All posts tagged: pork

Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder Adobo

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Today marks 6 years since we visited the Philippines and I wanted to share this adobo recipe with you. Adobe is a chicken or pork stew with vinegar and black peppercorns from the Philippines. So beloved, it is served for daily meals, at parties and feasts. Traditionally made on the stove top, I adapted this for the slow cooker. This recipe makes a generous amount and adobo leftovers are a gift that keeps on giving. Serve with fluffy white rice, fresh cucumber slices and spring onion garnish. Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder Adobo 15 mins prep | 8 hours cookDifficulty: Easy | Serves 6 𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦2kg pork shoulder (or 1.5kg diced pork pieces)1 Tbsp cooking oil2 onions, chopped1 Tbsp whole black peppercorns1 cup white vinegar½ cup light soy sauce1 Tbsp dark soy sauce3 Tbsp soft brown sugar8 cloves garlic, sliced5 dried bay leavesTo serve: spring onion, cucumber slices and rice 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 This recipe was created for NZ Pork

Honey Miso Slow Roast Pork Shoulder

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Looking for a hands-off dinner? This honey miso slow roast pork shoulder is quick to put together but then spends 3 hours in the oven. Served with shredded cabbage, sliced cucumber, rice, and miso soup for a delicious, not too heavy spring dinner. Get this started early and enjoy your meal outside while it’s still light! Honey Miso Slow Roast NZ Pork Shoulder 15 mins prep | 3 hours cookDifficulty: Easy | Serves 4 INGREDIENTS1/4 cup miso paste1/4 cup honey4 garlic cloves, minced1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced1 Tbsp sesame oil1 tsp salt1/2 tsp ground black pepper1.5kg NZ pork shoulder1 onion TO SERVEShredded cabbage, sliced cucumber, steamed rice, spring onion and miso soup PREPARATION1. Pre-heat oven to 160°C.2. Combine the miso paste, honey, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, salt and black pepper in a small bowl. Mix to form a paste. Reserve.3. Peel and slice the onion and place into the bottom of a dutch oven or casserole dish.4. Place the pork shoulder on a chopping board. Using a sharp knife, cut away the skin and excess …

Mojo Pork

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Pork shoulder is a great value cut that features regularly at my house. Available at most supermarkets for under $10kg this meaty cut benefits from a gentle heat. Mojo Pork is marinated overnight with bright zesty flavours and needs 3 hours in a low oven. I have served with black beans and rice, chopped salad, pan fried orange slices and coriander. For low effort, soft bread rolls and a bag of salad greens works too. Mojo Pork 20 mins prep | Marinate overnight | 3 hours cookDifficulty: Easy | Serves 6-8 INGREDIENTS2kg pork shoulder MOJO MARINADE1 cup orange juice with pulp (2 oranges)¼ cup fresh mint leaves, chopped¼ cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped10 garlic cloves, crushed¼ cup extra virgin olive oil1 tablespoon orange zest (1 orange)¼ cup fresh lime juice (2 limes)3 tablespoons dried oregano1 tablespoon ground cumin1 tablespoon salt1 teaspoon black pepper MOJO SAUCE2 tablespoons flour1 teaspoon sugarSalt to taste TO SERVEBlack beans and rice, chopped salad, pan fried orange slices and coriander. PREPARATION NOTE: Leftover pork is wonderful for making Cuban sandwiches. You’ll …

Pork and Shiitake Wonton Soup

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Maybe it’s because I was born in Hong Kong, or maybe that has no factor in this whatsoever, but wonton soup is my absolute favourite comfort food. Like, OF. ALL. TIME. I’m just getting over a cold this week and this is basically what I want to eat every day. My recipe below is for Pork and Shiitake Wontons but if you like prawns, replace 100 grams of pork mince with 100 grams chopped prawn meat. The recipe below is in two parts: The wontons and the soup. Make the wontons first and then assemble the soup to order. Flash freeze any extra wontons for future meals. Enjoy! Part 1Pork and Shiitake Wontons 30 mins prepDifficulty: MediumMakes 30 wontons INGREDIENTS 20g dried shiitake mushrooms300g pork mince2 spring onions, roots removed, rest finely sliced1 knob of ginger, finely chopped or minced2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced1 Tbsp light soy sauce1 tsp sesame oil½ tsp salt¼ tsp five spice powderA pinch of ground white pepper (do not substitute for black pepper)30 wonton wrappers (300g) PREPARATION Part …

