Recent Posts
Five Spice Pork Loin Roast
Five Spice Pork Loin Roast
This recipe uses a very basic Chinese spice blend of five spice powder, salt, brown sugar, garlic, and cayenne. This dry rub is great on pork, chicken, beef, lamb, numerous types of fish and seafood, as well as tofu.Let’s talk about pork anatomy. The pork loin can be found bone in or boneless, with boneless being more common. The rib end of the pork loin starts at the very bottom of the shoulder and runs down the whole back of the pig on both sides of the spine. It eventually ends at the top part of the butt, the sirloin. If this was a cow, it would be the ribeye turning into a ny strip turning into sirloin. Take the bone in loin and cut 1” thick chunks out of it, you get bone in pork chops. Starting half way down the pig’s back going towards the butt, on the other side of the rib bone, is the pork tenderloin. The bones that the pork loin sat upon are the baby back ribs.While I do prefer a bone in pork loin roast, you usually have to have them custom cut. There happened to be a sale on boneless pork loin in the bag for $1.99lb, so I really couldn’t pass that up. This pork loin was 4lbs, taking about 80 minutes to roast(20 minutes per lb.) Roasting on a rack helps cook the roast more evenly. Once finished, let rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Leftover pork is great in fried rice, omelettes, tacos, sandwiches, plus countless other uses.
Ingredients
- 4 lb boneless pork loin roast
- 1 1/2 tbsp five spice powder
- 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Mix all of the spices together.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Rub the spice blend all over the pork loin roast. Place the roast on a rack on a baking pan lined in foil. Roast for 20 minutes per lb.
- Let rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Chicken and Shrimp Lumpia
Chicken and Shrimp Lumpia
Here’s another version of the Lumpia Shanghai with ground chicken and shrimp as the main protein in the filling.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken thigh
- 10 shrimp peeled and deveined, minced
- 1/2 cup carrot grated
- 1/4 cup water chestnuts chopped
- 1/4 cup green onion chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 24 lumpia wrappers
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Combine all of the lumpia fillings together.
- Mix thoroughly.
- Add 2 tbsp of the filling across the center of the lumpia wrapper.
- Fold the bottom of the wrapper over the top of the filling. Pull tight, then roll it up. Wet the top edge with water to seal it.
- Roll up the rest of the filling. At this point the lumpia are ready. I like to roll them up in another wrapper. This step isn’t necessary. I just like the extra layer of the wrapper. It kind of gives them a flakiness like a croissant.
- Cut each lumpia into 3.
- Heat up cooking oil in a small pot to 350 degrees. If shallow frying, fry for 4 minutes a side. If deep frying, fry for 5 minutes. Drain grease on paper towel.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. I like to mix 1/4 cup banana ketchup with 1/4 cup calamansi juice.
Duck Fat Potatoes
Duck Fat Potatoes
I’m not sure if there’s any better way to prepare potatoes than sautéing them in duck fat. It really adds a whole new dimension of richness; as if these potatoes were coated in gold. These take very little time to prepare. You can use any type of potato that you like; skin on or off. Duck Fat can be found at higher end grocery stores for relatively cheap. Unless you’re going to use up all of the fat quickly, store the duck fat in the freezer. What’s nice about the duck fat is that a little goes a long way. If you ever happen to prepare a whole duck, you can save all of the fat that you render out; just as long as there’s no marinades or flavorings added to the duck that would alter the flavor of it’s fat. A whole duck can render up to 2 cups of duck fat.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp duck fat
- 1 1/2 lbs potatoes
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp chili flakes
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp sichuan peppercorn powder
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tbsp chives chopped
Instructions
- What ever the type of potato you use, make sure that the pieces are no more than an inch in size. Cover them with water in a pot and bring to a boil. Cook them for 5 minutes. Strain and rinse under cold water. Pat them dry.
- Heat up duck fat in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the potatoes. Let them brown on 1 side for 5 minutes without stirring.
- Add the garlic and spices. Toss and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Garnish with chopped chives.
