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Sunday, August 22, 2010

Braised Mushroom Meat Sauce 香菇卤肉燥


MMS 2

MMS 3

Too busy to prepare dinner, yet again? Here's the uber versatile meat sauce to the rescue! When paired with  steamed white rice, you get one of the staple Taiwanese dish, Braised Meat Sauce Rice (肉燥卤肉饭). Just as most overseas Singaporeans would crave for Char Kuay Teow when they are away from home, most Taiwanese I know would long for Braised Meat Sauce Rice when they have been living abroad for extended period of time.

The meat sauce, once prepared, can be split into portions and frozen for up to a month. As and when required, these can be defrosted in the microwave oven and voila, you have a delicious and flavourful sauce that can be used to accompany rice, noodles, blanched vegetables etc... the possibilities are endless and limited only by your own creativity.

I love eating Braised Meat Sauce Rice(卤肉饭) when I am in Taiwan but 2 issues continue to bug me :

1. The Taiwanese BMSR is served with very little meat sauce over the rice. It always leaves me with a sense of insuffeit.

2. My colleagues had warned me that delicious as the dish may be, one needs to consume this with restrain as the dish  is loaded with so much fat that it makes little piggy looks like an anorexic model. This revelation immediately brought the food whimp out of me.

The traditional Braised Meat Sauce uses one of the most fatty portion of the pig, which is the cut near the neck of the pig. Rich in tendon,the grind from the neck(some say the fat/lean ratio is 7/3) allows the meat to braise over long period of time without turning into mush.

In addition, pig skin is also added to the braise to thicken it with its natural collagen.

Preparing this at home, allows me to modify the recipe to make it a little more healthy.

MMS 1

Below is my modified recipe but I have to admit that I am sure about the exact quantity of the seasonings  used. I just seasoned according to taste. That, in my opinion, is the essence of Chinese cooking- it is not about a 2 teaspoon of sugar or 1 tspn of salt - it is about tasting with your tongue and recognising the flavours....and by doing that, my minced meat sauce turned out to be seriously good. If I can achieve this, so can you!

MMS 5(100)

Recipe :

Minced Pork 300g (I used 80% lean pork, 20% belly pork)
Dried Shitake Mushroom 3 pieces
Red Shallots 30g
Chicken Stock 100g (with extra)

Seasoning
Oyster Sauce 1 tbsp
Dark Soya Sauce 20ml
Light Soya Sauce 30ml
Rock Sugar 1/2 tbsp
White Pepper 1/4 tsp
5 spice powder 1/4 tsp
Chinese Wine 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Season minced pork with light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, a little sugar,sesame oil and a little corn starch. (all seasonings not stated in recipe)

Soak shitake mushroom in water and dice into small cubes.

2. In a heated wok, add 1 tbsp oil, fry sliced shallots until brown and crispy. Strain out the fried shallots. Retain the oil in the wok.

3. Heat the shallot oil , fry mushroom until fragrant.Add minced meat and stir fry until 70% cooked.

4. Add all seasoning. (adjust qty according to taste)

5. Add chicken stock and simmer on low heat for one hour. Add crispy fried shallots. Continue to cook another 10 mins. Turn off heat and if possible leave the minced meat over night.

6. Heat up again before serving.If a thicker texture is preferred, thicken with a little potato starch solution.

36 comments:

Cooking Gallery said...

Love the bowl :)! And I am sure this meat sauce tastes great with noodles or rice, very comforting...

grub said...

naw i never got to eat this dish when i was in Taiwan. i think all i ate was dumplings and xiao long bao and then i started to rank them by taste xD

busygran said...

I will have another bowl of rice to go with the braised meat and more sauce please!
I agree that in cooking, the tongue is the most important 'tool' in getting your food tasting right.

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Shirely, you sure are generous on the meat sauce, lol! Almost didn't see the rice until the last shot. ;) indeed a lovely Taiwanese dish, had it in noodle version too while I went Taiwan. Thanks bringing back he good memories!

Bakertan said...

Hi Shirley,

I love BMSR. Yours is making me drool..Even though I am not a rice person, I totally would not resist going for a second portion. Haven had the chance to try the ones from tw though. Only tried a local one from 来来牛肉面 at liang seah street, not too shabby. I actually crave for it sometimes. Maybe I will try making this out this dish one day myself. Thanks alot for sharing!

Cheers and cya on tues

Angie's Recipes said...

Delicious meat sauce! And the bowl...how pretty!

Passionate About Baking said...

