Patatim

Patatim……….Back home I remember near our in-laws house, there is a Chinese restaurant that serve the best Patatim in the vicinity. If I can still recall, The shop name was Luk-foo Chinese Restaurant. The serving was very huge that enough to feed 4 people or even more. It is a whole leg of pork. Because I find it very expensive, I start to replicate the recipe without seeing a cookbook or help of google. (I think computer is not popular during that time). My first patatim was just like an Adobo style with star anise (pork with soy sauce). Then the next time I cook it I add a little chinese ingredients such as hoisin sauce, red bean curd, sesame oil and many more. Later on, because of repeated trials, it turns out to be one of my specialty dish. Must try!!!………………………Did you know that star anise makes the distinctive taste of a patatim recipe? Star anise is a kind of spice which is very popular to chinese cuisines. In traditional Chinese medicine, star anise is prescribed as a digestive aid, promoting health of female reproductive organs and for lactating mothers to increase breast-milk secretion. The anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties of star anise is useful in the treatment of asthma bronchitis and dry cough. For this reason, some cough mixtures contain star anise extract. Star anise can also be used as for its sedating properties to ensure a good sleep……

Ingredients: good for 10 persons

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1.5 kl pork leg and hocks (cut in serving size)
• 1 bunch of bok choy
• 3 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 large onions sliced
• 2 cups water
• 5 pcs star anise
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp peppercorn
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp red bean curd
• 1 stalk celery (for boiling) don’t cut
• 1 pc sliced carrots
• 2 thumb size ginger crushed.
• onion leeks for toppings
• 1 tbsp toasted garlic
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• fish sauce for adjusting taste

Procedures:

• In a large pan, boil pork leg and hocks with water, star anise, dark soy sauce, 1 whole stalk celery, vinegar, brown sugar and salt and pepper. boil for 45 minutes or until tender. set aside and let it cool. and place in fridge. This will allow you to remove cold fat from the pork. As pork leg and hocks usually comes with lots of fat. then remove celery
• In a sauce pan, heat oil and saute garlic, onion, ginger and ginger. add in hoisin sauce and red bean curd then pour on the pork mixture. Boil pork for another 5 minutes or until sauce is reduce. then pour in bok choy and cook for a minute. you can adjust your taste by adding fish sauce
• Best serve with rice

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