Cheese Baked Rice with Pork (焗豬扒飯)

Hong Kong-style cafes (茶餐厅) became a big hit in Malaysia a few years ago and you can easily find lots of such cafes now in KL/ PJ. Kim Gary Restaurant (金加利茶餐廳) was the first HK-style cafe that I've been to in Malaysia and since then, I've been a frequent visitor. The Sweetened Condensed Milk & Peanut Butter Thick Toast is to die for and for drinks, HK-style milk tea (Yuanyang,鸳鸯) is a must-have. I tried my first ever cheese baked rice there and it was something new and interesting to me. I love the combination of cheese, tomato sauce and rice but Jeff doesn't like the idea of having rice with cheese. His comment: "Pork chop and sauce, very tasty. Sauce and rice, yummy. Pork chop, sauce and rice, very nice. Cheese and rice...weird, please don't do that!" If it wasn't for him, I would have drown my rice in cheese.


A typical HK-style cheese baked rice with pork chop consists of lightly fried rice, fried pork chops, tomato-based sauce and cheese. I didn't fry the rice as I was a bit lazy and tired from lab work. I used pork shoulder steaks instead of pork chop as I prefer this cut. I used a bit of Sweet Thai Chili sauce for the sauce to give it a bit of kick.

Ingredients:

• 2 rice cups Rice - cooked (1 rice cup=180ml)
  
• 4 pieces Pork shoulder steaks - cut into half
• 1 large Onion - cut into wedges
• 3 Bell Peppers (different colours) - cut into strips
• 3 small Tomatoes - diced
  
• Cheese

Marinade:

• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp White Pepper
• 1 tsp Light Soya Sauce
• 1 tbs Corn Starch

Sauce:

• 2 tbs Shaoxing Wine
• 1 cup Water
• 4 tbs Tomato Sauce
• 2 tbs Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
• 1 tbs Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tsp Light Soya Sauce
• 1 tsp White Pepper
• 1 tsp Brown Sugar
• Salt
  
• Corn Starch Slurry
  

Directions:
For pork:

• Mix slices of pork in marinade and leave for at least 30 mins.
• Pan fry pork slices until brown on both sides. Leave aside for later use.

For sauce:

• Stir fry onions until soft.
• Add peppers, stir fry until soft.
• Add tomatoes, water and shaoxing wine.
• Mix in tomato sauce, sweet thai chili sauce, worcestershire sauce, light soya sauce, white pepper and brown sugar.
• Bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 10 mins.
• Add salt to taste.
• Thicken with corn starch slurry.

To assemble:

• Spread cooked rice in an oven-proof dish.
• Arrange fried Pork slices on rice.

• Pour sauce on pork slices.

• Sprinkle on some cheese.
• Bake at 200°C for 15-20 mins or until cheese is melted.

• Tada! Enjoy!