Roast Pork or Siew Yoke -- feast to die for?

Crackling all the way.

There is nothing like a good "Siew Yoke" roast pork! When we were growing up in Klang, there was a man on motorcycle who came to peddle Siew Yoke and Char Siew (BBQ Pork). We called him "Char Siew Sok" or Uncle BBQ Pork. Sometimes relatives would buy us roast and BBQ pork from other places but we never quite liked them the way we liked Uncle BBQ Pork's.

For many years, I have wondered how to get the crackling to be really crispy, and mom didn't have an oven, so we never made roast pork at home. Our old neighbour whom my mom endearingly calls "Si Lai" knows how to do BBQ pork over a tin can mounted on top of a charcoal stove. We never did have to learn as she always gave us some as a treat.

Lately my friend M has given me some lessons on how she does her roast pork. M has perfected her pork down to a fine art, so she is rightly my "sifu" in this dish. My past experiences with roast pork have always been dissapointing as the crackling never quite crackled and bits and pieces of the crackling would be rubbery.

The trick, M says, is in the salting process. Throw in heaps of salt, and keep the skin dry before putting the meat in the oven.

Something wicked, something divine!

So here's my version of Roast Pork, done with reasonable success according to M's instructions. Roast pork is perfect with apple crumble (if you are doing a Western-style meal). If it is Chinese meal, chop up heaps of chilled cucumber to go!

1) Get a reasonably good size piece of pork belly. Have the butcher score the top of the belly (doing it yourself can be hard if your knife is not sharp), more is better here.
2) Rub sufficient 5-spice powder all over the piece of belly. (This is optional).
3) Throw in heaps of rock salt and rub it all over the belly (both sides).
4) Throw more rock salt on top of the belly. Set aside with a teatowel on top. Keep in fridge for a few hours.
5) Set oven temp to 250 (highest) (for 15 mins).
6) Place pork belly, skin side up, in heated oven for 20-25 minutes on top most rack. Wait till skin starts to crackle. Move the meat around occasionally to get all sides covered.
7) After 25 minutes, turn your oven's heat down to 150 and roast in the middle rack, for 1.5 hrs (this is for a 1.5-2.5 kg piece of belly). Place a small metal bowl with water, on bottom rack, to keep the pork moist.
8) After 1.5 hrs, take meat aside and rest for 15 minutes before cutting.

You can use the drippings to make a gravy if you have roasted potatoes and other veggies to go with this. Otherwise, a good old combination of dark soy sauce and chilly is perfect.

(Health warning: Not a dish to be had too often!)

Obsession with Huat Kuih or Steamed Rice Cakes

My 5th Aunt and her passion for making Huat Kuih got me researching the internet for ways to do the rice flour version of this little steamed cupcakes that have a light feathery texture. It is a perfect wheat-free alternative to normal muffins without the fat content.

There are many variations to this steamed rice cake. Sometimes they come in multi-coloured hues. Mostly, they come in white or pink. While I was growing up, we used to buy dozens of these rice cupcakes as an offering at our annual grave-sweeping journey, or Ching Ming, as we call it. After a hard morning of chopping weeds and clearing the graves, my clan members would offer the cupcakes with an assortment of other food offerings. When our “ancestors” have had their go, we end up chomping these delicious cupcakes to refuel. They are perfect with kopi-o!


My mom hasn’t had much success fermenting these cupcakes so I have the benefit of the worldwide web to beat her to this! After my recent visit to Malaysia, and having seen my 5th Aunt’s success at making her Huat Kuih (made using wheat-flour and normal yeast), I trawled the internet and found some easy enough recipes to follow.

I have never made these rice cakes before so it was all a bit of a touch and go. It started with the fermentation process. Using dried yeast cake (Chou Pang in Cantonese or Ragi Tapai in Malay), I did exactly as what the recipe told me too.
The fermentation took longer than expected; I left the rice-yeast-sugar-water mixture to ferment for about 3.5 days before the rice started getting watery (sign of fermentation?).

I think the baking powder gave it the lift it needed to “smile” (the Chinese see these as an auspicious sign). I added a bit of lemon essence to lend a bit of lemony flavour to it. I suspect it would work well with a coconut milk or pandan flavour.

Credit must be given to these two blogs where I found most of the information I needed to proceed.
http://sakura-lovebaking.blogspot.com/2008/01/huat-kuih.html
http://mykitch3n.blogspot.com/2010/04/steamed-rice-cake.html

Mine turned out pretty well – blasting forth like fresh petals off a new bloom! My friend M was the first to try it – I was really excited by how these cupcakes turned out so I texted her to come for morning. They went well with Japanese bancha!

My recipe is a variation/combination of the two plus a bit of innovation.

(A)
1) one bowl (Chinese rice bowl) of leftover rice
2) one fish-ball size piece of dried yeast/crushed
3) 4 tbsp of sugar plus 4 tbsp of water

Let the above mixture sit for 36-48 hour in a covered plastic container (Wrap with a tea towel and keep in a cool dry place.)

(B) 1) 2 bowls of sugar (can be reduced if you want a low sugar version)
2) 2.5 bowls of rice flour
3) 200 ml to 250 ml of water (mix the two and leave to cool overnight)
4) 2 teaspoons of baking powder



Once the rice is fully fermented, blend it in a blender. Add sugar syrup and rice flour. Add lemon essence if you wish or pandan essence. Mix well and let sit for another 6 hours at least. Add baking powder, let it sit for 15 to 20 mins, and scoop the mixture into muffin tins or smallish cups. Your mixture should look like a version of a pancake batter (not too thick though). Steam at high heat for 20 mins. Remember to have enough water in the steamer so you don’t need to replenish midway.