Over the last year, after much ‘encouragements’ from friends I researched and finally bought 2 Air-Fryers; fundamentally one for my son who has moved away and one for me to learn so I can teach him easy recipes to feed himself. However I have since fallen in love with it!

I use it as a glorified oven really. After a year of experimenting and such, there are some food I will never use it for, especially those that only taste good with frying. Air-frying might be ‘healthier’ but for food that needs frying in oil, it is not nicer in taste. However I would never use my big oven for certain food now, like Cantonese Crispy Roast pork – Siu Yuk, 脆皮烧肉 which I think I have perfected in my air-fryer to my satisfaction. For full recipe please refer to this link – https://www.julieolive.co.uk/2019/09/06/traditional-cantonese-crispy-roast-pork-belly-siu-yuk-%e8%84%86%e7%9a%ae%e7%83%a7%e8%82%89/

My recipe uses red nam yue, fermented bean curd. To me this is a MUST. If you do not please do NOT refer to yours as ‘authentic’ or ‘traditional’ It kinda pisses me off. This is the way traditional Cantonese roast pork Siu Yuk, 脆皮烧肉 used to taste like when I was young. After roasting the pork itself will have a shade of light pink hue due to the nam yue and it taste so much better for it. Below are pics and TIPs of roasting it in an air-fryer. Enjoy and please feel free to ask me any questions pertaining to this cook.

Today I make sambal belacan chilli paste again. The ones I made last week were all gone and I only gave 2 cups worth away. The daughter complained she wanted to eat more.

We happened to go near a Chinese supermarket yesterday so I bought the biggest bag of dried chillies and 3 packets of fresh chillies I think amounted to a kg. I spent yesterday deseeding the dried chillies of as much of the seeds as I could. Took quite awhile but I have breaks for chocolates and coffees so no hardships.

Today daughter is home to help do washing up so she asked me to cook. In return I have to mark a big tub as hers and everyone don’t touch.

The recipe is simple and please adjust to your taste.

NOTE

• How spicy you want your sambal is entirely up to you. Sometimes you just cannot get spicy chillies and at other times they blow your head off – so there cannot be a fixed recipe.
• If the sambal is too spicy add more sugar. I prefer to use brown sugar but it is entirely up to you.
• Chillies seeds do not make your sambal more spicy. Please Google and read or should I say educate yourself. I hate to eat chilli seeds.
• Toasted belacan gives a more umami taste.
• Salt helps to draws out taste of everything so add some.
• Adding vinegar helps in preserving your sambal but hey it never last in my house! You can bottle them, vacuum seal them and they last forever.
• It took me on low heat about 2 hours for this batch discounting the deseeding dried chillies time and boiling time.
• Remember the taste mature the next day and it taste more mellowed.
• Enjoy eating knowing that your sambal is cooked with love and you can eat as much as a jar a day – kekekekeke
• There are so many uses – can add in dried shrimps, ikan billis, onions, garlic and anything you like to it.

Today I cooked Hainanese Chicken Rice, cooked the traditionally way. Both my children are at home today and my son though very western in his taste does enjoy chicken rice. So mummy is going to spoil everyone.

I have tried cooking and tasting this, with the chicken over rice steamed method but it is just not the same. The chicken is just not as smooth. The extra step of dunking the chicken in cold water does give the skin a smoother finish and a more enjoyable eat. I enjoy good food and it is not everyday I eat rice so it is a treat indeed!

As I have made some Loh Bak yesterday (Five-Spice Pork Roll), I decided to fry 2 rolls and served my Hainanese Chicken rice with them. My hubby is also a fan of garlic kai lan (broccoli shoots) but not cucumber, the norm vegetable served with chicken rice back home so we have that for our vegetable instead.

Hubby is a massive huge fan of the ginger dipping sauces both plain and chilli. He was making approving noises as he enjoyed his lunch.

I learned to cook this dish as a young teenager in Ipoh. My eldest Uncle came back from working in Holland after many years and he taught everyone how the place he worked make Hainanese Chicken Rice. He worked in a Chinese Restaurant there of course.

I listened to all his stories in awe. I remembered he said when the apartment he lived in had a fire drill or when a possession passes the street, the western ladies will ran out onto the street to watch naked!!! I am sure he enjoyed our shocked faces!

My TIP on the butter and the pinch of turmeric came from him of course. My Uncle chopped the chicken liver and gizzard and added to the rice when he fry them but here in UK chicken comes without either. So there is no choice for me.

We all enjoyed our lunch today but I did not give them any of the chicken broth as I am saving it for another special dish tomorrow.

Traditional Cantonese Crispy Roast pork belly – Siu Yuk, 脆皮烧肉, is my daughter favourite of all Chinese roast dishes. She can never have enough of Cantonese Crispy Roast Pork Belly aka Siu Yuk and will eat it everyday if she could.

However normally after marinating and roasting it all day, after the cleaning up I find I am only able to manage a few pieces.

Actually Cantonese Crispy Roast Pork Belly is not hard to make. It just takes a bit of time love and attention. I have actually done a few steps by steps posts in the past but I have since lost my old blog so here’s a new updated one.

I do not often order this dish in restaurants outside as I find them only having one taste – salty! That is NOT how a traditional Cantonese Crispy Roast Pork belly should taste like! Well not to me anyway The layer on salt on top type and wrapping with tin foil is NOT a traditional Cantonese Crispy Roast pork belly to me too. I cannot think what to do with the salt after nor wonder how the bottom can get nicely roasted if on tin foil.

While the pork belly is going through it stages be it salting or marinating you can go gardening, shopping, clean out your fridge freezer for examples. kekekekekeke or just have coffee and Facebook catch up.

TIP – The hot water on the skin not only tightens it but helps in giving you a crispy skin.

TIP – The salting of the pork draws out the water in the skin and makes it more crispy.

TIP : Only poke the skin, skin deep NOT onto the fat layer. The more holes the nicer the skin.

TIP : When roasting place the tray into your oven first then fill the bottom tray with a kettle of boiled water. This help to catch the oil dripping down and keep the pork belly very juicy.

IMPORTANT – You might need to add more water to your tray halfway!

Update: 7th April 2021- Recently due to Covid19 lockdown I have been purchasing pork belly from Costco. I prefer to go around dinner time, less people then. The pork slabs weigh just about/under 2kg a piece. My daughter have been learning to make traditional Cantonese roast pork and these pieces took about an hour to roast in a fan oven with top heat at 200C

Try to chose the pork with a firm skin and not floppy skin with creases. Firm skin makes the best crispy top.

1. We have been making it in the afternoon, then after marinating the bottom, with the skin still dry on a piece of cloth, leave it to marinate overnight
2. Wrap with cling film (because I do not like my fridge to smell of 5 spices) and put it in the fridge overnight.
3. The next day flip it over, remove the cloth and let the skin dry for a day. Would be better if you can out it in the sun.
4. Roast it in the late afternoon and eat the next day. The skin will still be very crunchy if you do not seal it. Just cover with a net cover and leave it in a cool place. In my case it is my kitchen as I do not have heating on there.

My daughter has just about managed to make this on her own. I will buy a few more pieces of pork for her to try a few more times. I get to ‘goyang kaki’ too – kekekekeke