Braised Siew Yoke, Mushrooms, Fah Choi and Dried Oysters + Chili Prawns

I do apologize for the reaaallly long title of this post. Tried shortening it but it doesn't give this dish justice so I reverted back to its really long name. If anyone knows the official name of this dish, that would be a great help as well.

This is a classic CNY dish in our household. Last year, when grandma came to celebrate CNY with AR and I, my mum cooked this dish for my dad. This year, grandma is back with mum and dad so it was my turn to give it a go. See Popo- we can't do without you!

The braising style of this dish means it needed to be cooked slowly over a long period of time. It was worth it, however, when the final product = a mixture of melt in your mouth siew yoke (roast pork) and juicy sweet mushrooms. Dried oysters need to be hydrated in hot water for about 30 minutes prior to cooking. It gives that unique texture and sweetness that adds to the overall taste of it. Fah Choi or sea moss was added in as it sounded like "Fa Chai" which means lots of wealth!

I can still hear grandma telling me "Don't you dare buy the skinny siew yoke, this dish needs abit of fat!" LOL



Braised Siew Yoke, Mushrooms Fah Choi and Dried Oysters (serves 8)
500 grams of siew yoke (roast pork)
200 grams of dried mushrooms
50 grams of dried oysters
10 grams of fah choi/sea moss (or half a small packet)
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 cup of stock

Seasoning
1/4 cup of oyster sauce
5 teaspoons of sugar
1/4 cup of Hua Tiao Jiou
2-3 tsp of sesame oil


Method

30 minutes prior to cooking soak these ingrediants in warm water separately: Sea Moss, Dried Oysters and Mushrooms. Trim the stalks and cut mushrooms in half. Give a few snips to the sea moss as well ( You won't get a whole chunk of sea moss that way)

1) Gently heat a deep pot with a tablespoon of oil and fry garlic till fragrant. Add mushrooms and dried oysters with 1-2 tablespoons of oyster sauce (out of the 1/4 cup) and 4 teaspoons of sugar. Stir to mix. Simmer for 45 minutes or so-checking every 10 minutes and stirring it. If it appears dry, add some of the stock.

2) Add siew yoke, another tablespoon of oyster sauce, sesame oil and 1/2 of the remaining stock. Stir and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.

3) During the last 15 minutes of your cooking, add sea moss. Taste the gravy to see if it needs more sugar and oyster sauce. Add stock if the mixture appears too dry.

4) Serve with rice, prawns and veges! =)

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This is another dish that is classic in my household in SG. We love this prawns..and I can't get enough of this sauce!!!



Chili Garlic Prawns (serves 2)
300 grams of fresh prawns-head removed.
1 red chili
1/2 tablespoon of garlic
1 tomato quartered
2 tablespoons of Tabasco sauce
3 tablespoons of Lea and Perins Worcestershire Sauce sauce
1/2 red onion chopped
come of tablespoons of stock/water
olive oil

Heat oil and fry garlic and red onion. Add quartered tomato, water, tabasco sauce and lea and perins. Simmer till it becomes a sticky sauce. Add the prawns and fry quickly. Serve hot with rice.

Ps-did you notice that the first dish yielded 8 servings? Yes..that was our lunch and dinner for the next 2.5 days! It freezes well and the flavors were more intense the next day.