Adventures with Kake

Red-cooking (紅燒/hóng shāo) is a style of Chinese cooking often used for pork (肉/ròu). The red colour comes from a combination of caramelised sugar and soy sauce, and additional flavour is imparted by Shàoxīng wine and star anise. Optional extra ingredients include garlic, fresh ginger, and cassia or cinnamon bark. One of the most common cuts used is pork belly, cut into chunks but with the skin and fat retained to melt into a delicious tenderness as the meat braises.

I've seen 紅燒肉 on lots of Chinese menus here in London; the photo above is of a version I ate at Dragon Inn on the Old Kent Road. It's not hard to make at home, though. I have a couple of recipes to suggest, each with its own characteristics, and the background information at both links is also well worth reading. The first is an adaptation of a recipe by Fuchsia Dunlop, and the second is a recipe from the Red Cook blog (written by a Singapore-born blogger who likes red-cooked pork so much he named his blog after it). (Edit, June 2011: Kian at Red Cook has now posted a follow-up to his previous post which is also worth reading.)

I should add that I prefer to cook the pork for a lot longer than suggested in both these recipes — I find two-and-a-half to three hours is optimal, to get it really tender. Be careful when stirring it after the first couple of hours, as it has a tendency to fall apart by this point. Another important point is that it's well worth taking the time to blanch the meat before you start, to get out the impurities and make sure your sauce is nice and clear. Put your slab of pork belly in a pan with enough cold water to cover, then bring it up to the boil and let it simmer for a minute or two until the foam/scum has risen on top. Now drain the meat (discard the blanching water) and give it a wash under the tap to remove any remnants of scum. I find this is an easier and less wasteful alternative to skimming the scum off the sauce/stock while the dish is cooking, and I do it as a first step whenever I'm making a stock or sauce from meat or bones.

If you'd like to see 紅燒肉 being made, check out this YouTube demonstration, taken from a Chinese TV channel (all in Chinese, no English translation, but the visuals are easy enough to follow).

An interesting aside on all this is a blog post by Fuchsia Dunlop herself poking gentle fun at attempts to standardise the recipe for 紅燒肉. Also, for anyone wishing to delve further into the intricacies of red-cooking, this eGullet thread on the many meanings of 紅燒 might be of interest.

On Monday I had an East London adventure! I started off fairly centrally, with lunch at Rochelle Canteen in Shoreditch, then wandered eastwards, taking photos for RGL along the way. I'd intended to stop for a break at L'Oasis, but it was closed (I found out later that it's closed for good), so I went to the Wetherspoons instead for a 30p pint of lime and soda.

Next, I got the Tube up to Upton Park, where I wanted to hunt out the Quality Foods branch I'd heard about. I found what I thought was it (and later confirmed the address was right), but it really didn't look too brilliant so I didn't bother going in. Maybe next time. Instead, I wandered across to East Ham and had a decent enough dinner in Thattukada (RGL review coming soon) before getting the Overground to Leyton for choir.

I have forgotten what I did on Tuesday and Wednesday. Probably just work.

On Thursday I went on a Metroland adventure! First of all, I went to Willesden Green, intending to have lunch at Sushi-Say, but alas it was closed. So I went round the corner to check out Taste Malaysia, but it was also closed. I ended up having a not-entirely-satisfactory fishcake in the Queensbury. But then it was back on the Jubilee Line, to change to the Metropolitan Line at Wembley Park, to change to the Chesham shuttle at Chalfont & Latimer.

And then I was truly in Metroland. ewan has described Chesham on RGL as “a bucolic village in Buckinghamshire, far outside London and only connected by the Metropolitan Line”, which is a fair enough assessment. The main reason I was here was to visit the Queens Head, a Good Beer Guide pub which needed a proper RGL review, but my research had also revealed the presence of a bookshop (which I browsed around in but didn't buy anything from). Not only that, but on approaching the bookshop I spotted a couple of pubs, the Misty Moon and the Cock Tavern, which I of course had to try out. Then on the way to the Queens Head, I saw that the George and Dragon had reopened, so I had to go in there as well. By the time I reached the Queens Head, it was getting late, and a few sums revealed that there was no way I was going to get to Waterloo in time for the book group meeting I was supposed to be going on to — so I sent ewan a quick SMS and headed back to Willesden Green to meet him for dinner at Sushi-Say (who initially said they couldn't fit us in since we didn't have a booking, but relented and squeezed us in anyway when we made it clear we were prepared to wait).

