Pork Bone Congee with Dried Bean Curd Strips

You don't normally see pork bone congee in the menu at congee restaurant because this is one of the ingredients you should cook with the congee from the start for the flavours to really meld together.

You might ask, "why use pork bone instead of just the meat?" The reason why I used pork bone is because there's a certain sweetness that comes from pork bone when you make soup or congee. You can definitely use meat in your congee instead of pork bone, but that's another type of congee that I will post about at an other time.
Different flavours and different styles.

I cooked this for 30 mins to ensure that the flavours is mixed nicely into the congee.
I also pre-treated the pork bone when I first brought it before I froze them in the freezer so I can use it at any time. For the pre-treatment, I quickly blanched the bones. Then washed it under cold water with a brush to brush off any impurities. Once cooled and dried, I bagged them and stuffed them in the freezer to be used in soup/congee.

This will cook a very big pot that can feed up to 5 people.

Pork Bone Congee with Dried Bean Curd

Makes 1 big pot Prep Time: Overnight Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1000g Pork Bone
• 3 to 3.5L of water
• 1.5 rice cooker cup of frozen rice
• 85g (1/2 bag) dried Bean Curd (picture to the left)
• 2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Put 3L of water into the pot and boil.
2. Add in the pork bone, bring it back up to a boil.
3. Rinse the Bean Curd and put the Bean Curd and the rice into the pot of boiling water.
4. Stir and bring back to a boil.
5. Turn the heat to simmer and leave it alone for 20 mins.
6. Check on the thickness and add more water if needed.
7. Add salt and stir and cook for another 10 mins for 30 mins in total.

If you added water, you'll have to turn up the heat again.

And you're done :)

The congee will continue to thicken after you cooked it and it's cooling!!!
I used 3.5L of water, when I first started eating it, it was still a bit watery. By the time I was on my last bowl, it was at a thickness I prefer.
So if you start off with 3L of water and you have left overs, you might need to add more water the next time you eat it.

Steamed Tofu with Minced Shrimp and Pork

In this dish, the pork and shrimp mixture nicely contrasts the softness of the tofu creating a very nice feel in your mouth when you eat it.
It's not too complicated to make as long as you have minced pork on hand as the shrimp can be minced up quite fast.
Any pork and shrimp left over can be cooked on it's own in a "meat ball" which is quite tasty on it's own.
The shrimp is actually the star of the dish while the pork is used as a binding agent for the pork since it's not fully minced and needs help to stick together.

Steamed Tofu with Minced Shrimp and Pork

Makes 8 blocks Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 10-15mins

Ingredients

Main:

• ~50g  of Minced Pork
• 100g Shrimp (peeled and shelled)
• 1 package soft or silky Tofu (Other Tofu like all-purpose or firmer ones are fine too but in a steam dish, you can use more delicate tofu)
• 1 tsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar

Sauce - Optional:

• 1/2 Tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp Corn Starch
• 1/3 cup water

Directions

1. On a cutting board, start chopping up the shrimp and mince the shrimp. It does not have to be finely minced, you can have some bigger pieces but you'll want to have at least 1/2 to 3/4 shrimp in a nice paste
2. Mix with the mince pork. Use just enough to help bind the shrimp together, you may not need to use all 100g. I personally like more shrimp then pork
3. Add soy sauce and sugar and mix
4. Open the package of tofu and very carefully rinse the tofu water off.
5. Cut the tofu into enough pieces to fit your steam dish. I'm able to fit 10 pieces before I run out of room.
6. Put all the tofu pieces onto the dish and lightly score the top with a hash pattern.
7. Put a spoon of the pork and shrimp mixture on top of each tofu piece. (picture to the right)
8. Cover the dish with saran wrap and steam for 10-15 mins.
9. Keep an eye on the meat, the pork will be the longest thing to cook so depending on how much pork you used, the cooking time can vary.
10. Once it's done steaming, you'll still find a considerable amount of water in the dish, try pouring as much out as possible.

The dish is basically ready but if you find it too bland because the tofu is bland, either make the sauce or just add fish soy sauce to the dish.

1. If you want to make the sauce, in a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the sauce.
2. Heat it up in a skillet until a boil.
3. Cook until the sauce is at the right thickness to your liking.
4. Remove from heat and pour on top of the tofu.

Ma Po Tofu

Serving: 2-3 if it's the only dish

Cooking time <10 mins

Prep time <10 mins not including marinating time

As always, if possible, marinate the meat in soy sauce, sugar and corn starch for a min of 15 mins before cooking. If not possible, then as long as possible.

You do not have to finish all the cutting before you start cooking, that will shorten prep time as long as you can multitask :)

Ingredients
1 package of Firm /"Old" Tofu
300g Mince Pork
2 cloves of Garlic
a bit more then 1 tsp Ground Bean Sauce (If you use the tsp, don't scrap it flat, overload it)
1 tsp Chile Garlic Sauce
2 Green Onion, chopped

Thickening Agent - if required
- Water (just enough to dissolve the Corn Starch)
- 1 TSP Sugar
- Corn Starch (pending how much water is there in the wok)

The Sauces that are used: 

Directions
1. Heat the pan and add the oil and garlic when the pan is hot. Stir the garlic around.
2. Add the pork and stir.
3. While the pork is cooking, rinse the tofu and cut into cubes. Not to small because when you stir fry it, it might break smaller.
4. Add the Chili Garlic Sauce and the Ground Bean Sauce and mix.
5. Add the tofu when the pork is 80% cooked.
6. Since Tofu is technically cooked already, heat until it's warm and pork is 100% all cooked.
7. Check how much water is in your pan and if you want to get rid of it/thicken it. If I have a lot, I usually pour out a bit of the water to use to dissolve the corn starch and sugar. Pending on how much water I have, I use anywhere from 1 TSP to 1 TBSP of Corn Starch. Make a hole in the middle and pour in the solution and mix. The moment it bubbles mix in food with the sauce.
8. Add in green onion and mix
Done! :)

Tips:
Firm or "Old" Tofu is firmer and will not break as much when you cook!
Cut bigger pieces so when it breaks, it won't disintegrate into mush