Up to Another Level - Cured Pork Tongue and Sprouted Garlic Stir Fry

Don't get intimidated by the look of cured pork tongue, it's just like cured bacon but in the form of a chewier part of the muscle -

I came across this ingredient while venturing a local market specialized in a wide variety of cured products. The preparation for cured tongue is similar to more common cured bacon.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in the cured tongue, this process is fairly fast, about 10 seconds. Remove the tongue from water and use the back of the knife to run down the surfaces, removing any grayish bits if any. Let the tongue cools down then slice the middle section as thin as possible. 

Leave out the rubber-like tip and the cartilaginous back-end section. Save these two parts for stock or sauce making in the future.


Cured pork tongue and sprouted garlic stir fry -

Ingredients?

• 1 sprouted garlic
• 1 cured pork tongue
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 red chilies
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

How?

Discard the sprouted garlic stem and chop the remaining diagonally into shorter sections. Discard the chili stems and also chop the remaining diagonally. Peel and give the garlic cloves a few chops. 

Drizzle about two tablespoons of olive oil to a pan and turn to medium high heat. Add in sprouted garlic, chopped garlic, and chillies. Cook till the aroma comes out but not burning the garlic. 

Add in sliced cured pork tongue along with granulated sugar. The sweetness from the sugar helps balance off the salty cured meat. Stir fry for one minute before serving. 

During the prepping process, boil the cured tongue for few more minutes or leave it in hot water for an extended period of time should help in drawing out some salty taste.


Other Asian stir fry recipes:

• Sour and spicy cabbage stir fry - 醋溜高麗菜
• Hunan eggs (spicy hard boiled eggs stir fry) - 湖南蛋
• Quick and easy Chinese stir fry using cured pork slices and garlic bolt 蒜苗炒臘肉
• Chinese chive flowers and salted black beans stir fry - wait till you find out this dish's real name
• Taiwanese dried radish and salted black beans stir fry - 辣炒豆鼓蘿蔔乾
• Chinese side dish recipe: spicy cabbage and Matsuzaka pork stir fry
• Bento side dish recipe: chicken and corn stir fry
• Pickled small gai choy and ground pork stir fry - 雪裡紅炒豬肉
• Let's team up - cauliflower and broccoli stir fry
• Spicy stir fry with thick cut Matsuzaka pork and salted black beans 辣炒松阪豬 

Afternoon Snack - Buttery French Baguette with Nutella and Brie

The short cooking video, usually around one minute is getting its popularity on the Internet. I can see it on Facebook almost on a daily basis. One day I came across a video using French baguette, Nutella, and Brie for a quick snack and the idea stuck on my mind ever since. Finally got a chance to give it a try and the result was very comforting, and fattening. 

Buttery French baguette and Nutella and Brie - 

Ingredients (makes four)?

• 1 small or 8 slices French baguette
• 4 thick slices Brie
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 8 dollops Nutella
• Some caster sugar (optional)

How?

Slice the baguette diagonally, two slices make one portion. In addition, I'm using chunky round shaped Brie so half of the cheese works perfectly for one baguette sandwich. 

Take a non-stick pan, add in two tablespoons of butter and turn to medium heat. Once melted but not reaching the smoking yet, add in the baguette slices and sear till the bottom edges turn slightly browned. Remove from heat immediately.

Take four baguette slices with seared side up, add one portion of Brie and top with one dollop of Nutella. Repeat for the remaining 3 baguette slices. Top the semi-finished sandwiches with the other four baguette slices, this time seared side down. That way you'll end up with 4 baguette sandwiches with all seared sides in the center.

Using the same non-stick pan and melt two more tablespoons of butter. Carefully transfer the Nutella and Brie baguette sandwiches back to the pan and sear both the top and bottom till slightly colored. 

Use a spatula to press down the sandwiches during the process. Don't be afraid of melted ingredients bursting out, just the thought of overflowing Brie and Nutella make my mouth watering. 

Once ready, transfer onto a serving plate and dust with caster sugar if desired. Also slice the baguette sandwich in half if preferred.

Crunchy on the outside with buttery, cheesy, and velvety oozing goodness in the center, definitely my type of afternoon snack. 


Other recipe using Nutella:

• Quick snack in 15 minutes - French toast with Nutella sauce