This Little Piggy Stayed At Home
Dinner was served at 10:29:13pm to be exact.
Since the children started work (Valerie has just started school again – pursuing her phD programme now with NUS), it is rare we have dinner together at home. The supermarket would have closed by the time they get off work (I don’t go to the wet market anymore). Last night was special. Vanessa and Sam got me a chocolate tart to celebrate the 300 “Likes” Bonding Tool is honoured to attain on Facebook, together with some bags of groceries from Cold Storage a local supermarket chain.
Preparation for dinner began the minute Ryan got back and in no time, they announced that dinner is served. And if you have read my previous posts, you would have guessed that Sam was the cook for the night.
Dinner was a simple affair with lots of ready-to-cook stuff to begin with due to time constraint. We had dinner at almost 10.30pm.
Come into the kitchen with me and take a look…
Roast Pork Belly from Cold Storage supermarket.
Leeks.
Red cut Chillies.
We also had some Soft Tofu and Enoki Mushrooms but we didn’t know what to do with these yet.
Korean Gyoza – Pork and Vegetables.
From frozen to cooked – these Korean gyozas were flatter than the Chinese and Japanese versions.
Sam had them panfried till the bottom were deliciously crisped and golden!
There was a friendly argument on what to do with the Roast Pork Belly that was no longer crispy.
In the end, we decided to just pop it into the oven to “re-blister” the skin.
Turned out rather dry but the layer of fats in between compensated.
The Soft Tofu were panfried with a glaze of oil on the non stick pan and garnished with cut chillies but we still had plenty of chillies, enoki and the leeks. What to do with them?
Pork Bulgogi.
Bulgogi is a staple at Korean barbecue restaurants, and beef is more commonly used.
The most important ingredients in this dish are the kochujang (chilli pepper paste) and the kochukaru (crushed red pepper).
Instead of beansprouts and scallions, we’ve used enoki, leeks and tofu.
Canned Luncheon Meat.
Sliced and panfried on their own, no seasoning needed. The fats will ooze out after a while and sizzle the meat.
Luncheon Meat – fast to cook, good to eat.
Some questions on Luncheon Meat in BT Facebook postings.
Juliet O: “Can u tell what it contains if made in China?”
Ida C: “We ate lots of it as children, Juliet. Now I won’t touch it. Don’t know what goes into it to make that bright pink colour.
Foodie FC: “fully agree. better see where its made from!”
Steven L: “What concern should a person have eating lunch meat in a can from China?”
Many of us, Singaporean folks, were raised with Ma Ling brand from China but these days, people are skeptical about buying food products under the “made in China” label as there were many recalls during the past years due to unscrupulous methods employed by Chinese manufacturers to save costs. Click here to read tinned toxic meat recall and here to read discovery of melamine-tainted milk products.
And if “necessity is the mother of invention”, a Singaporean manufacturer just saved the day for our local luncheon meat lovers, lol… But how’s the taste?
Readers on Facebook BT (Bonding Tool) posted (when I said I had an unopened made-in-Singapore can of luncheon meat and will update the taste when I do cook) –
Iris L: “Ya! I would love to hear your review. And pls compare it to Ma Ling. that’s the brand I (and most of us?) grew up with :)”
Zalmund S: ” It’s damn good! I love the black pepper flavor.”
“Heat the cheese flavored one on a pan..and you’ll get cheese melts.”
“Original is also good!”
There you have your answer, Iris! 😀
Food contamination happens (from any countries not just China) so we have to be vigilant about our choices when buying.
Korean Puffed Crackers.
We didn’t have desserts but we had these instead.
Happy eating and bonding 🙂
P.S. This little (or not so little piggy) was me! I stayed home (cancelling a dinner date) and had a porky meal with my family in celebration of the 300 likes BT garnered on Facebook. After dinner, we had a game of charade. Piggy was very happy on a Friday, the 13th. 😉
Love the choices, it’s so nice to put together a quick family meal. Today is football day so I made frozen meatballs and jarred marinara with cheese (and a beer!) Tastea great! Sometimes easy is the way to go…
Beer is great on a hot day! Are you watching football at home or on the field?
Delicious looking photos Sam.
Another post that didn’t get in my reader (and I check regularly).