Tonkotsu style ramen

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the pork marinade:

* 400 g pork steak (preferable one piece)

* 1 tablespoon sake

* 1 tablespoon soy sauce

* 1 teaspoon oyster sauce

* 1 tablespoon honey

* 1 garlic clove, chopped

* Salt

* Pepper

For the soup:

* 1 liter stock (any kind will do, but I used dashi)
* 0.5 liter soy milk

* 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or more to taste)
* 1 teaspoon sugar

* 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated

* 2 garlic cloves, grated

* Noodles

* Optional: Sesame oil

For the topping:

* Pork
* Narutomaki (I used "normal" fish cake since I couldn't find it where I live)

* Spring onion

* Bamboo shoots

* Whatever you like

Preparation:

Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper on each side and heat up a skillet with some oil.
Fry the pork on each side until brown and set aside. Don't cook it through!

Now let the pork cool down and mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Put the marinade in the skillet and let it simmer until the alcohol from the sake is evaporated. Meanwhile cut the pork in slices. You will notice that it is probably still red on the inside, but this is ok.
Put the pork in the skillet with the marinade and fry until the pork sucked up some of the marinade, or, like I did, until a bit crispy.

Take out the pork and set aside. Now we start boiling our noodles while we prepare the soup.

Heat up a pan on medium heat andboil the stock. Add the rest of the ingredients and slowly warm the soup. Don't let it boil! Put in a teaspoon of sesame oil if you have it to enhance the flavour. Mix thoroughly and lower the heat to the lowest setting to keep the soup warm.

When the noodles are done, pour the water and rinse with cold water. Put the noodles in a bowl and pour the soup over them until they are almost under. Now add your favourite toppings in any way you like and enjoy your soup!


Mike & Leda

Grilled blade chop

serves 2

Ingredients:

* Salad of choice

* Vinegar 

* Basil

* 2 blade chops

* 4 garlic cloves
* 1 big onion

* Oregano

* Salt

* Pepper

* Oil

Preparation:

This is a dish my mom taught me. I tried it today and it tastes fabulous!

Finely cut the garlic. Chop the onion in large pieces. Take an oven dish and smear with oil. 

Now marinade the blade chops with salt, pepper, oregano and garlic to taste on both sides. Place in the oven dish. Put the onion in the open spaces between the meat and cover everything with a bit of oil.

Now put the ovendish in the oven on the grill stand for about 30 minutes. Flip the blade chops halfway.

For the salad, use anything you like. I used a mixed salad and added tomatoes to them. Make a dressing out of vinegar, (olive) oil, salt, pepper, and basil to taste.
Serve with bread or fried potatoes.

I hope you enjoy this simple, but absolutely stunning recipe. It's definitely worth a try!

Bon apetite!

Yours truly,

Mike

Babi panggang with fried rice

serves 2 - 3

Ingredients:

For the Babi Panggang:

* 500g lard cutlet 

* 1 teaspoon coriander powder

* 1 teaspoon of Chinese 5 spices

* 5 spoons of Ketjap Manis

* 0,5 spoon of oil

* A dash of lemon juice

* 1 Garlic clove finely cut

For the sauce:

* 125ml Tomato ketchup
* 1 spoon of sweet chili sauce

* 2 spoons of vinegar

* 4 spoons of ginger syrup

* 3 spoons of Ketjap Manis
* 2 spoons of dark caster sugar

For the fried rice:

* 2 cups of rice

* 1 leek

* 1 middle sized onion

* 2 garlic cloves
* 150g ham in cubes

* 1 spoon of Sambal Ulek

* 1 spoon of coriander powder

* 1 spoon of cinnamon

* 1 spoon of nutmeg

* 1 spoon of cloves powder

Additional:

* Atjar (pickled vegetables)

Preparation:

The following preparations are best done a night before cooking this dish:

Boil the rice with plenty of water, meanwhile make a marinade of everything for the Babi Panggang, except the lard cutlet. Cut the lard cutlet in strips and mix well with the marinade. Meanwhile, when the rice is done, pour all the water out and leave alone until the next day. Put the marinated meat in the frigde. Mix all ingredients for the sauce with a whisk and leave overnight as well.

Cut the leek in rings, and finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat up a wok pan and fry the lard cutlet while stirring occasionally until it gets crispy ( or use the oven to do this ). Meanwhile heat up another wok and stir fry the hamcubes, onion and garlic with the spoon of Sambal. Add the leek to this mixture and stir well. When the leek starts to shrink a little put in all the herbs, stir well. 

Meanwhile the lard cutlet should be getting crisp. Pour the sauce mix over it once you are satisfied, if not, wait until later, be sure to put on medium heat, and stir occasionally.

Now add the cold rice to the leek mixture and stir well. It is best if you use two spatulas for it. The rice should be loose, if not break it. Blend the rice well with the mixture, making sure it mixes well with the vegetables, ham and herbs. Stir fry for about 1 - 2 minutes more. 

Don't forget to stir the sauce mixture occasionally as well. Be sure to put on low heat when you pour the sauce in. At this point you can add the pickled vegetables to the sauce mixture if you like.

Once the dish is done, serve the fried rice apart from the Babi Panggang.

I hope you enjoy this dish and hopefully until soon.

Yours truly,

Mike

Pork Jambalaya

serves 6

Ingredients:

* 500g boneless pork shoulder
* 50 ml olive oil
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 1 cup finely chopped celery ( I used dried celery)
* 1 finely chopped red or green paprika
* 250g hamcubes
* 1 tablespoon black pepper
* 1 tablespoon white pepper
* 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
* 250g chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
* 1 bay leave
* 1 tablespoon dried thyme
* hot pepper sauce or tabasco
* 250ml dry white wine
* 2 cups of rice
* 075 liter chicken stock, heated

Preparation:

Remove any visible fat or gristle from the pork and cut the meat into 1cm cubes. Heat the oil in a large casserole or pan. Brown the cubes of pork, in batches if necessary, stirring to color evenly. Remove the pork with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onions, celery and paprika to the casserole and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes. Add the ham, black and white peppers, cayenne and salt. Cook over a medium heat, stirring frequantly, until the onions are soft and golden, about 12 minutes. Add the garlic, tomatoes, herbs and hot pepper sauce to taste. Cook for 5 minutes more. Add the pork and wine and mix well, then cover the casserole and cook gently over a low heat for about 45 minutes. Add the rice and stir well. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Pour 750ml of the chicken stock and stir to blend. Bring to the boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir the mixture occasionally and add more chicken stock if necessary. The rice should be moist, not dry and fluffy. Serve straight from the casserole or in a large heated serving dish.

Source: American Regional Cooking by: Carole Clements, Laura Washburn & Patricia Lousada

I hope you enjoy the recipe and have a good meal!

Yours truly,

Mike

Shawarma Stroganoff

serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

* 500g (pork) shawarma meat
* 1 green paprika
* 1 red paprika
* 1 yellow paprika
* 1 large onion
* 1 small can of tomato purée
* 125 ml cream

Preparation;

This is really easy to prepare, and pretty cheap too, but that doesn't go under for the taste!
Clean the paprika and cut them in slices. Cut the onion in half rings. Heat a pan and fry the meat for about 3 minutes. Add all the vegetables. Stir fry for about 3 minutes again. Now add the purée, and the cream. Mix well and let it cook until everything is done. Serve with bread, or fried potato wedges and/or (iceberg) lettuce. I really hope you enjoy your meal!

Yours truly,

Mike