STEAMED MINCED PORK

Funny, as a kid and even till now I love that stuff. When i was little I'd watch my mum make it (minced the pork by chopping it continuously with a cleaver in each hand until the meat breaks down and pulls apart easily) and think to myself, oh boy and couldn't wait till dinner. She would make this lovely steamed minced pork with salted egg or salted fish every week. And yes, this is a very tradition homey dish, very well known in among all Chinese. We called it, "Jing-Chee-Yoke" or "Jing-Yoke-Bang"

Since I am in UK and, getting fine good quality salted egg or salted fish are really not that easy. I had tried cooking it with the stocks i bought in Chinatown and to be frank, the salted egg and salted fish here really sucks. One warning, because the fish is allowed to ferment before drying, it has the dubious distinction of being the only dried fish that is linked to causing a rare cancer. So it is not healthy to eat tons of it or even feed it to kids.

So I modified a bit and instead of using salted egg or salted fish, i added with fine chopped potatoes (where one can find the potatoes are all over in UK). I would wanna add some Chinese mushroom to it but my flatmate is allergy to mushroom (too bad). And there are absolutely no rules on what to mix with it. I could use any ingredients and combination that I like.

Preparing it is as easy as drinking a pint of lager. Tradition way to preparing the pork as i mentioned, is to chopped it with cleaver but then i make it the lazy way, getting the ready-mince-pork. Try Morrison, it is cheaper even compare to Asda. 

Place the mince pork in a bowl, add soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, sugar, white pepper, vinegar, cornstarch / white flour, chopped ginger and potatoes and crack an egg into it. Then mix everything together until gluey. Here is the important part, to make the pork feels fluffy and not to hard to chew after steaming, add water into it while doing the mixing part. There is no measurement for how amount of water to added in. You will know it when the pork starts to break off and looks like cotton. Transfer the pork to a heat proof dish. Flatten the meat so that it spreads out across the bottom and it should be the same thickness throughout. I will just let it marinate for an hour.

Now since that i don't have a steamer in my flat, how do i steamed it ? Easy. One doesn't have to buy or pay extra for any cooking utensils to be frank. Food preparation doesn't have to cost so much. For me I just play along with my own kitchenware. I have my large deep-fried-pan fill with boil water, place a small bowl in the middle of the pan, and cover it with another deep-friend-pan. There i got my own steamer :)

Steamed the pork for at least half an hour (depends on the thickness). The inside of the meat should not be pink. After steaming, there will be some water on the plate. This sauce will be infused with the flavor of the meat and seasonings. Do not be deceived by this humble looking dish. It packs with a lots of flavor and is extremely tasty served with hot steamed boiled rice.From kid until now, i love to drizzle the sauce on top of my rice. It taste like heaven with the combination of steamed minced pork and rice. They are the perfect couple in the World !

The Masterpiece