This recipe is for keeps. Lemongrass is a highly exalted spice that can be grown almost anywhere in Malaysia. It can be found even on the roadsides and almost any house with a garden patch. It can easily multiply and considered an equivalent to the rosemary plant in Australia. It has many medicinal properties and the fragrant is absolutely calming. That is why, its scent is also used widely as essential oils in body massages as well as aromatheraphy sessions worldwide.

Lemongrass is very good for expelling air from the stomach. It is also widely used in the Asian confinement period to assist new mothers to rid themselves of the discomfort of  bloating by belching and flatulence.

Ingredients

1/2  a large free-range chicken (chopped into small pieces)

6 sticks of lemongrass (12″ long)

6 dried chilies (deseeded, soaked in a small teacup)

dark soy

light soy

sugar

sea salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with some dark soy and light soy, a pinch of sugar for 1 hour.
2. Cut the lemongrass into 2″ in length and then bruise them using a mortar and pestle.
3. Heat up some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Throw in the bruised lemongrass and stir a while before adding the chicken pieces. Fry them until the chicken is cooked on the outside, then add some filtered water, bring to simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Now add the pre-soaked dried chilies together with the water and let it simmer for another 10 minutes or until gravy thickens to your liking. Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe is specially dedicated to a wonderful boy name Jaden. I have been experimenting with my new Electrolux pressure cooker for a while now. I always have the fear of using the stovetop pressure cooker that makes the horrid wheezing sound while it cooks. With this new toy, there is no such intimidation, so the food comes out safely from the kitchen and so does the cook.

Ingredient

600gm pork shoulder (sliced thickly  about 1 1/2″ against the grain)

HUNT’s original barbeque sauce

250 ml water

2 medium size carrots

3 large potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)

1 can of Marina green peas (drained)

olive oil

sea salt and pepper to taste

plain flour

red wine

1. Marinade the pork shoulder with 4 Tbsp BBQ sauce. Sear the pork slices in some olive oil in a non-stick pan until slightly brown on the sides. Place all the pork slices into the slow cooker and add in 250ml of filtered water. Select high pressure  cooking for 8 minutes.
2. Using the same non-stick pan, throw in the potato chunks and add 2 Tbsp BBQ sauce and saute them until they start to brown on the sides and add some water to allow the potatoes to cook through.
3. Cut carrots to look like flowers when sliced and add into the chunks of potatoes. Stir for 5 more minutes then set potatoes and carrots aside.
4. After the 8 minutes in the pressure cooker, allow the pressure cooker cool for the next 20 minutes without touching the steam valve.
5. Open the pressure cooker lid and ladle out the pork juices. Put one ladle into the non-stick pan and sift in a Tbsp of plain flour. Using a wooden spoon, keep stirring the flour and adding the pork juices until it turns into a roux. Dilute the roux with more pork juices till it reaches the consistency of the gravy desired. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Transfer all the pork from the pressure cooker into the pan full of gravy and pour in all the potatoes, carrots and green peas. Let the combination simmer for a whole 10 minutes and add in a dash of red wine right before serving.

Note : If your like the pork to be softer, set the pressure cooker for 10 minutes instead of 8.