It is actually manageable to prepare some authentic Chinese dishes here even without the need of any special Chinese sauces. I would like to share a Chinese dish to you all that I have prepared recently. After trying the first bite, Mr Vineyard immediately said it tasted “Lekker” (delicious in Dutch), especially the sauce. The ingredients below are accessible in local Swiss supermarket except the Chinese cooking wine which is available in the Asian grocery store. If you don’t have Chinese cooking wine, you can replace by other strong spirits at home, e.g. Tequila. I have tried and it worked perfectly for me.

Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Cooking Wine

Ingredients:

• 800g radish (German: radis)
• 400g pork spare ribs or pork chop
• 3 thin slices of ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic bashed
• 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 250ml water
• 1 sprig of spring onion (chopped in small pieces) – optional

Seasoning: 

• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce (optional)
• 40g coarse brown sugar (sugar cane)

Method:

1. Peel the radish and cut into big cubes (4cm x 4cm), cut the pork into pieces (2cm x 2cm).
2. Cook some boiling water in a pan, and place the pieces of pork into the boiling water for 1 min, stir and then remove them from water and place the pork in a sieve and clean them briefly in cold tap water. The purpose of this is to make the sauce of your dish cleaner and clearer.
3. Heat some oil in a wok or flat frying pan, then add the ginger and garlic in it. When they turn golden brown, add in the pork and radish. Stir-fry them for 1-2 mins, then add in the Chinese cooking wine and the seasoning. Keep stirring and then add in the water gradually. When everything is mixed and dissolved, let it boil for 5-10 mins and then transfer to a deep pan, bring to boil and turn to medium heat. Cover the pan and simmer for 40 mins to 1 hour until the pork and radish are tendered.
4. Ready to serve with rice, garnish by sprinkle some spring onion on top.

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