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Homemade Vietnamese Sandwich with Grilled Chicken

I really love Vietnamese Submarines, and these days, it seems to be hard to find some in the city – for a reasonable price. I had to make a few modifications as I didn’t have all the ingredients, but the sandwich sure tasted great!

Ingredients:
1 French Roll or similar bun (crusty outside, soft inside)
1 chicken breast or 2 chicken thighs (boneless and skinless)
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 or 2 slices of cucumbers
cilantro
pickled carrots
chili pepper (optional)
onions
soy sauce
fish sauce
white soft cheese (I use mozzarella cheese)

To make this, I actually made my own pickled carrots, which is really simple to do. Some people have a mixture of pickled daikon and carrots, but I opted for just carrots as that’s the way I’m use to! If you’re making it, make this step at least an hour ahead of time.

Pan sear the chicken thigh or breast with some oil, salt and pepper. Once it’s cooked, take off the stove and let it rest.

In the mean time, cut your bun, spread one side with mayonnaise and the other side with a few shakes of soy sauce and fish sauce, and salt and pepper.

Place the meat on the bun, and top it with some cheese and bake until the cheese melts in a 350F oven, which takes a few minutes. Then, take the submarine out of the oven, and top it off with the pickled carrots, cilantro and other fresh vegetables. (I usually don’t put the raw onions on as I’m worried about onion breath at work – if I’m having this for lunch) Put the top of the sandwich on and you’re ready to enjoy!

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Homemade Chinese Roast Pork Belly – Siu Yuk 燒肉

Home Made Crispy Skin Pork Belly – Siew Yoke

Okay, this isn’t something we eat a lot of at all, but I really wanted to make it, and it’s Roast Pork Belly. I bought my strip of pork belly with bone in and skin on from the Asian grocery market, and we just got a small slab.

Ingredients:
slab of pork belly
1 or 2 cube of fermented bean curd
Chinese Five Spice (五香粉)
White Pepper
Salt
Rice Vinegar (or white vinegar)

The first thing is first, you gotta clean your meat – so rinse the pork belly off well with cold water, and pat it completely dry with paper towels. You do need to make this a few hours ahead, so plan ahead!

Once the pork is clean, make the marinade for the pork belly by smashing a piece of the fermented bean curd until it’s a paste. Add to the paste the Five Spice, and White Pepper.

Prepare the meat now, by stabbing the skin with your knife – not through the entire skin, but you want lots of punctures on the skin. If you want, cut the actual pork meat so marinade gets through. I didn’t do this as my pork belly has bones.

Then, rub the marinade all over the pork belly EXCEPT the skin. Leave the skin part dry for now with nothing on it. After the marinade is on the pork, rub the salt onto the skin, and do a really good job of it. Try to get it into some puncture holes if you can! Put the entire slab of pork belly onto a wire rack with a line tray underneath and refrigerate for a few hours – or even overnight.

After you’ve marinated for a few hours, take the pork belly out of the fridge while you wait for the oven to preheat. Set the oven to 400F, and then put the pork belly into the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes and pull it out to brush some rice wine vinegar on the skin. I brush it again after another 20 minutes. Then, continue letting the pork bake until almost thoroughly cooked. To finish the cooking, change the oven setting to broil and give it another 20 minutes for the skin to become fluffy and crunchy.

When the baking has competed, take the pork belly out of the oven and let it rest for 10 a few minutes for the juices to redistribute in the meat, then slice and serve!

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Homemade Chinese Deep Fried Crispy Milk – 炸鮮奶

Home Made Crispy Milk Recipe

Deep fried foods are always good – it doesn’t matter what you fry, and chances are… it will taste great! I had a craving for Deep Fried Crispy Milk as I was in a deep frying phase at home, so I decided to make some. This is a large batch and can feel lots. For 2-4 people, I would actually recommend cutting the recipe down in half.