NZ Pork Skewers with Sone’s Satay Sauce

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Thai-inspired skewers with NZ Pork steak and Sone’s Satay Sauce. Quick and easy weeknight dinner using pork rump or scotch. Serve with rice and steamed greens. NZ Pork Skewers with Sone’s Satay Sauce 20 mins prep + marinate 1 hour time | 15 mins cook Difficulty: Easy | Serves 4 INGREDIENTS 1 Tbsp Sone’s Satay Sauce 1/4 cup coconut cream 1 Tbsp soft brown sugar 1 Tbsp fish sauce 3 garlic cloves, minced 600 grams pork steak (rump, scotch) 2 Tbsp oil Garnish: chopped coriander, lime wedges, chopped red onion Serve with Sone’s Satay Sauce, rice and steamed greens PREPARATION 1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl except the pork and oil. Mix well. 2.Cut the pork into 2 to 3 cm cubes. Place into the bowl and stir to combine. Cover and marinate for at least 1 hour. 3.Soak some bamboo skewers in water. Thread pork pieces onto skewers. 4. Heat oil onto a heavy pan or hot plate. Once smoking hot, place pork skewers on the heat for 10 minutes turning every …

Mushroom and Mince Larb Lettuce Cups

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I fell in love with larb when traveling through Laos. Known as a “meat salad”, larb is the national dish of Laos and also popular throughout Thailand. I have visted Laos twice and I ate larb almost every day. I was completely smitten. Inspired by this quick cooking, bright tasting dish, I’ve adapted this recipe to feature a blend of free range chicken or pork mince and button mushrooms. Served in lettuce cups, these are great for varying appetites. Let everyone assemble their own for delicious interactive dining. Mushroom and Mince Larb Lettuce Cups 15 mins prep | 20 mins cookDifficulty: Easy | Serves 4 INGREDIENTS400g white button mushrooms1 Tbsp cooking oil400 grams chicken or pork mince4 cloves garlic, minced2 Tbsp lemongrass paste2 tsp sugar1 chilli, thinly sliced2 petite cos lettuces3 Tbsp lemon/lime juice3 Tbsp fish sauce1/2 a red onion, diced1 cup diced cucumberA big handful of roughly chopped or torn herbs: mint, coriander, Thai basil PREPARATION This recipe was created for Meadow Mushrooms.

Rainbow Bowl: Sweet soy ginger braised pork belly

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I‘m not a salad kind of girl but I love a good rainbow bowl. Sweet soy ginger braised pork belly on rice with a perfectly gooey free range egg, sauerkraut, cucumber, carrot, capsicum, spring onion and a dollop of my favourite mayo. Garlic furikake and wild Korengo seaweed for texture and flavour. I could eat this breakfast, lunch or dinner. This pork belly braise uses black vinegar. Also known as Chinkiang Vinegar, this can be found at Asian grocers. Delicious for dipping steamed or fried dumplings into. You can use balsamic vinegar as a substitute. Sweet soy ginger braised pork belly Makes 4 portions INGREDIENTS 500 grams ( 1 lb) pork belly, cut into large cubes 2 tablespoons brown sugar 3 slices ginger 3 cloves garlic, smashed 2 star anise 2 bay leaves 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes 2 tablespoons black vinegar 2 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce 2 cups hot water PREPARATION Heat a non-stick frying pan and add pork belly. Fry on medium heat for 5 …