Oh Shirley, I love this type of sauces, especially on porridge (as I'm not a rice person). I supposed you usually cooked more than one portion for yourself right? Otherwise, the effort of cooking just one is not worth it. Anyway, I think I stayed not far from you...*hint*hint*
I didn't think it's actually so easy to prepare...
Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Aimei said...

I would definitely love to have yours as yours is so loaded with meat and gravy, not to mention muc healthier! This is one of my favourite dish I like to order if I visit cha can teng. I especially love stewed egg. ;)

ann low said...

Hi Shirley, I love Taiwan braised meat sauce too but I always use the short cut to cook this dish. Love your generous topping on top of the rice, looks so yummy :)

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Ancoo, I think I am very kiasu... No 卤肉饭will have so much minced meat sauce!

Pei-Lin said...

Ah, Shirley, now that I know what you were talking about on Twitter that day. Yours is braised with shiitake mushrooms! Mine doesn't have that. Will try with the mushrooms and even 木耳 too. Thank you for the idea! Same as Anncoo, I always take the short cut to make this. Haha! Wait till I blog about mine ... Btw, I love that subtle kick from 五香粉!

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Ancoo, Pei Lin- what is the short cut way? Just frying it quickly in the wok?

Anonymous said...

It seems like this can definitely be lightened up, I will try this with some more meatier mushrooms and leaner meat.

Spencer @ dormcooked said...

This look so tasty! I can't wait to try this one out. I love homey dishes that have such complex flavors.

MsMoon said...

Shirley, I love your meat sauce cos it looks so thick and loaded with meat. I'm travelling in Taiwan right now and have tried this dish three times over the past week (twice from shopping mall food court and once from a random stall in the night market). I must say I enjoyed the one from the night market most because I liked his spice mix ^^

3 hungry tummies said...

I have been craving for this! I normally cook a few more extra eggs just in case lol
Looks fantastic!

Sujana said...

I just accidentally landed in your blog... I am pleasantly surprised that I visited your blog... I love your blog, the recipes and the pictures... kudos to you!!!

Swee San said...

simple comfort food. yums

pierre said...

the photo is irresistible !!! I want to have some !! pierre

WendyinKK said...

I'll love this with noodles!!!!
And maybe topping for tofu and veggies too.

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

this is my kid's favourite, i just cooked the similar one last week, but forgot to add mushroom. Your recipe sound really delicious.

Edith said...

Tapao some over trm. hehehe.. BTW, that baking powder for steaming. Is it easily spotted in City Super?

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

It is Japanese. I noticed another brand at Isetan orchard super market the other day (Nissin Brand) that also says that it is suitable to be used for steaming...

Joanne said...

I love making dishes like this at home because they end up so much healthier but just as tasty. Delicious!

Pei-Lin said...

shortcut as in not doing it overnight. rather, just 1 hour of braising in the wok.

tigerfish said...

Yes, the 卤肉饭 in TW has miserably little 肉燥! :( ....you can make Bak Chor Mee now tweaking it with black vinegar.

youfei said...

Wow this looks really really good!

I love bak chor and this one looks glazed with more sauce than usual! Just the way I like it.

If I'm daring enough, I'd venture into the wokking side of the kitchen =p

Anh said...

yum!! I'm making this real soon!

Bakericious said...

Shirley, I love taiwan 卤肉饭! I have the same issue with you, the meat sauce always too little for me and too fatty for me as I need to watch my waistline but who cares, I will throw in white towel if is the food I love :P

Thanks for sharing the recipe, I am sure my lao gong will love it too but he has to wait for my cooking bug to wake up heeheehee...

ann low said...

Hi Shirely, you may like to look at my post Taiwan Lor Bak Png
@http://anncoojournal.blogspot.com/2009/04/taiwan-lor-bak-png_05.html

pigpigscorner said...

One of my fav Taiwanese food! Yours looks amazing!

Trissa said...

Shirley, when I read braised I think it takes forever - but your recipe is surprisingly easy to make and doesn't take much time at all! Thanks.

busygran said...

Hi Shirley.
I'm on your team for the cooking project on 16 Oct. Would like to know how many people your recipe portion can serve. Please email me. My email address's on Edith's mail attachment. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

is chinese wine 米酒?

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

@Anonymous- yes this is rice wine but I don't use the transparent white version. For cooking, I normally use HuaTiao.(花雕)

Blessed Homemaker said...

Shirley,
Thanks for sharing this recipe, my family loves it. I've cooked this a few times but only managed to blog about it today.

http://blessedhomemaker.blogspot.com/2011/04/braised-mushroom-meat-sauce.html

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