Home Chef

Busy in the Kitchen

Apart from art, I love to cook.  But it comes with a responsibility - marketing, washing, and cleaning up.  If I'm lucky, I would have someone to help me do the later, but likewise, I will coax myself and I do find it pretty therepheutic at times.  One of my favourite all time Chef is no other than Jamie Oliver.  My sister gave me my first Jamie Oliver cookbook for Christmas and I've been blessed to get another from my best friend for my birthday.

I was cooking for my family and some friends and I choose to do something different.  I am sure they would like the combination so I made baked crabs with chinese wine (adapted from mum's receipee) and the other, the perfect roast pork with vegetables (adapted from Jamie Oliver's book - Ministry of Food).

I got my hands on some fresh flower crabs from the market and the best way to cook them is simply bake them in the wok. The simplicity, the vibrant colors of the cooked crab, the intense aroma, and the succulent and natural sweetness of the flesh are simply irresistible. This is the recipe I got from my mum (she used this several times in steaming a fish and it taste all so yummy).

Ingredients - Chinese Homestyle Baked Crabs : Serves seven (07) pax

• Seven (07) flower crabs (medium / large size)
• One (01) clove of finely chopped garlic
• One (01) inch ginger finely grated - depends on individuals, you may want to add on more
• Two (02) chilli padi sliced thinly
• Two (02) tablespoons of fried garlic oil
• 1.5 tablespoon Chinese wine
• Spring onions / parsley (for garnishing)

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1. Clean the crabs well by first scrubing the shell
2. Remove the shell from its body and place it aside.  Remove the gills, rinse well, and cut the crabs body into two
3. Marinate the crabs with the finely chopped garlic, ginger, chili padi, and fried garlic oil
4. Lay them in a wok which has been warmed up for about five (05) minutes on medium heat
5. You will know that they are done when the crab shell turns bright orange in colour (it took me approximately 10 minutes to cook the crab)
6. Lay them on to your serving plate and pour the Chinese wine over.  Garnish the dish with spring onions / parsley
7. Serve immediately

Ingredients - Perfect Roast Pork : Serves seven (07) pax

• Approximately 1.6 kg boness loin
• Three (03) carrots peeled and cut into an inch thick
• Three (03) yellow onions each cut into four
• Two (02) sticks of celery cut into an inch thick (optional)
• One (01) bulb of garlic (wash and leave the skin on)
• Herbs: Rosemary, bay leaves, thyme (if you have fresh herbs, all the better - I on the other hand had dried herbs in my herb cabinet) 
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper (for taste)

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1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
2. Marinate the pork generously with salt, pepper, and olive oil (score only the skin and fat) 
3. Pile the vegetables (carrots, onions, celery), garlic, and herbs onto the baking tray and drizzle it with olive oil (make sure it's all coated well)
4. Arrange the pork nicely on top of the vegetables
5. Place the roasting tray into the preheated oven and cook for an hour 20 minutes
6. Once it's done, cover it with a tin foil to rest (at least 10 minutes)
7. Slice the pork, place some crackling on it with the vegetables on the side (serve with some brown sauce)

We had a wonderful dinner and the plates were wiped clean...

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