On Friday I did some work and then cooked saag and prawn patia for dinner.

On Saturday I overslept and missed the Tube Walk (but I did really need the sleep). In the evening I made saag aloo with the leftover saag from last night, and also did baingan ka bhartha to go with it. Then I killed my laptop by knocking a glass of wine all over it. Argh.

On Sunday I mourned my laptop and ate pizza from Cucina.

On Monday I went to choir! It was the first rehearsal after the summer break, and it was great; also good to see techiebabe again.

On Tuesday I went on the first leg of the New Good Beer Guide Pub Crawl, visiting the White Swan in Whitechapel, the Hamilton Hall in Liverpool Street Station, the Hand and Shears and Fox and Anchor in Clerkenwell, the Museum Tavern in Bloomsbury, the Courtfield in Earl's Court, and the Leinster Arms in Bayswater. ewan, shermarama, superpitching, mjg59, and wildeabandon joined in at various points along the way. We'd intended to eat at the Leinster Arms, but they were running short of food, so instead we went to Kiasu for Malaysian food.

On Wednesday I did the second leg of the New Good Beer Guide Pub Crawl, starting in Harrow-on-the-Hill with lunch at the Castle. While waiting for the bus to take me to the station ready for the next pub, I had a chat with a chap also waiting for the same bus. He told me he'd lived in Harrow-on-the-Hill for 40 years, but couldn't suggest anything interesting to do in the area — a shame, since I forgot to photograph the pub and hence will have to go back some time.

I also ended up having a conversation in the next bit of the journey; having got the bus to Harrow and Wealdstone, and waited 20 minutes for a train, the train got cancelled and I found myself chatting to a lady who'd also been hoping to catch the cancelled train. I never found out her name, but I did find out that she has a pretty similar attitude to life-work balance to me, and her sister is poly. When a useful train finally did turn up, the journey to Watford seemed to take pretty much no time at all, thanks to her company. In Watford, I went to the Estcourt Arms for a quick one, then headed to Watford's other station to get the Metropolitan line down to Eastcote, where I visited the Case Is Altered for some not-very-good food in an almost laughably bad environment, then beat a quick retreat to the Black Horse for a soothing half to get over it.

Thursday saw the final leg of the New Good Beer Guide Pub Crawl, a much more compact affair covering the New Prince (not actually a NGBGP but it needed a review) and the Lamb in Surbiton, the Boaters Inn in Kingston, the Builders Arms and Adelaide in Teddington, and finally the Railway Bell in Hampton. I'd intended to get food at the Railway Bell, but in contradiction to what both the Good Beer Guide and the pub's own website told me, they only do food at lunchtimes, so I drank my pint quickly and ran off to find a chip shop.

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I alternately worked and rested, though I did cook a fine roast dinner on Sunday evening, featuring expensive organic chicken roasted on a bed of black pudding, braised parsnips, celeriac stuffing, tamarind gravy, roast potatoes, and a tiny fraction of the frozen-pea mountain from the freezer.

On Monday I had lunch at Han Kang, a decent Korean restaurant just off Oxford Street, then took some of the RGL photos that I'd been putting off because the places were all inside Oxford Street department stores (example), then went on a mini pub crawl around Bayswater with Richard.

I have forgotten what I did on Tuesday. Probably just work.

On Wednesday I had lunch at Madsen in South Kensington and bought some expensive cheese at La Cave à Fromage, then headed over to Richard's place to play Rock Band. We had a break in the middle to go and eat some not-very-good roast pork at the Coach and Horses on Kew Green.

On Thursday I went to the pub with bob and others, specifically the Prince Regent on Gloucester Road. We tried lots of the food, and found some to be very good (the steak) and some to be very bland (the spinach soup).

On Friday I did loads of work and also made pork chops with rice noodle salad for dinner. I might even have done some washing up as well. What a good Kake I am.

