Stewed Pork & Celery and Carrot Soup

when mummy throws me an ingredient, i have to scramble for a recipe to whip something up. it's quite fun actually. normally i plan ahead to get all the ingredients i need, but these few times, i've been lazy. i only wait till the last minute before deciding what i want to cook, which means that i often end up having to skip certain ingredients or replace them with something else haha.

so, this is my rendition of stewed pork, adapted from storyofbing's braised pork ribs. haha mine turned out to be a not-so-nice-looking version of it xP gahhh, i really need to improve on the aesthetics of my dishes. hmm. and because i didn't have any pork ribs on hand, i replaced it with pork chop instead. haha. i would recommend that you use pork rib though, because i think it gets more tender as you stew it, unlike my pork chop which was slightly tougher than desired because i stewed it for so long.

Stewed Pork 

Serves 4-6

6 pieces of pork chops/pork ribs

6 cloves of garlic

1 cup of hua tiao wine

3 cups of water

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp black/balsamic vinegar

star anise/cloves to taste (this was suggested in bing's recipe, but cos i didn't have them so i couldnt add them in)

1. Peel and wash the garlic and set it aside.

2. Add some oil to a deep saucepan or wok and heat it up.

3. Add the pork to the pan and fry till both sides are slightly brown.

4. Add the garlic to the pan and fry.

5. Pour in the hua tiao wine and allow it to simmer for 1min.

6. Mix the sugar, oyster sauce, dark soya sauce and vinegar with one cup of water.

7. Pour the mixture into the pan and wash it down with the other two cups of water.

8. If you have star anise/clover on hand, add them in.

9. Bring the mixture to the boil, lower the fire and allow it to simmer for about 30min, stirring occasionally.

10. After 30min, if the sauce is too thick, add some water. Mine was still too watery, so i increased the fire. Continue boiling until the sauce is of your desired consistency, then serve.

Celery and Carrot Soup

i realised this soup is pretty similar to the winter vegetable soup i made previously. haha. but its a different sensory experience! (:

Serves 4

3 carrots

3 celery stalks

2 russet potatoes

15g butter

500ml vegetable stock

250ml water

1. Chop up the vegetables into chunks.

2. Add the butter to a pot and add the celery and carrots. Cook over a medium heat for 3-4minutes, stirring.

3. Add the potatoes, stock and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20min.

4. When the vegetables have softened slightly but are not mushy, add parts of the soup to a blender and blend till it becomes a puree, with a few chunks of vegetables remaining (based on your preference).

Simple! (: and i really like how the celery added a refreshing taste to the soup :D