Pork and prawn wontons

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The wonton. The less glamorous sister to the dumpling. Wontons are my ultimate comfort food but I’ve served these a little different to how we ate them growing up. This recipe makes 50 wontons and freeze well. So enjoy some now and freeze the rest for later. Wonton wrappers often come in packs of 100 so just double the recipe, or freeze half the wrappers. If you want to make the full 100 wontons, you might want to employ an extra pair of hands or put on your favourite podcast and settle in. Pork and prawn wontons Makes 50 INGREDIENTS 500g (1 lb) pork mince 250g (1/2 lb) shelled prawns, chopped 1 cup finely chopped cabbage 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper 1/4 teaspoon five spice powder 50 wonton wrappers PREPARATION Place the filling ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well. Take 1 wonton wrapper and place a heaped teaspoon of filling …

Five spice roast pork belly with peaches

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Summer is in full swing. It’s muggy AF and I am chancing mosquitos to sleep with the window open. So far so good. I haven’t left Auckland this summer, instead, I’m enjoying local day trips. I’ve hit 70k steps every week so far – it’s only been 2 weeks – and regularly include Mt Eden summit in my daily walks. I’m a little obsessed with my FitBit and doing well with my “more steps” resolution. Yesterday, The Koala and I explored Duder Regional Park, enjoyed ice cream truck treats and swum at random beach on our way home. We usually stay central, or head north or west so exploring east is new for us. I hope to discover more of Auckland’s regional parks this year. My first recipe of the year is fiercely seasonal and embodies the kinds of food I love to eat. A shit-ton of vegetables (another resolution) and some beautifully cooked free range meat. Yes please! I usually order pork belly if I see it on the menu so it makes sense …

Pork belly adobo and a Crockpot giveaway

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This post was made possible thanks to Crockpot and I am delighted to give away a Crockpot Sear & Slow CHP700 (RRP $299.99). Just complete the entry form at the bottom of this post to enter. Pork belly adobo is comfort food. Adobo is the (unofficial) national dish of the Philippines. A country of 100 million people, inhabiting 7000 islands, you will find many variations, both regional and personal of this delicious Pinoy stew. Some cooks make it with pork, others with chicken, others still with both chicken and pork. Accepted ingredients are soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic and bay leaf. With default savoury, sour and sweet notes, variations include the addition of ingredients such as pineapple, coconut milk, potatoes or hard boiled eggs. I’ve added potatoes to my slow cooker adaptation which soak up the sauce and takes on a gorgeous hue. What I love about this dish is that aside from the pork belly, if you cook regularly, you may already have these ingredients at home. The ingredients list feels familiar and not too …

Dumpling wisdom from a retired dumpling professional

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I am a lucky girl who grew up eating home made dumplings. The dumplings we ate were stuffed with pork mince with different variations. I asked my Mum what ingredients were in the dumplings of my childhood and this post is based around her answer. 12 years ago, back when I was still a hungry design student, I worked in our family’s Chinese take-out. Since I loved dumplings so much, I helped myself to dumplings at the start of every shift. Free dumplings is a (self-proclaimed) perk of working in the family business. Dad made the filling and wrapped a hundred dumplings ahead of time and the dumplings were cooked during service. One of my duties was cooking dumplings fresh to order. So while I can’t proclaim I was a professional dumpling wrapper, I did get paid to cook dumplings. This makes me somewhat of a retired dumpling professional (see pro tips at the bottom of this post). Fast forward 12 years, my love of dumplings has grown. I don’t cook dumplings for money anymore and my …