On Saturday I went on the Epping to Theydon Bois Tube Walk and took some photos, including one of an unidentified flower. Do you know what it is? On the way home I stopped off for a drink and a snack at Parade in South Woodford.

On Sunday I fixed stuff on the Discworld MUD and made braised sausages for dinner.

On Monday I went to choir and sang music by Elgar and Freddie Mercury. I went there via East Ham this time, since I've given myself a project of trying out all the small Indian restaurants along the High Street. I started with Hyderabadi Spice, where I had a very good biryani. (Haven't written the review yet since I need to go back and clear up some confusion over their billing practices.)

On Tuesday I was inspired by a Shaun Hill recipe to make seared scallops with lentil sauce. I used leftovers from the dhal I made last Tuesday to make the sauce. It worked pretty well; I hadn't been sure it was possible to sear frozen scallops without overcooking them, but they turned out fine.

On Wednesday I went for an epic two-hour dim sum lunch at Dragon Castle with amuchmoreexotic, thekumquat, and the quatlet. Then amuchmoreexotic and I headed south down the Northern Line to take some RGL photos and visit some pubs in Clapham. We then met up with ewan and mjg59 for drinks at the Tooting Tram & Social followed by curry at Radha Krishna Bhavan.

On Thursday I looked at the Tooting Tram & Social website to see which other pubs in their chain (Antic) we didn't have yet on RGL, and realised there was one near Liverpool Street, which is a short bus ride from me and technically on the way to the pub I was meant to be going to later. So I summoned some london.pm people and went and checked it out. It was subterranean, and rather noisy despite being deserted apart from us and the staff. Turn the bloody music down a bit! Then I went on to the Pakenham Arms to meet the lovely (and post-exam) superpitching. Other friends turned up too!

On Friday I mostly sat around going "ow, my womb". doop persuaded me to order a takeaway from Everest Inn in the evening.

On Saturday I worked, and on Sunday I rested.

By the way, you are allowed to comment on these posts if you like... even if it's just to say "hello!"

On Monday I didn't go to choir because it was a Bank Holiday and the Jubilee Line was closed for engineering works, and I was tired anyway.

On Tuesday I was meant to go out for fun, but I was still tired so I went to bed early and watched House.

On Wednesday I went for dim sum at Joy King Lau with Sarah and Lex, then wandered around taking photos for RGL before meeting people for curry at Gaylord. I tried to pop in to the Crown again on the way home, but it was closed again.

On Thursday I made congee for the first time ever, using the century eggs I bought from See Woo on Wednesday. It was really tasty.

On Friday I made aubergine and prawns in XO sauce, and pork and tofu in black bean sauce. Both were pretty tasty. I think I might have to start ordering XO sauce dishes in restaurants... though they do tend to be a bit expensive, since the sauce itself is expensive.

On Saturday I did some work and then finished knitting a scarf that I was making for my sister.

On Sunday I ventured to Southall with doop, ewan and said sister, to go on a pretty enjoyable food walk. We had lunch at Mirch Masala and did a bit of grocery shopping. When we got home I made pani puri and they were ace.

On Monday I made cauliflower-leek soup.

On Tuesday bob got back from Eastercon with a pile of new books, so we did a massive declutter of old CDs, videos, and out-of-date computer books. Then we celebrated with a takeaway from Cafe Nawaz, which was pretty decent for what it was, and well-priced too.

On Wednesday I fixed some bugs on the Discworld MUD (and also did a wee bit of new development, which I can't tell you about until it goes in-game).

On Thursday I made some roasted carrot pate and read my freshly-arrived copy of 42 Magazine. I was planning to make baba ganoush as well, but my aubergine exploded in the oven.

On Friday I made teh interwebs crave fried egg sandwiches.

On Saturday I attempted to watch The Wire with uon but got bored halfway through the first episode due to being unable to understand what was going on. He appears to be hooked, though.

On Sunday I fixed some more Discworld MUD bugs and wrote some new NPCs for Ohulan Cutash. If you're a Discworld fan, or indeed a MMORPG fan, you really should check this out. It's been around since 1992, and has been properly maintained as well as expanded over the years since then. It also has a very good proportion of active female developers, which I believe a lot of people are touting as one of Dreamwidth's plus points.