Porky feast

Last Saturday, we threw a surprise birthday party for a friend. Since one of her favourite foods was belly pork, sio bak (chinese roast pork) and fried hokkien noodles (with pork!) was on the menu. Went to Cold Storage in United Square early Friday morning and a really friendly, upbeat young butcher (hmm.. dishy?) sold us a beautiful slab of belly pork. Quite lean, with just the right amount of fat to prevent it from drying out during roasting. Making sio bak is actually not that difficult, contrary to popular belief. It just takes a bit of planning and meticulous detail to preparation. A good hot oven is also essential.

Ingredients:

• Belly pork, 1kg
• 5 spice powder
• coriander powder
• coarse salt
• white pepper

You'll need to wash and pat dry the pork, score the skin deep (down to the fat). I prefer to score it to tiny diamond shapes about 2 mm wide. This helps to produce good crackling.
Rub the meat and skin all over with spice and salt mixture. Wrap the meat (bottom and sides) with cling film, leaving skin exposed.
Place in fridge overnight for skin to dry out. (a dry skin is essential for crisp crackling)
Next day, bring pork out and let it come to room temperature for an hour before roasting.
Pre-heat the oven to 200C
Place pork on a roasting rack, cover skin with a thick (5mm) layer of salt*
Roast pork in centre of oven for 50min
At the end of the 1st hour, take pork out, scrape off the salt, wipe the skin with kitchen paper and prick it all over again with a sharp knife or metal skewer.
Return to oven and roast for another 1h 20min (during the last 15min of this roasting period, the skin will start to to sizzle, crackle and pop - this is your reward for all that tedious scoring and salting) Remove from oven, let cool before cutting into slices.
Eat & Enjoy !! (and exercise the next day!)

*It sounds like a lot of salt, but most of it is removed and does not add significantly to the saltiness of the roast. If it is a concern, use less for the spice rub.

Oh yes, we also used a small portion of that slab to make the essential boiled pork slices that go into traditional fried hokkien mee.

Red Zinfandel by Gallo

Finished a bottle of red Zinfandel by Ernest & Julio Gallo yesterday. Since studies say that moderate amounts of wine is good for health, I finished this bottle with a fellow foodie over two dinners. It is a light and drinkable wine. Fruity with a hint of blackcurrant. Went well with home-cooked bread, salad and mushroom omelette.

Safety and life - don't be naive

23 November 2007, five dragon boat paddlers lost their lives in Cambodia. 1 June 2008, there are still paddlers who "doubt that capsize drills would be useful locally. Most said they have not experienced or seen a dragon boat capsize here." Having not experienced a capsize does not mean it will never happen to you. Look what happened in Cambodia? It is just like saying, "Why can't I drive recklessly when I have not experienced an accident?", "Why study when I have not failed?", or "Why exercise to lower my bad cholesterol when I have not experienced a heart attack?"

Eugene Wong said, "It will be quite dangerous to practice capsizing a boat, too, because it is heavy." (The Sunday Times, 1 June 2008) It will be more dangerous to not know how to re-act and free oneself from a real capsize situation. Therefore, capsizing drills in a controlled environment, supervised by experts and/or professionals are needed.

In every sporting activity, there is always the possibility of accident and injury. Before I was allowed to rock climb in an indoor gym in Kuala Lumpur, I had to show the staff I knew how to tie a proper knot, belay safely & re-act quickly if the climber slipped and fell. That was despite of my belaying many, many times. Before a mountaineer embarks on a high altitude alpine trip, he or she needs to know how to perform a crevasse rescue, recognize altitude sickness and prevent frost bite.

Preparation for an outdoor activity includes preparing the brain, not just the brawn. Just because it has never happened to you does not mean it could never happen to you.