Braised Duck Wings

This is an all time favorite snack in my family! My mummy used to buy it as a treat on Sunday morning at the market. We 3 kids use to wait at home starving. By the time she came home with the duck wings - to us they were the tastiest wings we had ever eaten. So whether its really yummy or its an "acquired taste", i'll leave it to you guys to decide ^_*


Ingredients:
1 kg duck wings
4 cloves garlic
5 cloves shallots
1 small knob of galangal (~1 tablespoon)
1/2 a stalk of lemongrass

**quantities can be varied according to personal preference.

Seasoning:
Dark Soy Sauce *
Light Soy Sauce
2 level tbsp brown sugar

* amount of dark and light soy sauce would depend on the type of pot used and amount of water needed to cover the duck wings.

Cooking instructions:
1) Blend/Process/Finely chop garlic, shallots , lemongrass and galangal.
2) Fry above with 3-4 tbsp of vegetable of oil until fragrant
3) Throw in duck wings and mix thoroughly.
4) Sprinkle the sugar over the duck wings and mix to coat.
5) Pour in the dark soy sauce according to the your preference of how dark/black you want the wings to be. Then add light soy sauce to taste. Fill with water just enough to cover the duck wings.
(note : the more you simmer the thicker/saltier the sauce will be, so be prepared to add more water if necessary)
6) Bring to boil and cover to simmer under low fire for approximately 45 minutes.
7)Remove duck wings from sauce and allow to cool at room temperature.

optional : You can keep the remaining sauce and use it to simmer and cook other food stuff such as hard boiled eggs, firm tofu, pork belly, and chicken)

Boston Baked Beans for idiots

Photography by Louise Lister (picture taken from www.taste.com.au)

Marvin and I first ate this hearty dish on a rainy saturday morning during winter at a quaint little cafe hidden in surry hills called CAFE-ISH. Baked beans flavoured with smoked ham hock served with buttered toast on the side. Eating it made me feel warmth radiating from the inside out. So simple yet so satisfying...mmmmmmm. Anyway, I decided to replicate the dish at home so I could have it anytime i want. The picture above is as close as i could get, next time i'll take pics with my new digicam.

P.S. Hey Grace, Josh & Cheryl, try this and let me know if you think it taste similar to cafe-ish?


Ingredients:
1 smoked ham hock
1 can of 420g HEINZ baked beans (with tomato sauce)
1 brown onion
1/2 celery
1 carrot

Note: you can vary the amount and type of veggies according to your liking.

Seasoning:
- Tomato sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- salt
- pepper


Instructions:

1) Place ham hock in a big pot with enough water to cover it. Bring to a boil and then let it simmer. Add a pinch of salt.
2) Dice the veggies.
3) After simmering for 20 minutes or so, add in the diced veggies.
4) Continue simmering (approx 45 mins or longer) until ham hock if tender enough for you to easily peel the meat of the bone. Throw the away and peel the meat into bitesize chunks and throw back in the stock.
5) Reduce remaining stock. Then add in the baked beans. Flavour with tomato sauce, worcestchire, salt and pepper according to personal preference. Try not to stir too vigorously as beans will break up easily.
6) Continue to reduce until desire consistency for baked beans. I like my bake beans with a slightly more watery consistency so that i can dip the toast in sauce.
7) Serve with buttered toast! ENJOY :P

In the Beginning...

This blog is specially dedicated to the people who have helped me grown in love towards food and also assisted me in my journey to search for good food. Special thanks to:

1) mummy and papa for donating their hard earned $$$ to contribute to my expensive hobby
2) chow, my sister who always ask me to stop eating and let me eat her leftovers, which spurred me on to eat more!
3) Jinx, my brother, who order wrong dishes from the menu, helping me to differentiate good from bad
4) Xin, who is always up for eating with me!
5) Marvin, who eats all the food that i cook, even the disasters :P wat r BF's for?
6) my friends who have never deterred me from eating all i want
7) last but not least - GOD who created FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD and gave us taste buds!

Ok, lets cut the crap and get to the important part: THE FOOD!!!!!