【控肉/炕肉饭】Kong Bah P'ng

不久前和妈妈视频时说起买了一块非常棒的五花肉，妈妈就说好的五花肉应该拿来做控肉，去台湾玩时最让她念念不忘的美食之一就是控肉。

于是我就趁工作不忙的时候煮了一大锅加了鸡蛋和豆干一起卤的控肉。真是美味得不行，控肉炖好先别忙着吃，等几个小时再吃更美味噢！

I bought a box of real good pork belly last week, I was so excited that I told mom about it. She told me the best way to use a good block of pork belly is to make Taiwanese Kong Bah. 

I couldn't agree more and putting it to work the moment I had a break from my busy work schedule! I added some five spiced bean curd and hard boiled eggs into the stew, both turned out superb!

【番薯芋头炸年糕】Fried Nian Gao With Yam and Sweet Potato

今年过年本来只做了两个红豆年糕过年，后来还是忍不住又做了一个古法年糕就是为了要做这款炸年糕。这是童年的味道，也是记忆中的年味。时隔很多年吃上一口，还是那么地满足。

炸这款年糕的脆浆糊食谱是我调整了好多次后最满意的一次，炸好的年糕第二天都还是脆的，这个面糊比例炸香蕉、炸番薯和芋头都特别好哦！

I had only planned to make Adzuki Nian Gao this year for the Chinese New Year Celebration, but I have been craving for this fried Nian Gao for such a long time that I ended up making another Nian Gao the traditional way.

The crust recipe of this fried Nian Gao has been fine tuned for years, this batch of crust turned out the best and the Nian Gao stays crispy hours after it was fried, it just hit the spot and just brought me right back home to those afternoon times, sharing this snack with my beloved family.

Note: The crust recipe is also perfect for Fried Banana, Fried Yam and Sweet Potato.

【石灰水】Limewater/Air Kapur

石灰用于食品加工很常见，例如石灰水泡柿子，制作皮蛋、冰粉、米豆腐等等。在国外，石灰也是腌渍食品制作时的常见用料，石灰在食品加工里能起保鲜，杀菌消毒的功能，所以运用广泛。

石灰和石灰水在东南亚的传统美食里也用得非常多，比较常见的做法是用石灰水浸泡一些需要长时间烹煮的蔬果，让其在烹饪过程中仍然可以保持形状和颜色。

另外一个更接地气的用法就是加到面糊里制作脆浆，加入石灰水制作的挂浆可以长时间保持爽脆的口感，不容易回潮，效果非常棒。

使用少量石灰制作的食品对身体无害，微量的石灰摄入甚至还有补钙的效果，但切记使用不能过量，购买的石灰也必须是食品级的才行噢！

自己在家制作石灰水超级简单直白，只要找到原材料食品级石灰，基本就是三十秒即可搞定的事情，制作一次还可以用上好多好多年，有兴趣的朋友可以试试看。

注：食品级石灰膏可以在网上，亚洲超市，印度超市，墨西哥超市里找到。就是印度人嚼槟榔时抹到荖叶上的白色膏状物质。

Limewater is used in many Malaysian dishes to help retain shape of fruits/vegetables during cooking process, it is also the secret ingredient in making the batter for fry foods batter that stays crispy for a long time.

Some people back in Malaysia add Slaked lime (Kapur Sirih) or Calcium hydroxide into frying batter to achieve the crispy effect, I personally like to use limewater in my batter since it is colorless and odorless and doesn't change the ratio and consistency of my batter at all.

Making limewater at home is really straight forward and simple, as long as you can get hold of the main ingredient - - Slaked Lime, sometimes also called Pickling lime, Kapur Sirih in Malay, Nam Pboon Sai   น้ำปูนใส in Thai, "Cal" in Spanish.

Slaked Lime is the main ingredients in the Paan/betel chewing practice, so you can easily find this ingredient at any shops that sells Paan/Betel nuts. 

(Hint : Try a traditional Indian grocery shop, Hispanic grocery store or Thai/Vietnamese Grocery stores. Just make sure you purchase food grade lime, not the one for construction use, which may consist lead.)

