Crispy Fried Popiah

I was doing the weekly grocery shopping with mom in hypermart, deliberately led her to the frozen food department and merely showed her the popiah skin. It was like she was suddenly struck with something long forgotten and replied : I know how to make crispy popiah. Her next inevitable question was "do you wanna eat?" I would be a total idiot if I said no but frankly speaking, I'm a fan of anything fried and crispy too. Umm... seems like I'm a fan for a a variety of food.

Mom stir fry the content to be wrapped in the popiah skin : slices of turnip, cabbage, black fungus and bits and pieces of chicken meat cut in small cubes. She said making this finger food is like snapping her fingers ; easy, fast and hey presto, the food is done.

One can't do without sweet Thai chilli sauce when it comes to fried popiah. We dipped generously into the chilli sauce and savoured the taste and the crispy popiah skin. Well, you just gotta eat it while it's still hot and warm, otherwise it will be soft and soggy.

Sigh...another yummy dish to go with our dinner.

Huh?? What?? Recipe?? Later lah. The weather of late is killing me and the new TNB meter is ticking away like nobody's business.

Braised Pork Belly / Kou Rou Bao(扣肉包)

My lovely mom made some really awesome braised Pork Belly( Kou Rou Bao - 扣肉包)  in which we sandwiched it between the pau, added a little piece of lettuce and drip some drops of the superb sauce in it. Mom made it for dinner tonight. You'd be surprise that at one point, mom actually vowed not to ever attempt any bao related recipes after so many failures (that's according to her standard). Finally one fine day, she got it right after consulting several recipes and from there on, came up with her own recipe.

I cannot tell you how tasty and yummy it is. The pork belly was just at the right tender texture while the bao was super soft. At this rate, I don't think my diet plan is going to materialize at any time sooner but anyway, it's a blessing to come home with yummy dinner waiting for me.

Look at the wobbly combination of fat and lean meat. The top skin was fried on a pan of scarce oil to make it crispy (of course when soaked with gravy, it becomes soft), the mixtures of major spices like cloves, star anise, cinnamon stick, chinese wine and fermented beancurd created the aromatic and tasty gravy as well.

As we munched with satisfaction on bao with the gravy oozing out from the side, the other hand of ours reached for another piece of lettuce to crunch together.

The above has been packed for a friend of mine whom I haven't seen in decades. Tomorrow ...yes ....tomorrow... we will meet for the 1st time in decades and exchange food for the first time as well.