Chinese-style Kho and Leafy Soup

Chinese-style Kho

The Vietnamese version has the same ingredients (minus the dried herbs and water) although the pieces of pork are smaller. The Chinese version has bigger pieces of pork and the water is used to make the pork really soft (almost like pulled pork in a BBQ).





INGREDIENTS:
Pork (chopped into 1 inch chunks)
Hard boiled eggs (two or three should do)
Sugar
Nguoc Mam (fish sauce)
Dried herb (will update)
Water

Boil eggs until hard boiled. Peel shell off eggs and set aside. In a pan put about 2 tbsp of sugar over the heat. Cook until caramelised and once it starts to bubble add the nguoc mam into it. Then add the pork coating it in the sauce. In the V (Viet) version you would add the egg at this stage and leave it on a simmer. The Chinese version you add the herbs and stir, then add about 3 cups of water and leave it it simmer for 60 mins. This should make the pork really soft. Add the egg 30 mins before serving.

Leafy Soup

Years ago, my mum's friend, Co Hai, grew these leafy in her front garden and invited us to pick some to eat. My mum cooked it in a soup and I enjoyed the delicate flavour of them - they also had a somewhat slimy texture (not too dissimilar to okra) which I quite like. Now we grow them in our garden and they are easy growers. The leaves can grow as big as a hand-span and you don't need that many to make this soup. You can substitute the beef for something else, my mum just happened to have this in the fridge left over.

INGREDIENTS:
Beef
Leafy (I don't know its name!)
Water

Wash the leaves and chop across into 1.2 inch strips. Flash cook the beef in oil with garlic and sesame seeds for flavour. Set aside. Boil water in a separate pan and add the leaves. Cook until boiling and turn the heat down. Wait until the leaves are soft (maybe 5 mins) and then add the beef. Serve.