1. If the tripe is smelly, wash in some tamarind juice,
2. Cut into 2-3 inch pieces and boil in a stock of some carrots, onion, garlic and large green chilies and some chicken powder. Simmer for 2.5 - 3 hours, depending on how tender you like it.
3. Drain and pat dry the tripe.
4. Melt some better with crushed garlic, chopped spring onions, Korean red chili powder, sesame oil, and a bit of sugar and salt to balance.
5. Spoon over the marinade and leave it in the fridge for the butter to harden.
Different people love different parts of kway chup - my family prefers the small intestines so I use that the most. I can't give an exact amount of how much you'll need of each, but use as much or little as you like!
Some of the ingredients commonly used:
Pork belly
Small intestines, washed
Big intestines
Tau pok
Fish cake
Hard boiled egg
(I marinated the pork belly and intestines in a bit of Mei Kwei Lu, which is a rose alcohol. You won't have to do that for the non pork ingredients)
Sauce for the ingredients:
3 tablespoons oyster sauce 3 teaspoons dark soy sauce (the thick syrupy one)
Few dashes Maggi seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Chinese Five spice powder
1 star anise
3-5 cloves
1 centimeter bit of cinnamon stick
4-5 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
3-4 slices ginger, lightly smashed
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon white peppercorns
1 cup of water
For the soup:
2 pork bones
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
black peppercorns
Fresh flat white noodles
1) If using pork belly and intestines, wash the intestines first and marinade all in a bit of Mei kwei lu.
2) Combine all ingredients for the sauce and add to the slow cooker.
3) For pork belly and intestines, add it all together with the sauce in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 2 - 3 hours.
4) While that is cooking, make the soup stock. Throw in the pork bones, onion, garlic and peppercorns into a pot. Add enough water to cover.
5) Bring to a boil and remove scum. Turn down the fire, cover and continue boiling for as long as you can (2-3 hours) - just as the pork belly and intestines are ready.
6) When the pork belly and intestines are tender, add in the other ingredients such as tau pok, fish cake and hard boiled egg. Cook for another 15 - 20 minutes.
7) Strain the stock and add some salt. Then add about 1/2 cup of the sauce into the soup base. Keep it hot.
8) Remove all the ingredients from the slow cooker and start chopping into bite sized pieces. Serve onto a plate and spoon the sauce over.
9) Put some rice noodles into a bowl and spoon over the hot soup.
10) Garnish with coriander, spring onions and fried shallots.
11) Serve with chili sauce. As this is the lazy way, forget about doing it yourself. The chili sauce with garlic and ginger is just as good as home made!
Marinade:
About 700g mutton with bone (either shanks or ribs), chopped into 2 inches pieces
1 inch knob old ginger, roughly chopped
1 inch knob blue ginger/galangal, roughly chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
6 small red shallots, roughly chopped
3 coriander roots
3 big green chillies, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon methi/fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoons fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
About 3 tablespoons groundnut oil for frying and making it into a paste
Soup:
41/2 cups beef/veal or chicken stock (I used store bought beef stock but if you have a home made one, even better)
2 cardamon pods, bruised
1/2 stick cinnamon
1 star anise
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste * *Optional. The stock may already contain enough salt, and there's already pepper in the marinade
Garnish:
Fresh coriander leaves
Fried shallots
French baguette
1. In a mortar & pestle, food processor or hand blender, blitz the old ginger, blue ginger, garlic, shallots, coriander roots and green chilies together to form a paste (add some oil to make it come together)
2. In a wok, heat about 2 tablespoons of groundnut oil to medium. Fry the fenugreek, mustard and fennel seeds - be careful as they will pop as soon as you do. Quickly throw in the ground paste. Do not burn the fenugreek, mustard or fennel seeds.
3. Fry the spiced paste till it's fragrant, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then add the turmeric, curry powder, cumin and white pepper and fry for another minute or so, till it's fragrant. Remove from wok and set aside to cool.
4. Once it's cooled, mix it in with the mutton pieces. Marinade for at least 2 hours.
5. In a pot, bring the stock to a boil with the bruised cardamon pods, cinnamon stick and star anise. When it boils, add in the marinated meat with the spice paste. If there's any spice mix left in the bowl, add a bit of water and throw it all in the pot. Do not waste the paste.
6. Bring to boil for about 3-5 minutes and the lower the heat to the lowest possible and cover for about 2 -3 hours, or until the meat is tender.
7. Remove the meat from the bones and add it back to the soup. Pour in the coconut milk, and add the sugar. Taste to see if you need to add salt and white pepper. Simmer for another 30 minutes before serving.
8. Garnish with fried shallots and coriander leaves. Eat with French bread.
* Mutton is referred to as goat meat or the meat from an adult sheep. In this case, it's goat. I got mine from Tekka Market in Singapore and it's widely available there. Goat meat contains less cholesterol and is less fatty than beef or lamb. It has less calories too. If you can't find goat meat, you could probably use adult sheep - or if you can't find that either, you could use lamb. (Although I'm told in some European supermarkets they sometimes try to pass of adult sheep as lamb.) Some stalls make their Soup Kambing thick, some thin, some not so oily, some with a film of oil on the top (my favourite type!). Although it uses traditional Indian ingredients, Soup Kambing is actually a Singaporean dish, according to Carry It Like Harry . There's no other dish similar in India. Sold mostly by Singaporean Muslim Indians, this rich and flavourful soup is very popular in Singapore and Malaysia, and probably in my top three favourite local dishes.
