Macau Style Pork Hocks

Macau Style…….This dish is one of the common food on our “team dining” at a Hotel in Macau. It is a meal cooked with lots of ginger and spiced with star anise. The dish has a very appetizing smell. It has a very similar taste to my favourite dish beef brisket. Love this dish!……………..Did you know that star anise and ginger is one of my favourite ingredients? Aside from a very healthful benefits of ginger, It is also the name of my daughter……..Did you know that ginger contains anti viral, anti toxic, and anti fungal properties, and is used for the prevention of and treatment against the common cold. Ginger also acts as an antihistamine and aids in the treatment of allergies.

Ingredients: good for 10 persons

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1.5 kl Pork hocks
• 3 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 large onions sliced
• 1 large ginger approx 100 grams chopped and crushed
• 4 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
• 1 stalk celery (for boiling) don’t cut
• 2 thumb size ginger crushed.
• onion leeks for toppings
• 1 tbsp toasted garlic
• fish sauce for adjusting taste

Procedures:

• In a large pan, boil pork 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 hocks usually comes with lots of fat. then remove celery
• In a sauce pan, heat oil and saute garlic, onion and ginger. add in hoisin sauce then pour on the beef mixture. Boil beef until tender or sauce is reduce. you can adjust your taste by adding fish sauce
• Serve with garlic rice.

Advertisement

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

Crispy Pata (Fried Pork Hocks)

Crispy pata……..A very common dish in the Philippines. usually paired with vegetables such as Pinakbet  (Vegetable Medley). I remember we always have this dish everytime we dine at one of the bussiest restaurant in Manila(Barrio Fiesta) accompanied by Sinugba(assorted platter of grilled seafoods) and Bouillabaisse and my favorite fish – Pinaputok na tilapia.(a grilled snapper look a like fish)… Gosh, I missed that restaurant. A friendly warning, excessive consumption of pork specially fried pork and fats is dangerous to our health…………..Did you know that consumption of Pork in moderate quantities is helpful in gaining energy.It is a rich source of proteins and fats. It is also good for skin, eyes, nervous system, bones and mental performance. Intake of Pork also ensures better immunity to body due to presence of essential antioxidants.

ingredients: good for 3-4 persons

• 2 pcs pork hocks and legs (you can chopped on serving size or we can fry it as whole)
• 4 pcs bay leaves
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.5 litre water
• Oil for deep frying

Procedures:

• In a large saucepan, place all ingredients together and boil for 30 minutes at low heat settings. Drain pork, let it cool and set aside.
• In a deep fryer, fry pork until golden brown and crispy. please tale care when frying, oil might spill over.
• Serve hot and crispy with vinegar sauce made of garlic, onions, little soy sauce and chillies.

Kare Kare – Pata (Pork in peanut sauce)

Kare kareng baka..This is the favorite dish of my wife’s sister-in-law(kwen) and also my friends (vic & tess)…some prefer using a beef meat, or ox tail and oxtripe. I used pork hocks, because of the “melts in your mouth” pork hocks fat…As they say, if you eat pork fat,  its “pampabata(never grow old because you die young!!! hehehe) but to compliment the pork fat, this meal comes with bundles of healthy vegetables.(so eat reasonable amount of pork and enjoy the veggies)……..Did you know that peanuts contains high amount of protein, which makes it a preferred diet of those people engaged in body-building and those people who are weak and underweight… peanuts are also good for your arteries. One quarter cup of peanuts contains as much monounsaturated fat as a tablespoon of olive oil. Monounsaturated fats have been shown to lower blood cholesterol.

Ingredients: good 4-6 persons

• 1 kilo of pork hocks and legs
• 1/2 cup rice flour dissolve in 1 cup water
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1.5 litre of water
• 1 medium onions sliced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp achuete powder or 2 tbsp achuete oil
• 6-8 pcs string beans cut to 1-1/2″ or 2″ long 
• 2 pc medium egg plant cut to 1″  thick
• 1 pc banana heart (blossom) cut to 1″-2″ thick
• 1 bunch bok choy (optional)

For saute shrimp paste(dipping sauce)

• 1 cup shrimp paste
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1 small finely chopped onions
• 4 pcs chopped chillies(optional)

 *in a small pan, heat oil and saute garlic onion and shrimp paste, add in sugar, water and chillies. simmer for 5 minutes. set aside.

Procedures:

• In a container, rub pork hocks and legs with salt. rub evenly for at least 30 minutes allowing the salt to enter pork meat.
• In a large sauce pan,  add in water, onions and pork hocks and legs for 45 minutes or until pork is tender
• add in peanut butter and rice flour. simmer for 2 minutes. add in the rest of the vegetables and boil for 2-3 minutes. don’t over cooked the veggies. serve hot with shrimp paste on the side.

Adobong Pata (Pork hocks)

Adobo…a very popular dish in the philippines. Almost all ingredients can be cooked using the famous adobo style – be it meat or vegetables. To name some you can cook Chicken Adobo, Pork Adobo, Adobong Kambing, and Adobong Pusit and even adobong gulay such as sitaw and many more…. Did you know that Pork meats are ideal to every kinds of cooking like barbecuing, frying, stewing and many others. Although rich in these vitamins and minerals, better enjoy pork dishes moderately to avoid heath problems in the future.

Ingredients:

• 5 cloves garlic
• 1kl pork hocks
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 pcs bay leaves
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (patis)

Procedures:

• There are different types of cooking and procedures of adobo. some usually saute’ it…butfor me, I will be using the “sinangkutya: method. (slow cook until meat is tender).
• In a large sauce pan, mix all ingredients together, bring to a boil for about 30 minutes or until sauce is thickened and meat is tender. add 2 tbsp cooking oil and stir fry… serve hot.

Enjoy!!!