It’s harder to update this blog these days. Strange, I started writing this post in October and finally, I got around to finishing it well into November.

On a phone call with my mom, she mentioned making this dish for dinner. I don’t know what to call this dish but when she mentioned that dish, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia and a strong craving for it. I grew up eating this dish. Following my stomach, I decided to make plans to make it and have my mom teach me through FT. This dish is an original creation by my mom–tofu, pork belly, and preserved radish stirfry.

Ingredients

As typical with my mom’s way of keeping track of recipes, all amounts listed are suggestions and, more or less, estimates.

• 3 red Thai chili or 1 serrano pepper
• 10-12 garlic cloves
• 2 shallots
• 2 packages of marinated tofu, diced
• 3 tbsp Chicken boullion
• 6 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 package of preserved radish (make sure to soak and wash twice to rinse off salt/sugar)

• 1.5 lb of pork belly or shoulder (sliced or diced into bite sized pieces)
• 2 tbsp of oyster sauce
• 1 dash of soy sauce
• 1 dash of hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp of doubanjiang (if no chili was used)

Making It

First, I marinated the meat with soy sauce, oyster sauce, bit of sugar, oil, salt and pepper, and corn starch, probably 1 tbsp of each. I let that sit as I handled the other components.

I then fried up a third of the aromatics then toss in the tofu, followed by 1 tbsp chicken boullion and ~2 tbsp soy sauce. Then, I added a bit of water to steam the tofu to make sure it is thoroughly cooked and a bit soft.

Then, I repeat this step again with another third of aromatics and seasonings/sauces and cooking the radish for a few minutes. Then, I repeat the step again for a third time with pork belly/shoulder.

Drain out the oil that renders from the pork fat.

Then combine all three components together and add doubanjiang (if no chilis were used), oyster sauce, a dash of soy sauce and a dash of hoisin sauce.

Of course, end with adding salt and pepper to taste.

Bonus: Side Chayote Dish

A side dish she taught me how to make was stir-fried chayote. Quick recipe reminder here:

• 6-8 garlic cloves
• 5 chayotes
• Oyster sauce
• Chicken stock
• Corn starch and water
• A bit of sugar

The hardest part of making this was learning how to cut the chayote. While I didn’t do it this time around, I should’ve handled the chayote with gloves–cutting chayote releases this white sticky residue that sticks glue to my hands. It’s hard to wash off.

Anyway, so I cut off the tops and the bottoms first. Then I split it down the middle. Then I cut into quarters and sliced out the middle before slicing the chunks into 1/4″ thick slices. Honestly, I felt like I was cutting apples.

So I minced up some garlic and fry that for a bit before adding the chayote in. I dashed in some chicken stock/water, just enough to cover the bottom of the wok. Then, I covered that for 3 minutes to allow it to steam. Then I uncovered it and add sugar, salt, pepper, and oyster sauce (2 tbsp) then let it cook for an additional 2 minutes. I finished it by taking it off of heat and adding a cornstarch slurry until the sauce got thickened.

It’s an easy and quick neutral tasting side-dish, savory but slightly sweet from the chayote. I like this a lot and would make this more if I actually remembered and put in effort to buy this vegetable.

Overall

So the dish ended up being a tad over salty. I definitely needed to eat this rice. Later, I found out that I was supposed to only add half of the package of preserved radish and the saltiness was off the charts.

My mom made the helpful suggestion to stirfry it with noodles or pasta to offset the saltiness. Which I later ended up doing down the line. Which was also a solid meal that I could take with me for lunch on another day.

It ended up being a fun and nostalgic time of cooking with my mom where she coached me and was able to walk me through the process. Predictably, it was a bit chaotic with my mom berating me over certain things that I would do and reminding me to watch over the pan cooking when I stepped away for a bit. But I guess I expect nothing less than my mom.

I asked her how did she first come across this recipe and learned that she created this recipe herself when she first started learning how to cook.

Wow. A Mom Original.

I will not find a recipe like this elsewhere on the Internet. That is mind-boggling. Even more so that this recipe is a staple dish for me growing up.

With a certain fondness, I realize that it has been awhile since I cooked with my mom over FT, the last time being back in 2022 when I made skewers and an even more memorable time back in 2022 when I was able to include a friend to make stuffed tofu with me. My mom is a wealth of knowledge and I need to intentionally make more time to bond with her or at least record recipes like this with her before I lose the chance to do so.

I actually really like cooking with my mom. I’m grateful that she makes time for me and is willing to be that invested in watching and helping me cook. I hope that she enjoys sharing something that she loves with me. I guess I never ask what she thought about these times, where I do ask her to teach me how to make a dish that she makes that I really like.

Putting myself in her shoes for a moment, I wonder how I would feel if my child asked me to teach them to do something that they know I can do well and enjoy doing.

As I think about that, I think about how precious these times are where I get to be with my mom in this situation. Not arguing or her nagging at me but just her and me having fun and me being able to let her parent and teach me something that she feels passionate about. It helps me humanize her and reminds me of how much she cares and wants to connect with me, even when we don’t get along.

Thankful for my mom.