I love eating the weird parts of an animal. As kids and even till now, my twin sister Caryn and I fight over the odd parts of the Singaporean local dish, kway chap - a dish of braised pork, offal, beancurd, and hard-boiled eggs, served with a bowl of flat lasagna-like rice pasta in steaming brown broth. The sweet intestines and large intestines were the main items to claim over with your chopsticks.
We also still fight over the chicken feet my mother uses in her soups. I still use chicken feet in my stocks. Heston Blumenthal has this recipe for a very chickeny chicken stock which uses milk powder and chicken wings. Forget it. Just use as many chicken feet as you can get your hands on - it's way cheaper! When you're done boiling, take them out and dip in soy sauce and pepper. I have my own chicken stock recipe here.
I try to add as many odd bits to my food as possible. The other day we had a BBQ at ours and I couldn't resist buying some beef heart and lungs. I made them satay style on skewers and served them up.
I bought this book called Odd Bits and I'm now reading it. There's also a little bit about the history of eating these parts. They're nothing to be afraid of. Not too long ago, we thought they were as normal as boneless skinless chicken breast wrapped in cling film in a supermarket.
The odd bits are not only nutritious, they're also cheap and good for budget meals. In honour of this book, I'm adding a new tab to by blog. It's called "Odd".
Seriously, try it.
You can learn more about the author, Jennifer McLagan, here.
2 knobs of butter
1 large white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
250g duck livers, cleaned and trimmed, patted dry
250g chicken livers, cleaned and trimmed, patted dry
2 tablespoons sherry, wine, brandy or cognac (or any alcohol you have in the house! I've used white wine , Chinese cooking wine and whiskey before. Chinese cooking wine, tsao tsing, I think is the best. It's got a sweet flavour and masks a bit of the livery taste)
50mls thickened cream
Another knob of butter
handful of chopped parsley
Salt & pepper
For the topping:
About 50 - 100g butter
2-3 springs rosemary
Approx 10 black peppercorns
1. In a pan or skillet, heat one knob of butter and fry the onions and garlic till it's tender. Remove and set aside.
2. Season the livers with salt and pepper.
3. Add another knob of butter to the pan and fry the livers in two batches. Do not crowd the pan and make sure the butter is very hot, or else the livers will not brown. Fry about 1-2 minutes on each side, until the livers are slightly firm.
4. Put the onions back into pan with the livers and add the alcohol till it's evaporated. Then transfer them to your food processor.
5. Pour in the cream and knob of butter and blitz till it's smooth. If it's too thick, you might need to add a little more cream.
6. Add the chopped parsley, and give it some salt and pepper for seasoning.
7. Transfer to a bowl or serving dish.
8. Melt some butter and throw in the peppercorns and rosemary at the last minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
9. Pour over the pate and leave it in the fridge to set for a few hours.
One large pot of water
2 chicken carcasses
10 chickens' feet
2 chicken leg quarters
2 onions, cut into large wedges
5-6 cloves garlic, bruised and skin removed
2 carrots, cut into chunks
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Immerse all ingredients. Water should just cover all the ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil again and skim off all the scum.
4. Lower the heat to as low as you can (you should still see a bit of bubbling) and lightly simmer, covered, for 2 hours.
5. Strain and take out the carcasses and legs. When it's cooled, pick out all the meat and use it for chicken mayonnaise sandwiches. Discard the rest.
6. Season with salt and pepper if you wish.
7. To make a clearer stock, freeze the stock in freezer bags. Once it's frozen, remove the iced stock and place it on top of a strainer lined with a cheesecloth. You can use kitchen paper but you may need to change it a few times.
8. Let it drip into a bowl - this may take a few hours.
* Can be used in hotpots, soups, sauces... or whenever you feel you want to substitute water.
2 handfuls of small intestines, washed and cut into 3 inch pieces
As much pig's liver as you like, sliced
1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns, lightly smashed
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
finely ground white pepper
tsao tsing wine
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
Coriander leaves or spring onions to garnish
Optional: pickled vegetables or Chinese cabbage
1. Marinade the intestines with pinch of white pepper and tsao tsing wine.
2. In a small - medium pot, bring water to a boil with black peppercorns and vinegar.
3. Add the intestines to the boiling water and skim off as much scum as you can.
4. Lower the heat to a simmer and boil for 1.5 to 2 hours.
5. After boiling for 1.5-2 hours, season with salt and sugar and more ground white pepper.
6. Boil the liver till it's fully cooked and garnish with coriander leaves or spring onions.
* I know a lot of people get squeamish about the odd bits of an animal. I love them. In fact there's probably nothing I wouldn't eat, and I dislike nothing that can be put in my mouth. As kids, my siblings and I never had that stage of hating foods like broccoli, other vegetables. We ate what Mum and Dad ate, and that was that. In Singapore the odd bits are prized - pigs tails, pigs organs, chicken livers, hearts, bones, heads, - what a butcher would give you for free in Western countries, we have to pay for here. They are cheap but it's not free! I believe when some people say if you kill an animal, then respect it by using every part of it.
Organs were once so prized they were on the tables of kings and queens! I urge you to try it out - what's the worst that can happen to you!?