【自制酒酿】Fermented Glutinous Rice

酒酿，也叫醪糟/甜米酒/甜酒/糯米酒/江米酒等等，古时候叫“醴”。是把蒸熟的糯米加上酒曲发酵的一种甜米酒，非常适合用做甜点和烹饪辅料。中国其他地区也有用玉米面和其他谷类制作的类似甜酒，做法类似，也非常甜美。

据说酒酿甘辛温，含糖、有机酸、维生素B1、B2等，可益气、生津、活血、散结、消肿。不仅利于孕妇利水消肿，也适合哺乳期妇女通利乳汁，女性朋友在每个月特殊时期吃点酒酿也有活血滋补的效果哦！

Fermented Glutinous Rice, or jiu niang (酒酿), has several other names depending on which part of China one is from, it is also called Sweet Rice Wine, 甜米酒 (tian mi jiu) 醪糟 (lao zao) ,米酒 (mi jiu), 甜酒 (tian jiu), 糯米酒 (nuo mi jiu), and 江米酒 (jiang mi jiu). 

It is made with glutinous rice (also called sticky rice, or sweet rice), fermented with distiller’s yeast, it is believed to be very good for women, especially after childbirth, during the confinement period.

I liked using it in several sweet dishes such as Sweet Osmanthus Jiuniang TangYuan, its culinary possibility doesn't end at sweet dishes, it could also be used as a rising agent for buns and cakes. Which I will introduced whenever I have a chance.

虎年大吉【萌虎小馒头】Tiger Buns For The Year of Tiger

这个馒头是春节前做了要给朋友们送年的，制作过程比我想像的还要耗费时间，但是效果很是不错，在儿子强烈的要求下留了一个给他吃，他特别喜欢。

今天是春节的最后一天，写个帖子纪念今年做的萌萌哒小虎馒头，也希望今年大伙儿都虎虎生威，健健康康的。

These cute buns were made the day before CNY with the thought of sending them to some friends to wish them a prosperous and happy Chinese New Year.

The final product came out slightly different than I initially planned, better, I would like to think... 

DS loves the buns so much that he requested to have one at breakfast on the CNY day. 

He "liked it very much, and is delighted that he finally gets to eat a tiger!" He said.

【炮竹虾】Firecracker Shrimp

炮竹虾是我们每每到泰国餐厅一定会点的前菜之一。这款美食在家做其实一点都不难，全家都特别喜欢，寓意也特别好，今年过年做了当年菜，大家都很喜欢呢！

These firecracker shrimps were made on the first day of Chinese New Year, beside being right for the occasion, it is also tastes amazing! The family enjoyed it as a starter for our CNY dinner.

【红豆年糕】Adzuki Bean Nian Gao

一转眼，虎年已经来到了眼前。今年还是因为疫情没法回乡过年。那就趁这两周工作不太忙的时候做两个年糕过节吧！

往年我一般做的都是我奶奶生前爱做的古法年糕，今年我想了想，就做了这款红豆年糕，也特别香甜美味呢！

It is the time of the year again to celebrate Chinese New Year. Since I am not able to make the trip back home (again) due to the pandemic, I decided to make a few Chinese New Year dishes to celebrate here in the States.

This year, instead of the traditional Niao Gao that I normally made for CNY, I opted for this Adzuki Bean Nian Gao this year, somewhat healthier, and something different.

KEREPEK BAWANG (Onion Chips) 【洋葱螺旋饼】

 

When I was young, I used to snack on this Onion crackers that I bought from stores, and thought that this snack can only be made by factories or bakeries. 

Until one year it was Eid so my classmate and I visited a teacher, we were served a super crunchy and tasty onion crackers, I loved it so much that I asked my teacher where did sher bought it from.

When I was told that it was homemade by the teacher herself... I was amazed and truly impressed. 

It has been more than 25 years since and I have not been able to buy this Kerepek from any stores where I now lived. I decided to try making it at home, it turned out so good that I could not stop snacking on it!

这款洋葱脆饼是我小时候经常买的的零食之一，洋葱的香味越嚼越香，我非常喜欢。我一直以为这是食品厂才做得出来的味道，直到某年开斋节我和同学们去一位马来老师家拜访，老师家的洋葱饼特别好吃，脆脆香香的。

因为太喜欢，就问了老师是那里买的，被告知是老师自己做的之后，我至今仍然记得心里的惊讶和对老师的佩服，心想老师居然还做得出店里买的零食噢！真是太厉害了。

出国定居后，喜欢的家乡零食不再是花钱就购买得到的满足。突然想吃这款洋葱饼了，趁这几天工作不忙，就做了一批，真是好吃得欲罢不能呢！