TherMe: Braised Pork Rice aka 卤肉饭

The famous Taiwan braised pork rice is one of my faves but those sold commercially tend to be a tad too oily leaving u feeling kinda jerlat towards the end. As a Thermomix advisor, we get to learn a new dish during our weekly meetings so u can imagine my excitement when we were told it's gonna b this dish for the week ;p

Ingredients:

700g of pork belly

Water

1 tsp of salt (preferably pink Himalayan salt / sea salt)

2-3 tbsps of dark soy sauce, depending on how dark u want it to be

1 tbsp of fermented bean paste

1 tbsp of light soy sauce

1 tbsp of organic raw sugar

1 tsp of sesame oil

3 cloves of garlic, ends cut away

10g organic extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked, drained (retain the water) & sliced

150g of mushroom water

3 pieces of star anise

Directions:

1. Put pork into mixing bowl then add sufficient water to cover pork followed by salt. Par-boil for 20mins / 100°C / Reverse / Spoon Speed.

2. Remove pork then slice to desired thickness. Use a big bowl to marinate pork with dark soy sauce & mix well 1st so that colour will be more even. Add in the remaining seasonings (excluding water) & mix evenly.

3. Pour out the residual water in mixing bowl. Put garlic then set 5s / Reverse / Speed 5. Remove peels & scrap down sides before adding EVOO to sauté at 3mins / Varoma / Spoon Speed.

4. Fix butterfly onto blade then pour in marinated pork including the marinate, mushrooms, mushroom water & star anise & cook for 1hr 10mins / 98°C / Reverse / Spoon Speed. 

5. Lastly, add 5mins / Varoma / Spoon Speed to help thicken the sauce. Pour pork & gravy over cooked rice & hard-boiled egg. Best served warm with some steamed vegetables.

The braised pork can be prepared in advance then stored in individual portions either in chiller (overnight) or freezer (if more than 1 day). Simply cook rice in simmering basket with eggs on top while steaming the required pork portions in the Varoma dish as well as vegs on the Varoma tray & Voila! A quick meal ready in no time at all ~.<

For non-Thermomix readers, you can still tweak & follow the steps but simmer over low heat in a wok or pot on the stove. Stir occasionally but when sauce has thickened, stir more frequently to prevent it from getting burnt.

I'm glad e dish turned out not oily. Meat was well-flavoured & texture was perfect, tender yet not too soft..one word to sum it up, marvelicious!!

TherMe: Pasta with Home-made Tomato Sauce

Adapted from the Tomato Sauce recipe in 'Thermomix The Basic Cook Book'

I've cooked the original tomato sauce as a base for pizzas numerous times & its delish! Was making another batch so decided to prep extra for our pasta dinner.

Ingredients (serves 1 toddler + 2 adults):

150g onions, peeled & halved

1 clove of garlic

60g of organic extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1kg of fresh cherry tomatoes

1 1/4 tsp of dried basil 

1 1/4 tsp of organic raw sugar

1/2 tsp of pink Himalayan salt

250g of minced pork

150g (pre-cooked) of desired pasta, cooked to al-dente then rinse lightly with room temp water

50g of frozen organic peas

Directions:

1. Add in onions, garlic & EVOO into Thermomix mixing bowl then chop 5s / Speed 5 followed by sauté 7mins / 120°C / Speed 1.

2. Add tomatoes, basil, sugar & salt then chop 15s / Speed 5.

3. Cook 30mins / 100°C / Speed 2. Keep half for future usage (base for pizzas, vegs etc).

4. Pour in minced pork, cooked pasta & peas then cook 3mins / 100°C / Reverse / Speed 1.

For non-Thermomix readers, you can still tweak the prepaprtions by either chopping the ingredients manually or using a normal blender. Follow the steps but simmer over low heat in a wok or pot on the stove. Stir occasionally & when sauce has thickened, stir more frequently to prevent it from getting burnt.

It's been awhile since I cooked tomato-based pasta for BB so he kinda finished his portion in record time..lolz! A keeper for sure <3 

Before having my TherMe, I used to prep the pasta sauce in my Avent Steamer & Blender. Due to size constraints, I'm unable to do larger quantities. Furthermore, this definitely tastes more fragrant due to the sautéing of ingredients as compared to just plain steaming.

TherMe: Kid-friendly Char Siew (Non-Baked Version)

This recipe was highly recommended by one of my cooking chums but I adapted it to be more kid-friendly for my boy.

Ingredients:

650g of pork belly

3 cloves of garlic

5 tbsps of brown sugar

2 tbsps of light soy sauce

1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp of homemade peanut butter

3/4 tbsp of Simply Natural organic blk bean sauce (thick)

2 tsps of dark soy sauce

150g water (Note: can increase to 200g cos sauce abit thick)

Directions:

1. Chop garlic at 5s / Reverse / S5.

2. Marinate pork with all seasonings, except water, & place it in chiller for at least 4hrs.

3. Add marinated pork with sauce & water into Thermomix mixing bowl then cook for 45mins / 120°C / Reverse / Spoon Speed.

4. Slice to desired thickness, pour gravy over & serve warm.

For non-Thermomix readers, you can still follow the steps & simmer on low heat in a pot over the stove but u'll need to stir occasionally & when sauce has thickened, stir more frequently to prevent it from getting burnt.

As this is a non-baked version, you don't see the charred parts normally found on char siew which I feel makes it healthier actually. However, the meat is tender, flavourful & u can taste the fragrant of the roasted peanuts. It may not taste like its commercially-sold counterparts but both my parents enjoyed it tremendously & it definitely deserves the thumbs up given by my boy d(^.^)b

Best part of this is all that I need to do is put the marinated meat in, set the time, temperature & stirring speed & Thermomix will do its magic! No more watching of fire, stirring constantly to prevent burnts etc & I'm free to do anything while it's been cooked ~.<