A Series of unfortunate events

This post is a week late and its kind of referring to last weekend, I just didn't have time to write the post, with all sorts of things going on. @.@ Let me give you a quick catch up, I started Chinese classes almost 4 weeks ago,

Its something I have been planning to do for almost 2 years and a half on and off, the closest I ever got to Chinese classes before this was Rosetta Stone, I have to say despite the benefits of having a real teacher, not a computer or my boyfriend, I have to say Rosetta Stones pace is probably more suited to my pace.

So far what I have learnt is very basic, but you have to start from the bottom, to get to the top. Anyway everything was going oh so smoothly until the day after our "Commitment Anniversary" Michael gave me a Mylo and Friends duck and new slippers, He abandoned the paper theme, but i went all out I gave him eddible money, a bookmark, and a love letter and chocolate money, 

Michael cooked me a big meal on the night

Sea food chowder soup for the starter

Mash salmon and fried parsnips for the main course

Banofee pie for the dessert.

It was all yummy! We had a very nice night and felt very romantic we lit candles and drank sparkling rose wine. 

But the next day it might as well not of happened, I went up to my house to find out, my sister's boyfriend just broke up with her, and she was seriously heartbroken, 

Then I found out that my brother had gone and broken his arm, not from some macho sport like rugby or  football, but from doing a backwards running race with his friends @.@ boys are crazy!!!

Hui Guo Ruo.. Success

Sounds like gobbled gook right? Haha this was my first excursion with the chinese language for about a 2 years? Well since I went to Nanjing with my first boyfriend. Which wasn’t very successful, not because my Chinese was so hopeless though… Just the shop was busy =.=;; I still remember what I had to say si lian, 4 portions lol!

Anyway last night me and my boyfriend were feeling quite peckish and didn’t want to cook. So he sent me out to the local Chinese take away, literally across the road. I knew what he wanted but neither of us could remember what the dish was called.  It consisted of Pork belly and chilli sauce. In fact I had ordered it by accident when I was ordering for my family.

So before venturing out my boyfriend trained me to say Hui Guo Rou… So off i went and explained to the Chinese man at the counter that I wanted something that I only knew how to say in Chinese. I think he must of thought I was mental @.@ so I had a try and said it and he understood ! Mission accomplished! He praised me on my Chinese and had a laugh. Then kindly told me the English name “Re-fried Pork”  (回鍋肉 Hui Guo Rou)

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Update:

It suddenly occured to me looking back at this post that I should of given a recipe for how to make Hui Guo Ruo

Recipe:

Serves 4 as part of multi-course meal

1 pound pork belly or unsmoked bacon (if using sliced bacon skip first step)
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon fermented black beans
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon chili bean sauce
2 teaspoons sweet chili paste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons peanut oil
2 leeks, white parts thinly sliced

1. Place pork belly in a medium pot of salted water and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer, skimming the water as necessary, until pork is fully cooked through, about 45 to 60 minutes. Drain and let cool. When cool enough to handle, pat dry and slice into 1/4-cm thick pieces.

2. In a small bowl, mix together black beans, rice wine, soy sauce, chili bean sauce, sweet chili paste, and sesame oil. 

3. In a wok, heat peanut oil until just beginning to smoke. Working in small batches, cook until golden brown on each side. Transfer pork to a separate plate and continue with the next batch. (Drain oil/pork fat after each batch, leaving just 1 tablespoon in the wok.)

4. Stir-fry ginger until just fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add sauce. Add leeks and stir-fry until cooked through, about 1 minute. Return pork to the wok and stir to coat with sauce and cooked leeks. Transfer to plate and serve.