Chipotle and passionfruit with Long White Vodka

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Some people are iffy about fruit with meat. I am not some people. Sweet and savoury have always been in my culinary vocab. I practically grew up in a Chinese takeaway in Rotorua during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Back then, Dad and Uncle worked as chef owners and cooked a thousand sweet and sour pork dishes for their customers. Battered deep-fried pork smothered in a homemade sweet and sour sauce; this came with onions, capsicum and of course, pineapple. An instant classic. I grew up loving sweet and sour pork and I think many of you did too. I enjoy cooking with natural sweet flavours and pork lends itself traditionally to fruit pairings, most commonly apple and pineapple but I found passionfruit also works beautifully. This sweet and smoky pulled pork taco is inspired by Long White Vodka Passionfruit. With a light, tropical taste that’s not too sweet, Long White Vodka Passionfruit is my favourite of their three flavours. Containing no added table sugar, apple juice is used to give it just a …

Street Eats 2015 – food porn and people watching

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Today is the last day of Restaurant Month. What a month it’s been! On Saturday was Street Eats, a highlight and grand finale event of Restaurant Month. I arrived at Street Eats at 10.30am when it opened, paid $5 admission and set upon documenting and eating my way through the huge selection of delicious food. As I’ve mentioned before, going early is the best way to avoid crowds at Street Eats. I only had to wait in line for 1 dish and since I got there early before the crowds, I even got to chat to some chefs about their dishes. Each restaurant, eatery, pop up and food truck offered between 3 and 5 dishes, all under $10. Shed 10 was filled with restaurants and plenty of seating. In the centre island, drinks could be bought from various wine, cider and beer retailers.  With festive bunting and live music it was set for great atmosphere. Food trucks and pop ups lined the outside space between Shed 10 and The Cloud. I had already eaten at both Mexico and Orleans last week …

Banh mi in winter

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Early 2000’s, The Koala and I arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam at 6am local time during the coldest month of the year. We’d just flown in from balmy Kuala Lumpur and had been awake for at 24 hours. We weren’t prepared for the cold but we dumped our stuff at our hotel and went exploring. The city was wide awake, bright and bustling. Big baskets of bread stacked on the footpath and banh mi sellers bundled up and huddled together like winter birds cozied up on a branch. What is banh mi? For those unfamiliar with banh mi, the word “banh mi” (pronounced BUN-mee) just means “bread” in Vietnamese but has come to mean a single serve baguette sandwich. The French colonials left behind baguettes and pate when they left Vietnam in the 1950s and the locals created this awesome fusion sandwich before fusion was a thing. Stuffed with pork or chicken, pate, mayo, cucumber, coriander (cilantro), pickled vegetables and sometimes chillies, they are made fresh to order so you get to choose (in our case point) the …

Crispy Roast Pork: Cantonese style

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This post is part of Our Growing Edge, a monthly blogging event to encourage bloggers to try new food related things. Ash from Organic Ash is the host for this month’s event. If you have a blog and you are eating or cooking something new this month, click below to join. More information here. Crispy roast pork (siu yuk) can be found hanging among roast ducks and slabs of shiny red BBQ pork in the windows of Cantonese BBQ restaurants everywhere. Traditionally, pork is roasted with seasoning in a charcoal furnace and is served as an appetiser* with your choice of dipping sauce. Soy sauce and hoisin sauce are popular but I love it dipped in mustard. Served with a bowl of rice and some Chinese greens, it’s a simple and delicious dinner. It’s interesting to note that the words “siu yuk” directly translates to roast meat, not roast pork. I guess pork is so ubiquitous in Cantonese cuisine that meat equals pork by default. While I have made English-style roast pork on many occasions, I’d never considered cooking the …

First visit to the butchery and 20 Hour Slow Cooked Pork Belly

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This post is part of Our Growing Edge, a monthly blogging event to encourage us to try new food related things. Alice from Nom Nom Cat is the host for month’s event. If you have a blog and have cooked, eaten or experienced a new food this month, come and join this event.  We have been shopping smarter and started a new routine that will hopefully stick. Supermarket: once a month Produce delivery: twice a month Asian grocer: twice a month Free range butcher: once or twice a month Specialty food shop: once a month This results in a shopping trip once a week but the best quality items for the best prices. Westmere Butchery I’ve been meaning to visit Westmere Butchery for ever. Highly recommended by my meat eating friends, they specialise in free range, free farmed and organic meats and their prices are reasonable. They also make award winning sausages on premises.  Years ago, a friend brought beef and scallop sausages to a BBQ. That sausage made quite an impression on me apparently. Fat scallops dotted throughout …

