Aahhhh... The Mystery of "Xue Di Zi"

I last blogged about the turbo broiler and also about making char siew? Hubby recently read about a char siew recipe on ieat. In the article, was mentioned that you could use the conventional oven or the turbo broiler. ieat's mother-in-law calls the turbo broiler "xue di zi", which is exactly what my mum calls it too! I grew up knowing it by that Chinese name but I never wondered why and what it means. I just thought that it was the name of that cooking gadget... no until I saw the words conventional oven or turbo broiler on it one time.

So apparently it was named "xue di zi" (in chinese) because the shape of it resembles a flying guillotine. How interesting! Anyhow, the use of is "xue di zi" not common in Australia yet. If anyone is using it, that person is probably (in 99% of the time) an Asian.

Now, I shall go tell my mum why she calls the turbo broiler has that name... :)

Features of a Portable Convention Oven (a.k.a. Turbo Broiler)

(This entry is specially for JQ and any others who might be interested to find out the great use of this cooking gadget)

11 months ago, I bought a turbo broiler. My mum in Singapore has been using one like this to cook and roast and grill meats. Her specialty is roast pork (a.k.a. siow bak or 烧肉), the chinese way. Ask any one of my family and rellies, they will vouch for it and drool at the mention of it.

Roast pork or siow bak or 烧肉: Photo was taken during CNY 2007

When I moved to Brisbane in August last year, I was contemplating buying a broiler from Singapore to bring over because I heard that it is not readily available for sale. Once while visiting a friend in Brisbane, I saw that they own a unit and they bought it from Big W for about A$78. A similar unit in Singapore (different brand) retails for about S$99. I was delighted when hubby saw it on sale on catch of the day. With shipping cost included (delivery to doorsteps), it cost just under A$65 and it is exactly the model as that sold in Big W. There are much pricer versions at David Jones and Myers (at least A$200... and I wonder who buys them!)

Since then, I have seen it in a couple more Asian homes. Essentially the broiler is a convention oven but it has a few advantages over an oven: its portability, self-cleaning option, see-through glass container base, application of hot air directly onto the food. My mum claims that using this to roast pork produces a better result than the normal oven.

(Read another person's view on this gadget)

Brand - "Cooking Essentials". Timer dial and temperature dial. There is a 'temperature' for thaw or wash on the right. I have never used it for thawing. To wash, simply add water into the glass bowl, add a bit of dishwashing soap and 'cook' it for 10 mins. Pour the water away and wipe dry.

Underside of the lid. This is where the hot air is blown out and onto the food. I should have been more conscientious with cleaning the oil stains away after I used it each time. Now it seems those brown oil stains cannot be removed :(

Standard inclusion in the turbo broiler - a tall rack, a shorter rack, a pair of holder tongs and a recipe book (not in photo)

My mum uses the short rack on a metal plate and place it in the broiler. This makes it easier to clean up. Mum brought the plate from SG as I could not find suitable ones from Brissy. Add a piece of baking paper (my mum used aluminium foil) in between as above, and you may just throw it away (with all the oil and grease). If you cannot find a metal plate, you may put the baking paper at the bottom of the cooker and then place the rack on top of it.

The cooker will start when you put the handle down. If it is up (in right picture), the cooker will stop

Definitely a good buy - perfect for all meats and fish to grill and roast instead of deep frying. It is big enough to fit in a large size chicken. But I am not sure if it will fit a turkey... perhaps a small one. I have tried baking a cake with it a long time ago but it created a crater in my cake. That's because the hot air is blowing from the top of the cooker. I may attempt this again but by using a lower temperature setting.

Char Siew BBQ Pork

Last month, in my search on the internet to find out how I can make chee cheong fun sauce, I stumbled upon this blog which I found the receipe to do so. Boy, this person is a serious food recipe blogger. I reckon she is an Asian and living in NZ. I have been wanting to make char siew for some time but I have not gotten down to it. I noticed that there is a recipe on the blog so I thought I'll try it!

This Sunday is Father's Day in Australia. Australia's Mother's Day is the same as Singapore's (2nd Sunday of May) but I am not sure why the Father's Day is different. As my younger SIL is leaving for holidays this Sat and my older SIL and hubby are going away for the weekend, the Wong family celebrated Father's Day today at W&R's new place. Because it is a working day for me, I was originally spared from bringing a dish. Later I figured that I could marinade a meat dish and cook it with my turbo broiler (which is portable and I can bring it to the office) while I work. Char siew became the natural choice to make :)

Roasting with my turbo broiler (photo taken with mobile)

The original recipe calls to use pork belly but I didn't want the many layers of fat (which I will end up spitting out) and so I ended up using "collar butt" pork. Collar butt has a few streaks of fat in between which you need because of the roasting/grilling. Otherwise the meat will be too dry and tough.

End result (blurred photo using my mobile)

The char siew ended up really yum! With the left over marinade and honey glaze, I put them in a saucepan and bring it to the boil. Add cornflour to thicken the mixture. Serve the gravy with the meat :)

A Student Again

From 2001 to 2003, I took up studying a few modules from Sydney's Moore Theological College. Their correspondence course allows one to study by yourself, anywhere in the world (I think) and take the exam at the end of the term. A few people in my church in Singapore study that. I'd think most do it for their own Christian education and knowledge and not so much to obtain the certificate. That was the same reason why I began too.

It used to take one to study and pass 9 subjects before you can get the preliminary certificate in Theology and another 9 to obtain the advanced certificate. Now, they have changed the structure to pass 6 subjects for both certificates and they also introduced the intermediate certificate. You can read the summary of the new structure here.

You do not need to be a super doper Christian to attempt the subjects. It is for anyone who'd like to know more about God's word but not really go through the full theological training as a degree.

I have done and passed 3 out of 6 subjects for the preliminary certificate - Intro to Bible, Old Testament 1 and Doctrine 1. I studied New Testament 1 too but did not take the exam (because of personal reasons then that I could not study). Hubby took Intro to Bible, also a few years back. We signed up a bit late for Term 3 but still decide to go ahead. We will be studying Ephesians over the next 10 weeks and take the exam in late November. We pray that this would help us to grow in the knowledge of God's word together...