Ingredients:
Filling –
4 tbsp Cornstarch
1 small can (168mL) Coconut Milk
1 small can (168mL) Milk
1 tbsp condensed milk
1/4 tsp salt

Batter –
1 cup Flour
4 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tsp baking Powder
1 cup Seltzer water

First of all, the filling does take some time to set, so be sure you make this a few hours prior to frying! To make the filling, mix together the coconut milk, milk condensed milk with a pinch of salt. Then, stir the cornstarch into the cold milk mixture until smooth.

Put the mixture into a pot and heat slowly. The mixture will begin to thicken up – of course from the bottom and sides first, so mix well. Heat until the entire mixture is thick and smooth and could be molded.

Press the mixture into a container, and let it set in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Once the filling is firm, it is ready to get cut up into small chunks, and I like to cut it up into bit size squares. Then, I make the batter, which is mixing all the dry ingredients together, and then pouring some seltzer water, just enough to get a thick batter. Dunk and coat the filling pieces into this batter, and then fry until golden brown!

Put the golden brown, super crispy fried milk on a plate with some paper towel to absorb some grease. I like to serve it with a little plate of condensed milk. This is definitely best enjoyed hot!

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Homemade Deep Fried Bananas

Home Made Fried Bananas

I’ve been starting to eat bananas for awhile now, and I’m in a deep frying phase at my house right now… which is kind of bad. But, I thought a Deep Fried Banana would be an excellent idea! I must note, this batter is enough to coat a few more bananas too… so, you can either make more, or reduce the batter!

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
1/4 cup seltzer water
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking soda

First of all, use at least a yellow banana for this recipe! Be careful if it’s too ripe though, as it becomes “mushy” fast. I’ve been trying a deep fry banana everyday – as the banana’s ripen, and with a different batter each time, to think of a better batter. I really like using a version of tempura batter for this recipe!

I start heating up the oil for frying as it’s a quick and simple batter.

To begin this dessert or snack – if you’re crazy like me… make the batter! Mix the dry ingredients together first, so add the flour, cornstarch and baking soda into a bowl. Once the dry ingredients are mixed, you’re ready to add the seltzer water. Typically, I have been finding myself adding less than the amount called for, and then add some more until I get to a thick consistency that I like.

Then, I split a banana in half, just so it fits in my fryer. I coat the banana in the batter!

Now, once the bananas are coated completely, you’re ready to drop it into the hot oil! Be careful, it can splash – and the oil is extremely hot!

Once the banana coating is crispy and golden brown, you should take it out and put it on a paper tower to absorb some oil.

Now, you can either eat it as is, or drizzle some delicious topping. I’ve tried it with honey and chocolate syrup and it was a really light and delicious combination with the bananas.

Another great topping that I really liked is with condensed milk. While eating this, I was thinking about peanut butter drizzle too… but, I just wanted to enjoy my crispy banana. Basically, the toppings can be endless!

This is best eaten hot and crispy! So, don’t spend too long finding toppings!

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Homemade Black Pepper Sauce with Pork Chop

I didn’t know what to make for a meal this one day, and my other half really likes black pepper sauce – on everything! So, I had some pork chop, and decided to make Pork Chop with Black Pepper Sauce

Ingredients:
3 slices of thin pork chop
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 chopped onions
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce

First, start by marinating the pork with salt and pepper. Then wash the mushrooms, and chop up all the vegetables.

Pan sear the pork chop in a pan until you got good searing colour on the pork. If it’s thick, finish the pork off in the oven. I like to use thin pork chop to avoid this step – so the meat can be resting while we make the sauce!

In the same pan, saute the mushrooms, onions and garlic until tender. Then, add some water to deglaze the pan, and it will become the gravy sauce that you pour ontop of the pork chop and the rice.

While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the sauce by combining the cornstarch with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and pepper. Mix it with some cold water to dissolve before pouring it into the pan.

You can serve this on a plate of rice and some vegetables. You can substitute the meat for any other protein – and it works with just vegetable stir fry as well! Of course, you can add less water to the pan if you like the sauce thicker. There’s never any set recipes in Chinese cooking! Always taste it, and when you think it tastes good – it’s good!