Duck

Here it is: our dinner, delicious duck, which was cooked in a very traditional Chinese way -- soy sauce + sugar. Soy sauce provides special taste and smell, while sugar is the secret of shinny color. Duck fat can be easily separated in the end, so this is quite healthy.

(1) A whole duck, cut into small dices, rinse and dry with paper towel.

(2) Marinate duck with 2 tsp salt and several tbsp dark soy sauce, let sit in the fridge overnight.

(3) Heat the pot under medium power.

(4) Add some vegetable oil, and put duck dices into the pot, stir until brown.

(5) Add two white part of green onion, one star anise, two pieces of ginger root and 2 tbsp rice wine, reduce heat to medium low or low, cover and let cook for 30 minutes.

(6) Remove cover, stir and condense sauce until only clear yellowish fat left in the pot.

(7) Sprinkle 4 tsp sugar on duck dices, quickly stir to let duck dices be evenly covered with melted sugar.

(8) Drain to remove fat and transfer cooked duck onto plate.

Serve immediately.

Soybean in soy sauce

　

As we know, soy sauce is made from soybean. In my eyes, cooking soybeans in soy sauce is a warm hug of parents and children. My granny used to make this snack in winter. We watched soccer games and grabbed this tasty and chewy snack, what a happy time!

It is very easy to make this snack, all the ingredients can be found in local supermarket or the store like Bulk Barn. One important thing required is patience LOL.

Here is the recipe:

(1) Soak 2/3 cup dry soybeans (uncooked) in water for at least 12 hours;

(2) Drain soybeans and pour them into a 1 qt. pot, add 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 5 tbsp brown sugar and 1 star anise;

(3) Add some water just over soy beans;

(4) Heat under high power to bring it boil, remove foam and then reduce heat to medium-low, simmer for 1 hour or until soy beans are cooked through;

(5) Switch to medium-high power again, fully condense the sauce (there should be no liquid left in the pot).

This kind of soybean is a good mate for porridge too.

Braised trout in soy sauce with sweet and sour taste

One slice of fish tail (about 1/3 of rainbow trout), cleaned and scaled.

Score lightly on both sides and marinate it with 1 tsp salt for 30 minutes.

Thinly slice a piece of ginger and finely chop green onion.

In a skillet, add some oil and let it evenly spread on the bottom, add ginger in, heat under low power.

When the skillet is very hot, add fish tail in, brown each side.

Sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce and 4 tbsp water.

Cover the skillet, let cook under low power for 5 minutes or until fish is cooked through.

Remove cover, turn fish over with rubber spatula, let cook for another several minutes, so that the other side of fish can absorb the flavor.

Transfer fish to a plate.

Add chopped green onion, stir-fry under medium heat until aroma develops. Drizzle sauce on the fish tail.

Enjoy your weekend!

Stewed pork

Mmm, our favorite way to cook pork -- only add soy sauce, brown sugar, salt, green onion and ginger; simple but extraordinarily delicious. We serve it with white rice and green vegetables. Really have a good appetite :)

(1) Dice about 3 lb pork shoulder, rinse and strain;

(2) In a saucepot, add 2 tbsp oil, heat under high power;

(3) Add pork dice, stir until pork turns to brown in color;

(4) Add 1/4 cup rice wine or sherry, stir until water fully evaporate and melted pork fat is clearly separated;

(5) Strain to remove melted fat, place pork back to the pot;

(6) In a hot pan, heat under medium power, add 6 tbsp brown sugar, stir until aroma develops;

(7) Blend brown sugar with pork dice immediately;

(8) Add 6 tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 tsp salt, 2 cup water, 3 white part of green onion, 3 slices of ginger root, combine well, and bring to boil;

(9) Stew for 1 hour under low power;

(10) Switch to medium power, gently stir while concentrating sauce.

Serve immediately.

For leftover stewed pork, steam but not reheat in microwave oven.

Boned, braised and sliced turkey in soy sauce

I made this dish for my guests, who like to try different cuisines all over the world. I promised that I would cook something with local raw materials but possessing quite different tastes.

The dinner party was held right before Christmas, therefore, I chose turkey as main dish. Besides, I found people here like soy sauce very much, they even directly stir soy sauce into steamed rice to promote the smell. Okay, I have almost had the idea:

1. Two turkey drumsticks, boned and cut in half lengthwise; then marinated in the mixture of dark soy sauce and 1 tsp salt (the amount of dark soy sauce is not precise, because it doesn't bring too much salty taste, instead, it gives the beautiful color) over night (kept in the fridge).

2. Heat an empty wok (without oil) over high temperature. When the wok is hot, place turkey drumsticks skin side down into the wok, until the skin is brown.

3. Turn over the drumsticks, add water (leave skin out of the water), two star anises and the left marinated sauce. Evenly sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar on the skin. Bring to boil, cover the wok and braise under medium heat for 20 minutes.

4. Switch to high temperature, remove cover, turn over drumsticks several times, so that both meat and skin can be covered with thick sauce.

5. Stop heating and transfer drumsticks to the rack when there is about 1 cup sauce left in the wok. Remove star anises from the sauce and transfer sauce to a container.

6. Cool drumsticks for about 10 minutes and slice. Warm the sauce when necessary, pour warm sauce on the sliced drumsticks, decorate with parsley flakes and vegetable flowers.

Voilà!

My guests were surprised to see that turkey could be cooked in this way, and they emptied the whole plate of turkey ;=P

I will continue to introduce you my recipes on cooking turkey, hope you will like them.