Brown Sugar Glazed Bone-In Pork Chop with Celery Leaf Salad

Brown sugar glazed double thick bone-in chop with roasted garlic and salsa rojo with celery leaf and red onion salad with soy vinaigrette.

Pork Stir Fried Noodles with King Oyster and Shiitake Mushrooms

The hu tieu noodles have tapioca in it and makes for a chewy bite. 

Stir frying the mushrooms, onion, carrot in Sichuan peppercorn, garlic and ginger oil.

Ingredients:

Pork shoulder, sliced into thin strips (1/4 in.) and soaked in baking soda solution for 15 minutes to tenderize. Pat dry, dust with rice flour or corn starch and make sure to coat all surfaces before cooking.

Hu tieu noodles, blanched in boiling water briefly, rinse and dress well with sesame and vegetable oil.

Half a medium red onion, sliced

King oyster mushrooms, sliced

Shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Small carrot, sliced at bias

2 - 3 Garlic cloves, sliced

2 - 3 Dried chiles (cayenne, japones or one of your choice)

Small piece of ginger, minced

1 Tbsp of Sichuan peppercorns

Sauce:

Sesame oil

Vegetable oil

Soy sauce

Oyster sauce

1/4 Cup of water or chicken broth

Green onion, sliced on bias for garnish

Cilantro, rough chopped for garnish

Lime juice to dress dish before serving

Tips:

Fry the Sichuan peppercorns, ginger and dried chiles in hot oil until fragrant. Add mushrooms, carrots, onion and fry until almost done. Reserve.

Add a couple tablespoon of oil to pan as needed, stir fry pork at high heat until just cooked. It should go quickly since it is cut in thin strips. Do not overcook.

Stir fry noodles and add a little (1 Tbsp) of hot water or chicken broth to steam and help cook. When noodles are about done, pour in sauce. Bring to boil then plate: Noodles on bottom, pork and vegetables on top and garnish.

Vietnamese Red Cabbage Chicken Salad with Prawn Crackers

Vietnamese red cabbage and chicken salad.

Salad served with fried prawn crackers. 

Dressed salad in mixing bowl.

*Note: for vegetarian version, replace chicken with poached shiitake, oyster or king oyster mushroom. For vegetarian version, you could use soy sauce or try this recipe from The Chubby Vegetarian blog. (I have not tried it myself but it sounds very tasty).

Ingredients:

(This recipe portion will serve four people)

3 Chicken thighs, gently poached with half an onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 4 cloves, bay leaves, 2 star anise pods. Poach for about 20 minutes, remove and let cool then shred into small bite sized pieces. The cooking liquid could be reduced and other ingredients added to make a stock. I don't waste any of it. Try adding things like mushrooms, carrots, celery and you will have a pretty classic chicken stock.

Half a small red cabbage, finely shredded with mandoline or sliced with knife. Do not grate as the texture will change.

Small piece of ginger, finely minced.

Two jalapenos or chile of your choice, thinly slice with seeds intact.

One small red onion, thinly sliced then quick pickled in vinegar for about 15 minutes.

Two small carrots (or one large), shredded or julienned.

Bunch of Vietnamese coriander, roughly chopped.

Bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped.

Lime or lemon juice, to taste.

Prawn crackers, fried. (They can be bought at most Asian markets and come in a small box. They can also be microwaved as a hack but won't be as light and crisp as frying in oil).

Fish sauce dressing:

Fish sauce, 1 part

Water, 3 parts

Rice wine vinegar, 1 part

Sugar to taste

Lime or lemon juice to taste

Crushed garlic

Crushed ginger

Crushed chile

Assemble ingredients in large bowl, dress, mix well and keep in fridge until ready to serve.