Taiwan Pork Chop Bento Box
- 2 pork chops
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon five spice
- 4 tablespoons cornflour
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine (mi chiu)
- A dash of sesame oil
1. In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, five spice, sesame oil and stir well. Add the pork chops to marinate, ensuring most is covered.
2. In a heated pan, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil.
3. In a bowl with the cornflour, take a pork chop and coat completely with the cornflour, transferring straight to the hot pan. Repeat for other chop.
4. Fry the chop for 5-10 minutes on each side, ensuring it is thoroughly cooked.
5. Serve immediately with rice, tea eggs and vegetables.
Congee (Xi fan)
Congee, growing up meant traditionally a family breakfast meal or whenever someone fell ill. My mother always used to say it would cleanse our bodies and make us feel a lot better. To me, its a great winter warmer and so simple to make, I encourage every household to give it a go!
Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 cups of white rice
- 20 cups of water
- 1 tablet chicken stock
- ¼ ginger
Garnishes
- Pork floss (rou song)
- Chilli bamboo shoots
- Gluten
- Preserved cucumber
- Century egg (not for the faint hearted!)
- Fried egg
- Yo tiao (Chinese cruller)
Directions
1. Wash the rice until the water goes clear. Peel & slice ginger into small strips.
2. Using a cast-iron pot (I use le creuset pot which is a staple in my kitchen as it conducts heat evenly), add the water and bring to the boil on high heat.
3. Add the rice and bring again to the boil. Turn the heat down to low.
4. Add the ginger and chicken stock. Ensure stock is evenly dissolved.
5. Stir on a regular basis to avoid the rice sticking to the pot.
6. Serve hot with the garnishes separate on the table to allow everyone to choose and mix themselves.
Tip: For even softer congee, use day old steamed rice instead of cooking rice from scratch.
Read MoreStir Fried Pork, Onion & Egg
Stir Fried Pork,Onion & Egg is a typical dish found in many lunchtime takeaways in Taiwan where you will find rows and rows of food and accompaniments to choose from and fill in your lunchbox. The problem I had was that my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I wanted to try everything! This dish was one of my favourites, best served on rice.
Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 30mins
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 300 grams pork chop
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon rice wine (mi chiu)
- 3 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 30 gram cornflour
- 1 large onion sliced
- 2 garlic cloves diced
- 2 eggs
Directions
1. Slice the pork chop into strips and place into a bowl.
2. Add the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon rice wine, half the chopped garlic and 2 teaspoons sugar in the bowl and mix well. Marinate for 20 minutes.
3. In a heated pan, add the onion and remaining garlic. Add a dash of water to soften and steam the onion.
4. Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon rice wine, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon salt and stir well.
5. In a bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and add to the pan with the onion. Let the eggs fry for a few minutes before stirring.
6. Once the eggs have lightly cooked, remove all egg and onion from heat.
7. Remove the pork from marinate and in a separate bowl, add the cornflour and mix with pork well.
8. Add the pork to a lightly oiled and heated pan and brown the sides.
9. Return the egg and onion and stir for 5 minutes.
10. Serve immediately with rice.
Read MoreBreakfast Rice Roll (Fan Tuan)
This is a common dish for breakfast in Taiwan, traditionally served with hot/cold soy bean milk and other dishes such as spring onion pancake, shao bing sandwich or dan bin. They’re great to take to a picnic or a lunch on the go as they’re very quick and easy to make.
Preparation time: 2.5 hours
Cooking time: 15 mins
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 3 cups sticky rice
- 300 gram pork or fish floss
- 50 gram dried chilli radish
- 1 chinese cruller (yo tiao)
Directions
1. Soak the rice for 2 hours (or overnight if possible)
2. Drain the rice and put into a steamer.
3. Once the rice is cooked (it should be almost clear), remove and set aside to cool.
4. Cut the chinese cruller into 6 pieces, one cut through the middle to separate the two joined sticks and then into thirds for each stick.
5. Cut a square piece of cling wrap (roughly 20cm by 20cm) and lay on top of a bamboo sushi roller.
6. Once the rice is cooled, using a rice spoon, flatten some rice in roughly 10cm x 10cm square shape on top of the cling wrap.
7. Place one cruller along the bottom third of the rice.
8. Sprinkle pork floss along one side of the cruller and some radish along the other side.
9. Slowly roll the rice and sheet away from you to completely cover the stick with the rice. Make sure to keep the cling wrap outside of the roll.
10. Slowly close both sides of the stick with the rice.
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