Tag: southeast asian
Mustard Green Pork Rice
Mustard Green Pork Rice
While this dish doesn’t look like anything fancy, I would go as far to say that this is now one of my top 10 favorite recipes on this site. It is seriously that good, with many complex flavors and textures in this simple dish. It is even better the next day. Mustard green pork rice has it’s influences from Chinese and Malaysian cuisine. Pork is sautéed with dried shrimp, black fungus, garlic, and ginger. Uncooked rice and mustard greens are stirred in. At this point, the rice is traditionally transferred to a rice cooker, then cooked according to the manufacturer’s directions. I used an Instant Pot since I’m able to sauté and pressure cook the rice all in the same pot, limiting dishes, which is my ultimate goal when cooking. It also takes a fraction of the time to cook.
Equipment
- instant pot or rice cooker
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 head garlic minced
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 1/4 cup dried shrimp soaked in warm water
- 1/4 cup dried black mushrooms soaked in warm water; drained and chopped
- 1 1/2 lbs pork belly or pork sirloin cut into cubes
- 2 1/2 cups jasmine rice uncooked
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 bunches mustard greens washed; chopped into 1” strips
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Using the sauté function on high on your Instant Pot, heat up the cooking oil. Sauté the garlic and ginger for 2 minutes.
- Add in the dried shrimp. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the black mushrooms. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the pork. Sauté until it is cooked 50% through; about 4 minutes.
- Stir in the rice. Sauté for 2 minutes. Pour in the soy sauce. Give it a stir.
- Add in the mustard greens. Stir them in with the rice. Pour in the water. Set your Instant Pot setting to pressure cooker on high for 4 minutes. Put on the cover and press start.
- Once finished, release the pressure. Give the pork rice a stir. Drizzle with sesame oil.
Stir Fried Ong Choy
Stir Fried Ong Choy
Ong Choy, or water spinach, is a popular vegetable eaten all over Asia. They have long leaves and hollow stems that give the green a nice crunch. This stir fry is quite simple and can be found on any authentic Chinese or Vietnamese menu. You can purchase ong choy at just about any Asian market for a couple dollars for a huge bunch.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 2 tbsp Sichuan chili oil
- 1 bunch ong choy washed and chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a sauté pan over high heat. Sauté the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds.
- Add in the chili oil. Cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add in the ong choy.
- Stir fry for 4 minutes.
- Season with salt and sugar.
How to make Chili Oil in an Instant Pot
Ever eat at a Chinese restaurant and they have that chili oil at the table? Then you end up putting it on everything because it’s so damn good. Well now it’s time to learn how to make it for a fraction of the price of the store bought brands. Making this couldn’t be easier using the Instant Pot. The most important thing in making this chili oil is to not burn the ingredients. You want to keep the oil between 225 and 250 degrees. The Instant Pot has a custom temperature setting which makes making this street free. You can still make this on a stove top if you don’t have an Instant Pot. Just make sure to use a cane thermometer to make sure the oil doesn’t get too hot. If the ingredients burn, you will have to start over.Most cultures have some sort of chili oil in their cuisine, all made very similarly. This recipe is for a Chinese style chili oil, so I used ingredients in Chinese cooking. If you were to make a chili oil for Italian cuisine, you would you’d Italian crushed chili flakes and maybe some garlic and dried herbs in the oil. So experiment with making different oils. The chili flake is always the main ingredient, followed by aromatics steeping in the oil.
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 large cinnamon stick
- 5 star anise
- 3 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup crushed Szechuan chili flakes
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté function. Choose custom temp. Set to 230 degrees, Add your oil, cinnamon stick, star anise, peppercorns, and bay leaves to the Instant Pot. Cook for 30 minutes, giving an occasional stir. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Put the crushed chili flakes in a mason jar. Take a small piece of cheese cloth and put it over the jar, with a rubber band around it to hold in place.
- Take out the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Pour the oil into the mason jar. The cheese cloth will catch all of the peppercorns and star anise..
- Screw on the cover and let cool to room temp. Refrigerate up to 6 months.
Mango Sticky Rice
Mango Sticky Rice
If you like sweets, it doesn’t get any sweeter than this mango sticky rice. This might be the ultimate comfort dessert. Sticky rice absorbs the sugary coconut milk. It’s then topped with a salted coconut sauce, mangos, and crispy mung beans. There’s kind of a lot of steps in the preparation, but all of them are really easy.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
Coconut Sticky Rice
- 1 cup glutenous sticky rice cooked
- 2/3 cups coconut milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 ripe mango sliced or diced
Salted Coconut Sauce
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp glutenous rice flour
- 1 tbsp water
Crisp Mung Beans
- 2 tbsp split mung beans
- 2 cups cold water
- 2 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
Crispy Mung Beans
- Place the mung beans in a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil. Cover. Turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Drain. Rinse under cold water. Dry on paper towel.
- Heat up cooking oil in a small sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the mung beans, frying until crispy; about 5-6 minutes.
Salted Coconut Sauce
- Whisk together the rice flour and water in a small pot. Turn the heat to medium. Pour in the coconut milk and salt.
- Bring to a light simmer and let it thicken. Set aside and let cool.
Coconut Sticky Rice
- Mix together the coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a pot over medium high heat. Once the sugar is dissolved, turn off the heat.
Assembly
- Pour the hot coconut milk over the sticky rice. Break up any clumps of rice. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.
- Top the coconut sticky rice with mangos. Drizzle over the salted coconut sauce. Sprinkle the crispy mung bean on top.
