more water if necessary to prevent the sauce from burning which will makes it bitter.
10. Remove the meat and set aside to let it cool before slicing it.
11. Add in the remanding water to thin the sauce.
12. You can use the sauce to drizzle over the char siew or rice.

Note:

• Do not replace maltose with sugar as sugar will turn hard when it's cooled, which in turn, makes the meat hard. If you do not have maltose, you can use honey instead.
• Amount of water added depends on how fast your sauce thickens. Every stove is different. Hence, the low heat/fire might be different. I have lower the fire on my stove to the lowest I can get.
• Happy Call Pan has a wider cooking area hence the sauce will dries and thicken faster. If you are using a smaller pot or pan, you might need to reduce the amount of water added at first. Please adjust accordingly.

Sweet Pan Roasted Chestnut 炒糖栗子

This was in my draft folder since January this year! :P I might have thought that I have published it and this could be a duplicate. O_o

Roasted Chestnuts has always being my favourite and my sister's too I think. I couldn't resist buying if I see or smell it. I will follow the aroma to get to it! However, you don't get to see roasted chestnuts very often.

These homemade one can't beat those roasted with those small burned stones which help roast the chestnuts evenly. Nonetheless, this will do till I get my hands on the "professionally" done ones. ;)

Ingredients:

• 400g Raw Chestnut, washed, cleaned and dried
• 1 tablespoon Cooking Oil
• 100ml Water 
• 1-2 tablespoon White Sugar

How to do it:

1. Slit chestnut carefully with a sharp pointed knife to prevent 'explosions' during cooking.
2. Pan toast the chestnut on medium low heat for 5 mins to dry them.
3. Remove and toss chestnut in oil to coat evenly.
4. Return to pan and roast for 15 mins covered.
5. Remove the cover and stir regularly to prevent burning.
6. Meanwhile, melt sugar in water by simmering it.
7. Add sugar solution to the pan.
8. Continue to let the chestnuts to cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent burning (like me :P) until the water evaporates and the chestnuts are tender.
9. Peel and eat while it's hot!

Little Cheese Men

My son likes ham and cheese sandwiches but the most he will eat is a slice of bread if it's with sliced cheese even if in cute shapes. However if it's with ham alone, he can eat two slices. So I gathered that it got to do with cheese.

I tried Parmesan Cheese and guess what? He can eat more than three slices! Sure he likes it. It smells nice and is crunchy too!

* Marching Little Cheese Men *

Today we had cut-out little men and flowers (not shown here) on the remaining bread. It was really easy to make too.

Just butter the bread. Have a bowl of grated Parmesan Cheese ready. You may want to use unsalted butter since Parmesan Cheese alone is salty enough. Then press the bread with butter side down to the cheese. Shake off excess cheese. After which, you can toast it in your oven, cheese side up.

I was too lazy to bring out my oven so I used frying  pan instead. Toast the plain side first then turn over to toast the side with cheese. Remove them once they are slightly brown. Cool them on the rack before giving them to your kids.

Oh! Your kids can do this too. It's fun! Just remember to do the toasting for them.