Make it better…

I just mentioned in passing the other day that in Chinese cooking, we hardly use any of those spices and herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano and what not. Most of the time, it would either be garlic, ginger or shallots…and perhaps a dash of pepper and a sprinkling of chopped spring onions or Chinese parsley (daun sup) on top. Of course there are all kinds of herbs used in the preparation of those Chinese herbal chicken or whatever soups or in bak-kut-teh like ginseng and so on…but I think those would fall into a different category of cooking ingredients.

However, one cooking ingredient that I have known since small would be the five-spice powder…or in Hokkien, ngor hiang hun. When I was small/young, my mother would send me to this Chinese medical store to buy 10 cents’ worth of the powder for her to use in her cooking. I wonder how much that same amount would cost now. Most of the time, she would use it to cook braised duck (phak lor ark) or pork leg (phak lor too kha) or meat.

Unfortunately, my missus does not eat duck so she would cook chicken instead or like the other day, she used it to cook pork…

Ooooo…if I had some sambal belacan to eat with that…especially the fatty bits…

…I would surely have more than a single helping of rice. Thankfully, I was too lazy to go and pound some. This would also be simply delicious when stuffed in kompia or mantao (steamed buns) but I was too lazy to go out to buy some. Hmmmm…it certainly looks like being lazy does have its merits sometimes, don’t you all agree? LOL!!!

My missus also cooked this that day…

– tofu with minced meat and salted fish. This was so good – better than anything from any of the shops outside, I tell you. However, there was a bit too much for one sitting…and when reheated for subsequent meals, the gravy became somewhat watery or diluted.

Nevertheless, the salted fish added to this dish definitely made it taste a lot better – more fragrant and nicer than without it, the same way that the five-spice powder would bring the taste of the braised meat to a different level altogether, compared to using just soy sauce and the other basic ingredients.

What about you? Any nice cooking tips to share?