Sourdough Baguette-french bread style

For starter:
4 3/4 ounces (about 1 cup) unbleached bread flour
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup filtered or spring water, room temperature

Makes 4 baguettes.

Ingredients

• 200 grams (7 ounces) ripe "100%" natural starter (see note, plus picture below)
• 600 grams (21 ounces) wheat flour or a mix of flours (I use one third T65, one third T80, one third T110, i.e. a mix of white and partially whole wheat flours)
• 365 grams (14 ounces) purified water
• 1 tablespoon powdered gluten (optional, but useful if you're working with French flours, which tend to be on the soft -i.e. low-gluten -side; you'll find it in natural food stores)
• 10 grams (2 teaspoons) sea salt (I use unrefined gray salt from Guérande)

Cantonese Roast Pork 烧肉 (Siew Yuk)

Cantonese roast pork belly is delicious. The best roast pork should have a lightly puffed skin that shatters delicately when you crunch down on it.  Under that delicious crispy pork rind should be meltingly tender layers of fat and highly spiced meat.  The actual ingredients required to make roast pork is simple but this is one recipe that is all about the technique.  I've made roast pork 3-4 times in the past but this recipe from WendyinKK is the winner!

(Source with minor adaptions)

Ingredients

• 3lbs boneless pork belly, skin on 
• 2 Tbsp salt

Marinade

• 1 Tbsp 5 spice powder (star anise, cloves, fennel, sichuan peppercorn, cinnamon)
• 1 tsp large flake sea salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• 2 large cloves of garlic, smashed into a paste
• 3 cubes of Chinese red yeast fermented tofu (nam yu)
• 1 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine or Shao Xing wine
• 2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar (to brush on skin after 1st roasting)

Directions

1. Assemble all your ingredients.  Mix the marinade into a paste.

(fermented red yeast bean curd, Shoaxing wine, garlic, homemade five spice powder)

2. The pork belly at the market was cut rather small so I asked for two pieces.  It turned out to be quite serendipitous because I can use it to illustrate the differences between an ideal cut of meat with thin, alternating layers of fat and meat (left) versus a fattier, meatier, chunkier piece (right) that is not going to taste or look as delicious.

3. I also took this opportunity to try two different rind-crisping methods since there are basically two schools of thought regarding the pork rind.  

I interrupt this blog post with a PSA:

Your pork belly may have nipples.  

You may leave them on but I highly suggest cutting them off.  I don't really want to see nipples on my food and I don't want to eat nipples on my food.  But if nipples are your thing, then by all means, leave the nipples.  

(NSFW)

Some people dunk or pour boiling hot water over the belly to tighten the rind and allow it to evaporate water more quickly.  Other people just blot the rind dry and allow it to air dry naturally.  I tried both methods and discovered that the boiling water method did produce a minimally better crust.   

4. Scrub scrub scrub your pork belly clean with a bit of salt under running water.  Pat dry and go at it with a pair of sturdy tweezers to remove any pork bristles left.  

5. After epilation, flip the meat up and score the meat in a diamond pattern.  This allows the marinade to flavor the meat more evenly.

6. Rub the marinade into every nook and cranny.  Flip it back over and place it on a clean pan. 

7. Pat the skin dry and sprinkle 1 large Chinese soup spoon of sea salt or other large flake salt over the skin.  Do not rub it in, just pat it on gently.

8. Let it chill in the fridge for 12-24 hours.

9. After 12-24 ours, remove the pork bellies and lightly brush off the salt crust.  The un-blanched piece above has some waterlogged parts of the skin while the edges have started to dry out.  The blanched piece below is uniformly dry and even-textured.  You want your belly to be as flat as possible because the difference in height will cause uneven roasting. (But don't worry, there is a remedy/hack for that). 

10. Roast the bellies elevated over a lined pan for 40 minutes at 450 degrees F.

11. Carefully remove from the oven (beware of sloshing liquid fat!) and pluck out any remaining bristles.  Make 10,000 tiny pin pricks into the rind.  I used a medical grade surgical steel lancet typically used by estheticians but you can use a long needle or sharp knife.  Maybe even a wood skewer.  You have to make sure you pierce through the skin but not so deep that it goes too far into the fat.  Afterward, brush on a it of rice vinegar and pop it back in the oven to roast until the skin is completely puffed and crispy.

12. Halfway through roasting.  The blanched piece is puffing more quickly and evenly

13. If your pork is roasting unevenly, cover the crisped portions with aluminum foil lest it burn.

14. Don't worry, even if it does blanken and char, you can just scrape the burnt parts off like you would scrape off burnt toast.  It's better to be burnt in than undercooked.

15. Sadly, I do not have a pretty picture of the pork belly because we were all in a hurry to eat it.  Just remember to let the roast pork cool completely before cutting into it or the juices from the pork will make the crust soggy and a soggy crust is no bueno mmmm ho seik!

