Wild edible - Stir-fried Wild Onion and Pork Belly

Every year, my family will go to forage wild onion in the early May. They grow among the river like grass, but with distinctive onion and garlicky scent. You can substitute the wild onion for leeks to make this dish.

The look of wild onion


Ingredients:
1 bundle off Wild Onion
250 gram Pork Belly
1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Rice Wine
3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/4 taking Salt
1 tablespoon Sugar
2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Direction:

1. Cut the pork belong into 1/2 cm slices. Cut the wild onion into sticks. 

2. Heat up vegetable oil over high heat. Add pork belly. Stir fry until it turns colour; about 2 minutes.

3. Drizzle cooking wine and soy sauce. Add sugar and salt. Stir fry untilThe pork belly is nearly cooked, about 3 minutes.

4. Add wild onion. Continue to fry until it is wilted. Turn off the heat and transfer it to a serving plate. 

Garlicky Wintercress Bud Salad

In early May, the wintercress starts to come out and forms flower buds. The wintercress is very tender at this time of the year. If you want to get rid of the bitterness, blanch it in water for about 3 minutes.

The look of wintercress


Ingredients:
1-2 handfuls Wintercresses
3 Garlic Clove
3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
4 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Direction:
1. Peel the garlic. Chop it into fine pieces.

2. Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add wintercresses. Boil until they are soften; about 2-3 minutes.  Drain and transfer them onto the serving plate.

3. Top the chopped garlic on the wintercresses.

4. Heat up the vegetable oil. Drizzle over the garlic to make it fragrant.

Wild Garlic and King Mushroom Stir fried

A few year ago, my family and I went for a hike and accidentally found a large patch of wild garlic. Although I call them wild garlic, they are not the type of wild garlic that with a single glossy board leaf. But they smell and taste just exactly like garlic. It was the distinct smell that had me found them back then. I believe the ones I discovered are actually domestic garlic. But somehow they grow and spread in the wild. So now, we come to pick these delicious wild garlic as our annual spring activity.

Treating these wild garlic as garlic shoots you can purchase at supermarket, you can stir fry and make soup with them.

INGREDIENTS:

2 handfuls Wild Garlic

4 King Mushrooms

1 teaspoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Rice Wine

3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Cut the wild garlic into about 4 cm long; cut king mushrooms into small chunks.

2. Heat up oil over high heat. Add mushrooms and stir fry for 3 minutes.

3. Add wild garlic. Stir fry for about a minute.  Drizzle over the cooking wine. Add salt and sugar. Stir well. Turn off the heat.

Pine Tip Rub Pork Belly 松尖豬腩肉

Pine tip is a very good seasoning; it has the mix of citrus and gin flavour that goes well with pork and fish. Prior to the picking, you will want to do a little taste test around different trees, looking for one that produces the great citrus flavour. I had some great pine tips before, but I also had some were equally bad. Just try a few different trees to do a comparison. My son and I enjoy nippling the trees while taking a walk. He always knows the pine tips is a source of vitamin C and he is so proud of himself for eating them. Personally, I like the tips are still with the brown casings, just because they look the freshest to me. But it is totally fine if they are without the case too. 

Pine tips in their casing.

INGREDIENTS:

20 Pine Tips

1 pc Pork Belly, cut into chunks

4 tablespoons Soy Sauce

1/3 teaspoon Salt

2 tablespoons Sugar

1 teaspoon White Pepper Powder

3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Honey (for serving)

DIRECTION:

1. Remove the brown casings from the pine tips. Chop the pine tips until fine.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except the oil. Rub the pork bell until it is well coated with the seasoning; marinade it for 30 minutes.

3. Heat up the oil in a skillet. Place the pork belly on top; fry it until golden brown over medium heat; about 10 minutes.

4. Turn the pork over, and fry the other side for another 10 minutes. Transfer the pork on a serving plate. Brush a think layer of honey on top before serve.

Japanese Knotweed with Cambozola Cheese and Honey

Japanese knotweed is a wild edible vegetable that has a slightly sour taste. You have to pick them when they are still less than 10 cm long or before they turn woody. Young knotweed is very tender and is best to serve raw on cheese with a drizzle of honey. 

The knotweed stood among the dried leaves.

They somewhat look like asparagus.