Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Nam Yee (Fermented Red Bean Curd) Pork Recipe

Do you love to eat or cook? Do you like Asian food? I love Chinese Malaysian cooking. Malaysian foods are some of the best that I have tasted. Have you been to Malaysia? If you have not, it is time for you to plan a trip this summer. Take the opportunity to visit other Southeast Asian countries too. Neighboring countries like Thailand and Singapore have great foods too! I love to eat and COOK!

In this post, I will be sharing the recipe for Nam Yee meat, which I love so much! Nam Yee is the Cantonese way of saying fermented red bean curd. You can find it at your local Asian food supermarket. I have made this food for my American friends before and they loved it. The fermented red bean curds might smell a little weird before cooking. But, after cooking, the weird smell will turn into great smell. Moreover, after trying this, you will not be able to stop eating!

Nam Yee Pork
It is a very simple dish to make. All you need to do is marinate the meat and deep fry it! Keep in mind that it has to be marinated for hours so that all the flavor goes into the meat. So, prepare ahead of time. Some people marinate a lot of meat, keep them in the freezer, and only cook them when they feel like eating. That works too if you are a busy person. Anyway, I have tried this recipe for both chicken and pork, though pork is the common version that you will find in Malaysia. The choice of meat is yours - so, feel free to experiment! I recommend that you read the Methods to get a general idea first, before you start doing anything else.

Method

1. First of all, you need to clean and cut your meat. If it is pork belly slice that you will be using, I recommend that you cook it in boiling water for a few minutes, so that it will be easier to cut the meat into 1 in x 1 in cubes. They don't have to be in the exact size or shape; in fact, they can be in any shape and size that you like. Apparently, I found that pork can be cut effortlessly after they have been cooked a little in boiling water. You don't want to cook it thoroughly because you will be deep frying it later.

2.  Next, you need to marinade the meat for at least 3 hours. I recommend marinating the meat overnight for maximum flavor! You can marinate the meat in a Ziplock storage bag. Mix the cut meat with all the ingredients below and marinade for at least 3 hours:
  • Half teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda or baking soda
  • 3 pieces of nam yee (fermented red bean curds)
  • 2 tablespoons of nam yee juice from the jar of nam yee
  • 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
  • 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of shaoxing wine or rice wine
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of chinese five spice powder
  • 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
  • Half tablespoon of chicken stock granules
  • 2 tablespoons of plain flour
  • 6 tablespoons of corn flour or cornstarch
  • 1 egg
  • 100 mL of water
If you don't have some of the ingredients, don't freak out! It is alright because sometimes I run out of certain ingredients too. However, not having the nam yee is a big 'NO' for this dish. After marinating the meat overnight, it will look pinkish like the following:

Nam Yee pork after marinated for a day
3. After marinating the meat overnight or for at least 3 hours, you are ready to deep fry it. You will need a lot of oil so that all the meat cubes are thoroughly immersed in the oil. If you prepared a lot of meat, you can cook them in a few rounds. When frying, use medium heat. This will avoid burning the meat and ensure crispiness of the meat. Also, try to not crowd the meat cubes because they need some 'personal space'. Seriously, giving them more space will help you know when they are cooked. The meat cubes are cooked when they float in the oil and turn golden brown as shown in the following picture.

Cooked Nam Yee pork
Finally, set the cooked meat aside to let it cool a little. If you are worried about the oil covering the meat, use paper towels to absorb some of the oil. The meat will not be as crispy after that, but it will be less oily.

Start experimenting with this dish. Impress your family and friends with this dish! Leave a comment below if you have any suggestion or question. Tell me about your experiment and follow me on:

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