Braised Pork with Potatoes

Another delicious recipe from Every Grain Of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop. The author describes this as a heart-warming stew, one of those you find on display outside Sichuanese restaurants specialising in braised dishes. This stew uses just a few ingredients, the main ingredient that gives the lovely red colour and delicious flavour, is the Sichuan chilli bean paste.

I have used wavy potatoes instead of floury. As suggested by the author, carrots or other root veggies can be used instead, whichever we prefer, or a mixture of root veggies. The next time I would use daikons, one of my favourite root veggies in stews.

The Sichuan chilli bean paste makes a delicious flavourful stew with the pork braised to a soft tender texture. With a bowl of hot fluffy rice, makes a satisfying meal.

The recipe can be found here
(or from Every Grain Of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop, pg 100)

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Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Marinated Cucumber with Mint

I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) is going raw this week, with the theme, In The Raw! There's certainly not short on recipes for this theme. There's tons of recipes using fresh raw veggies in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage series of cookbooks.  I've made Marinated Cucumber with Mint from HFW's lovely book, River Cottage Veg every day! I love cucumbers, especially when eaten raw.

A very simple, easy and quick salad to put together. Sliced cucumber are tossed with cider vinegar, sugar, salt, olive oil, black pepper and leave to marinate for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. 

A refreshing salad indeed! Especially with the chopped fresh mint.

Marinated Cucumber with Mint
(River Cottage Veg Everyday, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
serves 3-4
1 medium-large cucumber
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil or rapeseed oil
a good handful of mint, finely chopped
a pinch of sugar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel the cucumber, halve it lengthways and scoop out the seeds. Slice into thick half-moons. Place in a dish with the cider vinegar, oil, mint and a pinch each of salt, sugar and pepper. Toss together thoroughly.  Leave for 15-30 minutes, toss again and then serve.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

In The Raw!

and

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #20 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Spinach In Ginger Sauce

I have made some delicious meals from Fuchsia Dunlop's cookbook, Every Grain Of Rice. Spinach In Ginger Sauce is another winner. There are more dishes that I will be sharing as I cannot seem to stop cooking from this book!

This is listed under the Cold Dishes section in the book.  A bunch of spinach are first blanched briefly in hot boiling water, then refresh in cold water, drain and very gently squeeze out any excess water from the spinach. They are then arranged on a cutting board, cut into sections, and arrange neatly on a serving plate. The sauce is then poured over.

To make the simple sauce, you would need to finely chop some ginger, place into a small bowl and mix with some Chinkiang vinegar, soy sauce, water, salt and sesame oil. You may need to adjust the soy sauce, salt and vinegar to your liking. I did use double the amount of ginger as we love ginger!

This spinach dish goes well together when served with a rich dish such as braised pork, as part of a meal with rice, as it is slightly sour, salty and gingery nice. So it helps to cut down on the richness of the rich braised meat. We love this spinach dish, a definite repeat. 

The recipe can be found here.
(or from Every Grain Of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop, pg 64)

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #20 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray