Pata tim is a popular Chinese dish back home, must be Cantonese. I had other ways of cooking pork leg but I remember this dish I decided to check the internet. The recipes I found r a bit complicated; the pork needs to be steamed & requires longer cooking time (which I don’t hav, im a working mom so I decided to make some alterations to make it easier for me. It was really successful though, finished to the last drop of sauce!

Ingredients:
1 pork leg
1 head of garlic (minced)
1 onion (sliced)
3 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tbsp of cornstarch
peppercorns
salt & pepper

In a pot, boil the pork leg w/ half of the minced garlic, half of the onions, peppercorns & little salt until tender. Set aside the soup for the sauce. Slice the meat on one side & separate the meat from the bone. Brush the meat w/ soy sauce. In a pan, fry both sides of the pork leg (minus the bone) over high heat until the meat is brownish but not burnt. Frying time is something like a minute each side. Pour the pork stock (add more if needed but set aside some for the vegetable soup), add the onion, the rest of the garlic, salt, pepper, oyster sauce, fish sauce & sesame oil, & cook over low heat until there is little sauce. Mix the cornstarch w/ little water & pour into the pan. Bring to boil while stirring until the sauce is thick. Serve hot, as always.

U can also steam some vegetables as side dish. In my case, I like having soup. I prepared my favorite ever-easy vegetable soup using half of the pork leg broth/stock.

I had left home (like all Jewish girls) in order to eat pork and take birth control pills. When I first shared an intimate evening with my husband I was swept away by the passion (so dormant inside myself) of a long and tortured existence. The physical cravings I had tried so hard to deny finally and ultimately sated… but enough about the pork. – Roseanne

Iska

I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.