Eleanor Hoh

Mom’s Cucumber Pickles, Cooling for Spicy Foods

November 25, 2020 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

\My mom’s Malaysian cucumber pickles is such a cooling dish that complements spicy foods like curries. Sometimes, it’s fun to serve both the cucumber pickles and Malaysian Chicken Curry street style on newspapers and banana leaves so it’s like I’m taking my friends on a trip to Malaysia. I made a video to show you how to make this easy cucumber pickles in 5 minutes and share a secret, see below.

It’s another one of my mom’s simple dishes that’s become a staple and only has three ingredients: cucumber, tomatoes and onion and two seasonings: Celtic Sea Salt and Marukan Rice vinegar, (lime or lemon but not necessary)! Optionals are cilantro and scallions.

5 minute pickle: cucumber, tomatoes and onion and two seasonings: Celtic Sea Salt and Marukan vinegar (lime or lemon but not necessary)! Optionals are cilantro and scallions.

Best part? You can start eating them after only a few hours, not days or weeks like most pickles. This is not like dill pickles in a jar, it’s made fresh on the day you eat it. It has a sweetness and is not sour but there’s NO added sugar involved.

What goes with these Cucumber Pickles?
Cucumber Pickles go perfectly with my mom’s Malaysian Chicken Curry (blog) or if you prefer, watch Malaysian Chicken Curry video.

or Spicy Hoisin Spare Ribs

How are Cucumber Pickles cooling?
Cucumber is yin (cool) and curry is yang (hot, energizing). The cold cucumber pickle helps to cool your body temperature down when you are on fire from the curry. Many countries have something like this, in India, they have raita which is a cooling cucumber yoghurt.

There’s an interesting site explaining Yin and Yang here.

How to make Cucumber Pickles in 5 minutes?
As usual, I cheat by skipping the step of adding salt to the cucumbers to draw out the moisture which make them more crunchy. Definitely do this step if you have time. Just squeeze the cucumbers and drain out all the liquid before adding to the onion and tomatoes. It’s not a good idea to make this day prior because it becomes soft and soggy.

Make Cucumber Pickle on the morning of your dinner party.

Here’s HOW…

Chop everything into cubes so they can absorb the flavors better!

Put into nice serving bowl, add Celtic Sea Salt to taste and Marukan rice vinegar a 1/3 way up the bowl. If you have a lime or lemon, a small squirt, then toss, toss, toss! That’s it. Cover with plate or cling film and put in fridge and take out an hour before serving.

Eleanor Hoh shares secret in Youtube video. — Click for YOUTUBE link. I share how to make this 5 minute pickle and a secret!

By adding fruits like pineapple and mango, the pickle turns into a Mango Pineapple salsa! It’s very refreshing and everyone loves this version. Goes well with everything especially FISH!

More interesting things about pickles…
While researching for cucumber pickles like my mom’s, the closest one I came to was this one.

Check out this super site listing 10 countries, 10 pickles.

What about 3 Easy Pickling Options?

To this day, my sisters and I make this all the time and adore it. Every time I serve these 5 Minute Cucumber Pickles at dinner parties, guests beg me for the recipe, ha, ha.

If you try this 5 minute Cucumber pickle, let me know how you like it in comment below.

Even better, share on Instagram and tag @wokstar #wokstarway

Note: I started using Celtic Sea Salt a while back, they sent me some products to try. Marukan Rice Vinegar was not a partner or sponsor. I am an Amazon affiliate and will make a commission if you purchase from links.

Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew, Served 3 Ways

September 18, 2020 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

This Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew, served 3 ways means you don’t have to cook from scratch for 3 nights. I’m a huge fan of using a Slow Cooker, I cannot get used to the Instant Pot mentality, more about this later. A Slow Cooker is so practical and efficient in getting dinner on the table. It’s a huge time saver, locks in the flavors and keeps meat moist and tender.

Pork Ribs, Stir Fry Mixed Veggies, homemade Kimchi

Instead of ‘recipes’, I like to focus on Flavors, Textures and Colors. So, here’s how to tackle the Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew.

About Ingredients…
1 Onion, chopped or half moons
4-6 cloves garlic, thwacked
Thumb size ginger, thwacked
1- 2 carrots, chopped biggish chunks
4-6 dried shiitakes (from Earthy Delights in your Wok Star Kit) directions how to rehydrate is on the label.
Chicken Broth, halfway up the meat

About Pork Ribs…
3-4 lbs. of pork ribs.
They will be your favorite cut of meat, it’s juicy, meaty and so versatile. I get them cut across the bones so they are smaller and easier to handle and they’re called riblets. Available from Costco or Asian markets. Cut the riblets into individual pieces, see photo below. Fill slow cooker half way.

