Pulled Braised Pork in Steamed Buns

Main or Snack:  Pork

My family first encountered this heavenly dish, kong bak pau, the first time we ate at +Westlake Eating House.  The restaurant is found in an HDB complex (stands for Housing Development Board, like government housing) with green plastic chairs (and chopsticks!) and floral plastic covered tables.  So nondescript but always crowded. Even if you wait for a long-ish time, the aunties & uncles always assure you that they haven't forgotten you.

Westlake Eating House's kong bak pau served with lettuce leaves.

Their Hokkien version uses pork belly slices. When we lived in Singapore, I used twee bak (pork shoulder with skin on). Less fatty and hopefully, more healthy.  Here in the US, I use either pork shoulder or full ham boneless (the back part), also lean but with a hint of that all important fat. You need the fat, even minimal, for flavour and to keep the meat moist during the long cooking time.  The Hokkien braised pork recipe has ginger, catsup, cloves, star anise and five spice powder.  My family is not too keen on said spices.  Am too lazy too to blanch first the pork then brown it before starting with the braising process. Instead, the tweaked recipe I am sharing is from +Nora V. Daza's book, "Let's Cook With Nora," pork asado recipe. In addition, am using a slow cooker.  You can use pressure cooker or even a regular saucepan.  You just have to be around to constantly check that the meat is really getting tender and that there is still enough braising liquid.

I used full ham boneless cut with a little fat & skin.

I decided to prepare this dish because the coriander my boys planted latter part of March is blooming.  Instead of lettuce leaves, we place instead cucumber sticks and coriander leaves. We find it more refreshing.

Coriander or cilantro leaves ready for picking.

New Gadget: Spiral Slicer

Spiralizer, Zoodler or Spiral Vegetable Slicer

In our never-ending quest to eat healthily (juicing is soooo before), this new, handy kitchen gadget caught my eye.  Friends on Facebook have been raving about it, even +Poggi Bonsi, a place where we buy kitchen thingamajigs, will hold a class this weekend sharing ways one can use this gadget.

This Huffington Post article will give you a basic idea on what brands are available, what it is exactly and what dishes you can do with it (a lot!).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/vegetable-noodles-are-going-to-change-everything_n_5112928.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share

After reading user reviews on Amazon.com, I finally decided to get the Cuisavor brand. The blades seemed sturdier than Kitchen Basics because it has "sharp Japanese stainless steel blades". Any comments on Kitchen Basics or other recommended brands would be greatly appreciated.  Due to limited kitchen counter space, I just ordered the hand held version.  +Maite Crawford is very happy with her kitchen counter-top version.

My hand-held gadget.

The Spiralizer has been with me for less than a week.  So far, have mainly used it for salads.  First veggie combination I did was zucchini and yellow squash.  I made sure both zuch & yellow squash would fit the spiralizer ie, not too thick, not too thin. For first attempt, not bad at all.  You don't have to peel both zuch and yellow squash but since I had the peeler on hand, I mindlessly peeled them.

I roasted some sesame seeds and tossed the veggies with a Japanese brand deep roasted sesame dressing.  The core is stuck inside the funnel part so the seeds are not included in your salad.  So convenient.  It's dishwasher safe but I just easily washed it with a brush to ensure the core left is really washed away.

Addendum:  

• I spiralize (is it a verb now??) my cucumber, yellow squash and zuch noodles into a colander, sprinkle half a teaspoon of salt and mix it with my hand. 
• place the colander in a sink and let it drain for 30 minutes

  

  Liquid collected after only 15 minutes.

• rinse very very well with cold water and refrigerate the colander of veggie noodles for at least an hour.  
  
  This will allow the veggies to dehydrate a little.  It will be more "firm".

My second attempt was with cucumber + carrot.  It was more of a struggle.  They didn't come out as "long" as the zuch and yellow squash.  They just came out shredded.  I guess I have to practice more.

Now am thinking I would need at least a dozen veggies to come up with a main pasta dish.  Hmmmm.  I don't think I have the energy for this.  Will keep you posted.