Chinese five spice gravel

Since coming back to Zambia, I have developed certain cravings (and no, I'm not pregnant!). This is because some things you just can't get here or they are not as nice as back home or they are so expensive. I have been in mourning for cheese, good quality chocolate, mozzarella di bufala (*sigh*)Thai and Chinese food. My yearnings were only exacerbated after watching a programme about the Cantonese food traditions. I have really missed 5 spice powder which I used to use a lot back in the UK. Thanks to the aforementioned programme however, I was able to have a go at making my own. I couldn't get all of the spices needed, but did my best with some biryani mix and my trusted sense of smell.

My powder isn't really a powder, more like gravel as I had to pound my spices with a little pestle and mortar!

I used fennel seeds, star anise, cinnamon stick, some black peppercorns and cloves. I ground each spice up separately then combined them gradually until it smelled about how I thought it should smell! I have to say, it worked out quite well and was used for this following dish.
Five Spice Soy
I love soy pieces and they are so cheap in Zambia, they also keep forever. In past I remember making the mistake of storing my dry soy pieces in an airtight container that also contained a bag of cloves. The soy pieces tasted pretty awful but showed just how effective they are at absorbing flavours!
My thought was then, that if I soak the soy pieces to rehydrate them, in a mixture of water, spices and soy sauce, they should taste pretty good.

• So in a small bowl I emptied enough soy for 2 people (about to big handfuls)
  


• Add a mug of cold water
  


• A generous dash of soy sauce
  


• A heaped teaspoon of my 5 spice gravel
  


• I also added a small teaspoon of honey.
  
  
• After soaking for abou 1 hour, I added the pieces to stir fried vegetables and cooked for about 10 minutes.
  


• Serve with rice, mmmm!
  

Tangy Stove Top Pork and chicken

Some of you will notice a slight resemblance to adobo with this dish with the pork and chicken steeped in soy and vinegar. There’s also a slight nod to cassoulet here with the bacon and beans. This all came about by accident - as some of the nicest dishes do – trying as I have to use up some of our store cupboard staples and frozen meats in anticipation of moving out of our flat in a few days.
Good quality bacon makes all the difference, a decent piece of pancetta is also a lovely addition, but try and get some butcher’s best bacon, or even a piece of smoked ham hock which you can cut into pieces and also cook with the bone. For the chicken I chose thighs and drumsticks because they are on the bone and are generally more tender. You can cook them with the skin on and then remove the skin after cooking.
Serves 2
- 2 tbl spns of olive oil
- 2 chicken thighs or drumsticks
- 2 pork steaks or chops
- Either 3 rashers of smoked back bacon or 250g of smoked pancetta or ham hock which you cut into pieces yourself
- 1 sliced onion
- 2 chopped cloves of garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsps of peppercorns
- 100 mls each of soy sauce and vinegar (balsamic or malt or a mixture of both)
- 1 tsp on smoked paprika
- 200 mls of chicken stock
- 1 450g can of missed beans
- 1 level tsp of brown sugar

Fry the onion in the oil until soft over a medium heat
Add the bacon pieces and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes
Add the bayleaves and meat and brown the meat a little
Add the soy sauce, vinegar, peppercorns and paprika and cook for a couple of minutes
Add the chicken stock, mixed beans and brown sugar
Simmer for about 30 minutes until the meat is cooked through and tender and the sauce is thickened

If there is sauce left after you’ve eaten it can be made into soup for the next day.