Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Fish Recipe?

[nitnoy 10]

hi, anybody knows how to make a good steamed minced pork with salted fish? tried a few time and the minced pork always quite hard, unlike the soft texture i get from the restaurant

thanks

Edited June 4, 2009 by nitnoy

[choisum 10]

How long are you steaming it for? Usually ten minutes is enough.

[adrianlondon 64]

My boyfriend cooks quite a bit of (Taiwanese) food using minced pork.

He starts off by buying a pack of already miced pork and then he spends a few minutes with a large knife basically cutting the already-minced pork into even finer pieces. Did you do that?

[owshawng 11]

How are you making it? Have you tried steaming the pork separately from the salted fish fried rice and then combining them when both sections of the dish are done?

[magudo 10]

you should add some starch, corn starch or potato starch, any one

about 4 to 5 tea spoons, the more you add, the more soft the pork would be.

[nitnoy 10]

Choisum

How long are you steaming it for? Usually ten minutes is enough.

I tried steaming even for 8 minutes over slow fire and it’s still hard when cook

Adrianlondon

My boyfriend cooks quite a bit of (Taiwanese) food using minced pork.

He starts off by buying a pack of already miced pork and then he spends a few minutes with a large knife basically cutting the already-minced pork into even finer pieces. Did you do that?

This never done b4, making the meat finer will make the steamed pork even harder? Maybe it will be good if using it to pan-fried or making meatballs

Owshawng

How are you making it? Have you tried steaming the pork separately from the salted fish fried rice and then combining them when both sections of the dish are done?

This dish is steamed together (pork and salted fish)

Magudo

you should add some starch, corn starch or potato starch, any one

about 4 to 5 tea spoons, the more you add, the more soft the pork would be.

I did add starch into it, but never 4-5 tea spoons b4, adding 4-5 teaspoons will it make the end product sticky or starchy?

[adrianlondon 64]

I think some places probably cheat and mix baking soda in with the meat. I heard that this tenderises pork.

[fireball9261 12]

Couldn't there be some pre-process for the salt fish before mixing them with the minced pork for steaming? I have never dealt with salt fish before, so I wouldn't know for sure, but that would be what I will do to make salt fish a little softer before mixing them in the pork.

Also, baking soda is another thing I would suggest. My friends and the Chinese restaurants usually use it to make meat tender, but you need to be careful about how much to put in. I never tried it myself so I wouldn't know the method, but my friends' pork did taste very tender after they put in the baking soda.

[nitnoy 10]

yes i have heard about putting soda to tenderise the meat, but since it's minced or chopped up pork, this should have tenderised it enough, and am sure nobody here would want any baking soda in their home cook food

as for salted fish, i am using those that are soaked in oil and are already very soft, so the salted fish are not an issue here.

PS: my mom actually can do it very nice, but i seems not able to copy what she said(teach me) verbally, my pork still hard after steaming.

[fireball9261 12]

I had the same problems with my mom's instructions also. Good luck to you.

[owshawng 11]

What kind of minced pork are you using? The lower the fat content the tougher it will be, especially if it gets overcooked.

[nitnoy 10]

i used to buy from the market the pre-minced meat, but then i also tried those hand chopped meat by myself, the result improved slightly only.

am wondering is there any additional ingredient i need to add.

saw from one article that mentioned water chestnut be added, but still yet to try it out.

[fireball9261 12]

Could it be eggs? Maybe add one egg.

[adrianlondon 64]

My boyfriend's making winter mellon soup with pork balls as I type. He finely chops the minced pork after adding an egg and some tofu; he says this makes it softer.

[fireball9261 12]

Yes, I heard tofu is also good to add in chopped pork to make it softer. I think egg helps to coat the pork so that there is less water lost (lost water -> hard pork). Tofu helps to further soften the pork texture.

[owshawng 11]

This thread is making me hungry.

[nitnoy 10]

funny thing is that mom's recipe doesn't contains eggs or tofu and it taste great, except that i failed to do it nicely

[adrianlondon 64]

Maybe she does add tofu or eggs, but deliberately doesn't put it in the recipe to kill off the competition ;)

[nitnoy 10]

there is no way tofu or eggs are added, am thinking is it the control of fire and also the blend of fats and lean meats combination that casues the hardness in the steamed pork

[nitnoy 10]

dear all, after more than a year, i finally found out how to make a good steamed minced pork with salted fish, just sharing with all of you and maybe you can try it out, i actually learn the dish from a HK food programme "SO GOOD" and had tried out the recipe and found it to be fantastic.

main ingredient

fresh pork, 50% fat and 50% lean meat, if worry about being too fatty, you may change the porportion

salted fish or you maybe use salted egg yoke(that's what the show used)

1) cut pork into small bits and finely chopped till you will not grip up the pieces of meat with your fingers

2) season the chopped meat with salt, sugar, light soy sauce, a bit of dark soy sauce, sesame oil and let the meat to marinate for 30 minutes (this is to give more flavours to soak into the meat itself) *** try to add more seasoning to make it slightly salty)***

3) put a little bit of water into the meat and stir, add more water bit by bit and stir, add untill you gets a very light texture but not too watery (you feel that the meat is not heavy at all and it can be stirred with ease) *** that is why the seasoning must be salty coz added water will make it balanced***

4) add some corn flour (starch) into the meat and stir

5) add some HUA TIEW JIU for added aroma (optional)

6) apply some oil onto a bowl (you will use it to steam the meat)

7) place meat into a bowl, then place salted fish or salted egg yoke ontop on the meat (i added both )

steam the meat over slow fire for 25 minutes (to ensure completely cooking of the meat)

note: i do not have the exact amount on the ingredient above, i used more than 500g of meat and the seasoning are all estimated and it turns out very good and planned to try it out again this weekend and also do note that the gravy from the steam meat is very nice and with just the gravy you can finished off a bowl of rice

Edited April 25, 2009 by nitnoy