Oriental Linguini

Pasta actually came from China. Discovered during the travels of Marco Polo. Therefore, it is fitting to create recipes that are Asian with the various pasta available nowadays. Like this oriental linguini I now share.

Ingredients:

250 g Linguini

4 cups Water, for cooking linguini

1 tsp. Cooking for cooking linguini

250 g Pork, cut into strips

1/3 cup Peanuts, roasted, shelled, roughly ground

5 cloves Garlic, minced

1 pc. Onion, medium, thinly sliced

½ tsp. Black pepper freshly milled

¼ tsp. Iodized salt

1 tbsp. Mirin wine

4 tbsp. Premium dark soy sauce

1 tbsp. Oyster sauce

2 tbsp. Hoisin sauce

1 tbsp. Cornstarch

½ cup Water for suspending cornstarch

1 cup Water

1 tbsp. Safflower oil

1/3 cup Carrots, julienned

1 tsp. Sesame oil

Cooking Instruction:

In a large saucepan, heat water and small quantity of oil until boiling. Add the pasta and stir occasionally until cooked al dente. Strain and rinse with tap water. Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the garlic and onion until the garlic is golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Add the pork and stir. Add the mirin wine and black pepper, continue stirring for about two minutes. Add the peanut, water, soy sauce and salt. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the carrot. In a small cup, place cornstarch and water. Stir until cornstarch is well suspended and free form lumps. Add into the mixture in the cup, the hoisin, oyster sauce and sesame oil. Mix and add to the cooking mixture. Stir until the cornstarch is cooked and combine with the pasta, serve immediately.

Adobong Baka at Litid (Beef Meat and Tendons in Soy Sauce)

In the Philippines, there is this popular dish called adobo. It is composed mainly of meat in soy sauce with some spices. Many variations are available and this one I made using beef meat and tendons. Normally I would cook this Chinese style but I thought of making adobo instead.

Ingredients:

½ kg Beef, cut into cubes

200 g Beef tendons

2 ½ cups Water (for tenderizing the tendons)

5 cloves Garlic, minced

1 pc. Onion, medium, quartered

½ tsp. Black pepper, freshly milled

½ tsp. Chiu chow chilli oil

5 tbsp. Premium dark soy sauce

5 pcs. Bay leaf

4 tbsp. Coconut vinegar

1 tbsp Mirin wine

1 cup Water

Cooking Instructions:

I used dried beef tendons so you first need to hydrate and tenderize it by placing the tendons in pressure cooker with 2 ½ cups of water and pressure cooking it for about 1 ½ hour. After the said time, you may turn off heat and allow to cool normally. Do not vent steam to accelerate cooling as the additional cooling time is used to tenderize the tendons more. Open the pressure cooker and discard the liquid. Wash the tendons and slice to desired pieces and set aside.

Wash the pressure cooker and place on it, all of the ingredients and the beef tendons. Cover and pressure cook for 40 minutes. Turn off the heat after the stated cooking time and allow cooling normally. Again do not accelerate cooling by venting steam. Open and remove any excess fat that floats and serve with plain steamed buns, bread or rice.

Linguini in Tomato, Pesto and Prawn Sauce

Ingredients:

125 g Linguini

4 cups Water

1 tbsp. Cooking oil

1 cup Stewed tomatoes

1/3 cup Large prawn meat, sliced

5 cloves Garlic, minced

1 pc. Onion, medium, thinly sliced

2 tsp. Basil, dried, minced

1 tsp. Marjoram, dried, minced

¼ tsp. Oregano, dried, minced

¼ cup Red wine

1/3 tsp. Iodized salt

½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp. Black pepper, fresh from the mill

1 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil

1 cup Water

Grated parmesan cheese

Cooking Instruction:

Boil four cups of water in a large saucepan. Add the cooking oil and place the linguini. Stir occasionally and cook until al dente. Strain and rinse with tap water.

Heat the olive oil and sauté the garlic and onion until the garlic is golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Add the prawns and cook for some two minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and heat to boil. When boiling, lower heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cover. Cook for another ten minutes and place on the pasta. Toss and serve immediately with some parmesan cheese toppings with your favourite wine and some bread.

Pork with Micha

A variation of the old recipe which I have posted before. However, for pork, you may remove the ginger.

Ingredients:

1 kg Pork cut into cubes

¼ kg Mi-Cha cut into halves

1 pc. Onion (medium, quartered)

6 cloves Garlic (crushed, skins removed)

1 inch Cassia stick

1 pc. Star anise

¼ tsp. Five spice powder

5 tbsp. Premium dark soy sauce

1 tsp. Chiu Chow chilli oils

½ cup Water

1 tbsp. Sugar

1 tbsp. Mirin wine

1 tbsp. Cornstarch

¼ cup Water, for suspending the cornstarch

Cooking Instruction:

Place everything inside a pressure cooker and pressure cook for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn off heat and allow to cool normally. Do not force cooling by venting steam as the additional time for normal cooling which will take about 15-20 minutes is used as additional cooking time to tenderize the meat. Open the pressure cooker once safe to open and skim off any excess fat to reduce fat content of the dish. The sauce should be about 1/4 cup, if it is still large, then, turn up the heat to concentrate the sauce to desired volume and taste.

In a bowl, suspend the cornstarch and add to the mixture. Mix well and turn up the heat. Continue heating until starch is cooked, stirring occasionally. Enjoy with plain steamed buns or with rice.