Slow Cooked Orange Pulled Pork (with crackling)

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We are hoarding oranges. We don’t eat oranges, but they keep turning up, hence the collection. I have good intentions, I mean to eat them, which is why I haven’t cancelled or blacklisted oranges. If we had a juicer we might get through what we we receive from our boxes. Therefore, the next best thing is to use orange as an ingredient. Luckily, we love our meat with fruit in this house and The Koala was eager for me to test out another pulled pork on him. I used a boneless pork shoulder for my Hoisin pulled pork recipe but this version uses one with bone in as it was cheaper this week. Feel free to use either. I am loving our first winter living with a slow cooker. A hand-me-down from Mum, it’s worth the extra space it takes up on our counter. To save on time and dishes, I used the ceramic pot and lid from our slow cooker to marinade in. This requires substantial fridge space so if you don’t have this, …

Hoisin Pulled Pork

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The Koala asked me if I had any plans for the weekend. I replied “pulled pork” which he thought it was code and I that was feeling frisky. To be fair, he wasn’t disappointed with what I had in mind. I frequent blogs and forums with US inhabitants and I often suffer from major food envy. Pulled pork has been the object of my affection. Pulled pork is not a common dish in New Zealand though this is slowly changing. There are American-Mexican joints in Auckland now who all serve slow cooked pork in tortillas. This recipe is incredibly easy to make and could be doubled or even tripled if you are feeding a larger group. This recipe fed five adults for dinner but judging by how quickly it disappeared, it would be better suited for four. Pork has this annoying habit of shrinking which is a good reason to buy slightly more than you think you need. No one ever complained about pulled pork leftovers! Hoisin means “seafood” I added a Chinese touch by …

Roast Pork With Crackling

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Ah pork crackling. Crunchy and salty with a layer of slightly gooey richness just below the surface. It’s that still chewy layer that gets me. Crackling shouldn’t ben bone dry and crunchy all the way through. Unctuous and flavoursome, that layer of fat before the meat is glorious. My parents opened a roast dinner shop in Bayswater when I was in high school and I was always spoilt with roast meat sandwiches. We had roast chicken, roast lamb, roast beef and the king of roasts, roast pork with crackling. I didn’t take it for granted if that’s what you’re thinking. After all these years, roast pork is still my number one choice when we get roast dinner takeaways. I’m ashamed to admit I never tried to roast a pork with crackling. Until now. I searched far and wide for the crackling recipes known to man. And then of course, I took the best recipes and I took a few shortcuts. The recipe below is based mostly on the hands down, best recipe you can find …

Dried mushrooms and a recipe from my childhood

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Like many Cantonese children, I grew up regularly eating what I we call Dong Gu. Dong Gu literally means “winter mushroom” and is also known as a Shiitake or Chinese Black Mushroom. Dried Shiitake mushrooms are used in various asian cuisines and are inexpensive, easy to use and if stored correctly, last a long time. Dried Shiitake mushrooms taste nothing like fresh Shiitake. Dried have an intensely savoury earthy flavour and the fresh stuff tastes weak in comparison. Do not substitute fresh for dried! My family always bring back a bag or two of dried mushrooms back from trips to Hong Kong, but New Zealand customs can be frightful to deal with so it’s not really recommended. Luckily, you can buy dried Shiitake at any Asian grocer these days, perhaps even at your general supermarket. Dried Mushrooms Tips: Once open, store mushrooms in the freezer. While they will last outside the freezer, they can inevitably attract moths and other nasties. No need to thaw before rehydrating as the lack of water means these don’t really …