About Flavorings…
Basic Seasonings: TSPC. Wok Stars, you know what these are. Newbies, it’s Tamari, Sherry, Pepper, Cornstarch
2 tsp. each of Brown Bean Sauce (from Koon Chun in your Wok Star Kit) and Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce.

Here’s HOW…

Set slow cooker on LOW before prepping. This will give it a head start. Set your timer for 3 1/2 hours.
Add pork riblets at bottom then veggies, garlic & ginger and broth into slow cooker.
In a bowl, mix TSPC and extra flavorings. Add into slow cooker. I LOVE the smells wafting through my apartment. This is what the Insta Pot doesn’t allow, no smells and you cannot peek in there for tasting and adjusting flavors. For me, cooking is about LAYERING flavors. You can’t do anything until you’ve released the pressure which takes another half an hour.
When time is up, test a piece of pork riblet and adjust flavorings, to see if it’s the texture you like, if you like softer, let it cook for another half hour.

Add pork riblets, then onions, garlic & ginger, carrots, mushrooms. Then chicken broth, flavorings.

Serving suggestions…
You’ll just need to serve reheated pork riblet stew and stir fry or blanche some veggies. So easy, dinner in about 15 minutes or less.

Allocate about 3-5 pieces of pork riblets per person. Spoon onions, carrots and sauce over the riblets.

I like to add some homemade kimchi and garnish with chili threads, chopped scallions and cilantro, they just give a pop of color and adds freshness to the finished dish.

Don’t you love the 3 ways I served this Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew?
If you try this Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew, please take a photo and tag @wokstar on Instagram,
I would love to see how you present yours.

First night: Pork Ribs, Stir Fry Mixed Veggies, homemade Kimchi

2nd night: added mustard greens when reheating pork rib stew

3rd night: Blanched Brussels Sprouts and displayed carrots, mushrooms separately for a different look and presented pork ribs on bed of quinoa.

Iwatani Gas Stove, Best for Home Wok Cooking!

July 10, 2020 By Eleanor Hoh 2 Comments

Love Chinese food but never succeeded in getting it to taste like your favorite Chinese restaurant?

Tried various permutations of woks and stoves and still never figured where you’re going wrong?

IT’S NOT YOU!

There are many reasons why you’ve not been successful in wok cooking at home. HIGH HEAT is one of them, I’ve resolved that with this portable Iwatani VA-30 gas stove, the other three are good ingredients, the right technique and the right wok, that’s why I put together a WOK STAR KIT.

As a cooking teacher and entrepreneur, it’s important to recommend tools that function efficiently and help to solve problems. I remember growing up in Hong Kong, everyone in Asia uses a gas stove for wok cooking, so this was an AHA moment and it will be for those of you who’ve tried every permutation to fry up your favorite Asian dishes at home and not succeeded.

You don’t need a 40,000 BTU gas stove for home cooking, that’s an overkill. If you have a residential gas stove at home, make sure it’s at least 10K or else you won’t be successful. Check this post how to figure out the best burner to fit your wok.

This Iwatani portable gas stove together with my WOK STAR KIT has basically transformed wok cooking at home.

Advantages of this Wok Gas Stove:

FOCUSED HEAT – 2 3/4″ diameter burner where heat is needed most.

TASTY FOOD – high heat gives your food FLAVOR, TEXTURE & COLOR.

TRAVELING KITCHEN – together with my WOK STAR KIT, this stove has its own carry case. It is perfect for boating, RVs, tailgate parties, picnics, entertaining friends poolside or just out on your balcony.

CONTROL – switching to high or low heat is instant.

FIT – snug fit with my 15” lightweight, round bottom, thin walled cast iron wok.

SAFE – good for indoor use, caterers and restaurants use them.

STURDY – steel casing and compact.

WINDGUARD – prevent flames blowing out when you use it outdoors.

PRACTICAL – cheaper than piping in gas, it’s light to move around. A stir fry takes very little time, so you will get many meals from one refill. Gas cartridges last about 1 hour and cost about $2-$4.

CONVENIENT – leave out on your counter or on top of electric stove so you’ll use it for cooking everything. Has rubber feet so it won’t scratch your electric stove. You’ll have BEST OF BOTH heat sources, gas for wok cooking, electric for flat pan cooking.

LIFESAVER – during hurricanes and power outages, you’ll rely on this stove to make coffee, lunch & dinners.

Always, always get backup gas cartridges so you don’t run out of gas in your Wok Star moment!

I am an Amazon affiliate, I will get a commission if you use this link to order gas cartridges and I hope you will.

Here’s a short video how to install a gas cartridge in this stove and a longer, detailed version on Youtube.

Enjoy! Happy to answer questions in comments below.

Eleanor Hoh

IT’S NOT YOU!

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