I have some leftover vegetables curry green beans pineapple pieces, and a few pieces of roast pork; recipe below. Also, leftover uncooked vermicelli one block. Decided to combined them together with kai lan; I bought yesterday. I have added leftover bit of drumstick stock to make soup; recipe below.

Pork belly is a fatty cut of meat, literally from the belly of a pig. Pork belly crackling is really crispy. In Malaysia, grandma use to make roast pork belly crackling by piercing with a sharp metal rod and rub with lots of salt on skin and meat. Then she rubs five spice powder.

I don’t have that sharp metal nor do I have ice pick and five spice powder. I just scored it with a sharp knife. All I needed are salt plenty. The reason is salt draws moisture to the skin, aiding to ensure skin get crispy crackling.

My meal is something old a day to two days plus new ingredients. Be courageous using leftovers and new to make a comforting, hearty and delicious meal.

Ingredients

Roast pork

1.5 kg pork belly
Table salt

Vegetables curry green beans pineapple pieces

2 carrots, cut into bite size
1 long eggplants, cut into bite size
8 green beans, cut into bite size
6-8 cabbage leaves, cut into bite size
1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets
1 small can pineapple pieces, reserved the juice
1 packet about 200 g Malaysia Traditional Specialties
3 candlenuts, ground
3 slices galangal, ground
1 stalk of lemon grass, ground
1 canned coconut milk about 400 ml
100 ml canned coconut cream
2 Tbs garlic onion chilli sauce
1 Tbs garlic minced
1/2 Tbs ginger powder
2 Tsp tamarind paste add some water about 3 teacups for juice
2 dessertspoons oil
salt
pepper
water
1 cup vegetables stock, for extra gravy (OPT)

Drumsticks stock
12 drumsticks
4-6 c water, just enough to cover the drumsticks slightly above 1”
6 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
1 L chicken stock (bought)
2 Tsp chicken powder stock (OPT)
black peppercorns, pound a bit

Vermicelli and kai lan

1 block vermicelli
1/2 bunch kai lan, hard stems removed, cut to bite sizes
1 Tsp sesame oil

Method

Drumsticks stock one to two days in advance

In a pot, add drumsticks, 4 c water to cover drumsticks above 1inch and bring it to a simmer on low heat about 35 minutes. As it simmers, skim the foam (impurities) off the top with a fine-mesh skimmer or a spoon. When time up 35 minutes simmering drumsticks stock, strain stock through sieve into another pot. (I usually line it with a muslin cloth).

Add remaining stock ingredients into pot with drumsticks and lower the heat to simmer very gently for 1-2.5 hours. The longer the stock, the more flavour it will have, but the drumsticks will lose flavour. Remove the drumsticks from the pot once it has cooked. Let drumsticks cool and remove meat from bones, and set aside.

Note: Keep chicken pieces in an airtight container in fridge for 2-4 days. To have more stock for next day or two add in 1-2 extra cup of water and 1-2 Tsp powder stock into stock. Bring it to boil and check seasoning. Switch off hob. If you have leftover stock and when the stock had cool completely, spoon into sterilized jars with tight lids, label name and date make before you refrigerate them.

Vegetables curry green beans pineapple pieces

Put oil in pot and when hot fry the ground ingredients well. Cook garlic and ginger till aromatic. Add vegetables curry paste. Stir to mix well until fragrant. Now add carrots, cauliflowers and cabbage leaves, cooked for 4-5 minutes. Add enough water to cover vegetables partly.

Cover with a lid and cook on low heat until vegetables have softened slightly about 10 minutes. Then add 400 ml coconut milk, and stirs. Then add eggplants and green beans cook until it’s soft about 15-20 minutes.

Add 100 ml coconut cream, garlic onion chili sauce, pineapple pieces, pineapple juice 1/4 c and tamarind juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well again and simmer for about 7-9 minutes. Switch off hob, lift the lid and tilt for cool air to go in and hot curry air to go out to prevent the curry gone off.

Note: You can add any vegetables of your choice: tomato, okra, peas, 3 colours capsicums, baby corns or chickpeas. You don’t have to add candle nuts, galangal and lemon grass as the packet would have all the ingredients ready. I added to try and see if there’s any different and for more flavour. You can serve with roti, chapati or noodles.

Roast pork

Line baking tray with triple foil and place a wire rack over it. Wash hands and use paper towels to dry the pork belly. Allow to dry completely in fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven 200 degrees C. Score the skin of the pork belly with a very sharp knife, taking care not to cut through to the meat. Place pork belly on the wire rack. Rub the skin and in between the scored part with salt: one whole layer of salt evenly. Put in oven and roast for 40 minutes or until salt crust forms, the salt should be hardened. Make sure it’s not burnt just light brown.

Remove the pork belly from the oven, pull off the salt crust and discard. Increase oven temperature to 240 degrees C. Place pork belly back in the oven and roast for another 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for 10 minutes.

Cut and serve immediately with rice and vegetables or eat with chili sauce if you like spicy like me! or tomato sauce. It goes well with a cold beer. Enjoy!!!!

Note: You can grill it the second time; to ensure an even golden crackling, rather than burnt splotches here and there. Grill for about 18-22 minutes or more depending on how crackling and make sure it’s not burnt.

The bigger the pork belly the more time it need to roast. You might need to roast about 50-60 minutes the first time. The second time 40-45 minutes. If you still aren’t satisfied with the pork skin’s level of crispness, simply increase the temperature a bit to 250 degrees C for the remainder of the time Do pay close attention so that you do not burn the crackling.

Cooking vermicelli and kai lan and warmed up leftovers

Put the kettle on. Meantime, warmed up leftovers vegetables curry green beans pineapple pieces in microwave for 2-4 minutes. Then do the same warmed up the few pieces leftovers roast pork for 1-3 minutes.

Once boiled, pour into a pot, on medium heat. Put in kai lai and sesame oil into hot water. Cook kai lan for 3-5 minutes. Then add in vermicelli, cook for 1 minutes. Spoon out kai lan and vermicelli and some hot boiling water to a bowl.

Now stir the hot vegetables curry green beans pineapple pieces, and roast pork pieces with the kai lan and vermicelli. Enjoy!!!

https://helenscchin.com/2019/07/02/roast-pork-and-vegetables-vermicelli-noodle-soup/

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