Served as "peking duck" style appetizer with slivered green onions, cucumber, homemade baozi, and a bit of diluted hoisin sauce.

Luo Buo Gao (Chinese Daikon Cake)

Luo Buo Gao was my favorite Chinese dimsum item growing up and even now, I still love it.  It has a wonderful crispy exterior when pan fried and the inside is creamy and studded with savory Chinese sausage, dried shrimp, and black mushrooms.  My first few attempts were soggy and too bland but I think I've finally got it!  The secret is adding a bit of wheat starch to it!  The addition of wheat starch makes the texture chewier and firmer, and is apparently safe for those who cannot tolerate gluten.

Ingredients

• 2 large Japanese Daikon (shred 1 and julienne the other)
• 2 c. water, divided
• 1/4 cup dried shrimp
• 3 pieces Chinese sausage, diced
• 3-4 green onions, sliced
• 3 c. rice flour (not glutinous rice flour)
• 3 tbl. wheat starch
• 1 tbl salt
• 3/4 tsp white pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• t tbl. sugar
• 1 tbl. sesame oil

Directions

1. Over a hot wok, saute the dried shrimp, mushrooms, and Chinese sausage together until fragrant. Set aside.
2. In same wok, add the shredded and julienned radish and 1 cup of water. Cook until translucent and tender. Turn off heat. Then, add the shrimp, sausage, and mushrooms back in.  Add in green onions and sesame oil.
3. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Pour in 1 cup of water and give it a stir. 
4. Pour the wok ingredients into the flour mixture and mix until fully combined.  
5. Pour into greased glass dishes (I used an 8x8 brownie pan and a loaf pan) and steam over medium-high heat for about an hour.  
6. Let cool completely.  Slice into squares and pan fry until the exterior is crispy and golden brown.

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup (Hong Shao Niu Rou Mian)

Beef shank is probably my favorite cut of meat.  I love it braised until tender in stew or sliced up cold for sandwiches.  Normally, I get whole sections of shank at a Japanese market but it is a bit of a hassle getting there with a little baby.  On a whim, I asked the butcher at my local market the other day if they had any beef shank available and he told me they did not.  I wasn't expecting a non-Asian market to carry beef shank but Chris the Meatman found me wandering through the aisles and told me that they did indeed have some whole beef shank frozen in the back!  He produced two giant whole shanks, bone in-tact, and told me it was $3.99lb.  Sold!  Chris deboned it and cut up the bones for me.  I instantly thought of making broth from the amazing marrow bones and one thought led to another before I decided to make Taiwanese beef noodle soup.

I've had lots of versions of Taiwanese beef noodle soup and it is generally tender beef stewed in an aromatic soy sauce broth.  Some versions serve the noodles in a clear, lighter broth with seasoned braised meat but this is the version that Hubby likes best.  Unlike Cantonese broths, this Taiwanese broth is not subtle at all: it is assertively flavored and the resulting flavor is savory, vaguely sweet, tangy, and richly spiced.  It's just so soothing on a rainy fall day.

Serves 4 very hungry adults

Ingredients:

• 1 whole shank bone, cut into small pieces
• 3lbs shank meat, cut into 3-4 inch pieces

• 3 tbl spicy bean paste
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 green onions
• 1 small ripe tomato
• 2-3 star anise
• 2 inch piece ginger
• 1 red chili (optional)

• 1 satchel Taiwanese braising spice
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice wine
• 2-3 tbl soy sauce paste
• 2 red carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks

• Rice noodles or wheat noodles
• Baby bok choy or chopped romaine lettuce
• Green onions and/or cilantro (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Rapidly boil meat and bones for about 5 minutes until all the brown scum comes out.  Pour it out over a colander and wash each piece thoroughly but take care not to throw out the marrow.  After washing to pot well, return the bones to the pot and cover with water.  Let it boil and then reduce to a simmer.
2. In large cast-iron pot, stir fry the chili paste, garlic, onions, tomato, anise, ginger, and pepper with a little bit of oil until aromatic.
3. Add beef shank to the aromatics and ladle in beef broth (from the first pot) until it barely covers the beef.
4. Add in the spice satchel, soy sauce, and rice wine. Let the broth come to a rolling boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1.5 hours.  Then add in carrots and simmer for an additional 30 minutes or until the carrots and meat are tender.  Cover pot, turn off heat, and let it steep as long as you can before serving.  Skim fat.  Stew is best the next day.

To serve, cook noodles according to package instructions.  Drain and put noodles in large bowl.  Assemble blanched bok choy or lettuce over the noodles and ladle beef stew over it.  Garnish with sliced green onion or cilantro. Enjoy!