braise

I would like to introduce you all to the dish that will get me (and you) through the winter months: roast meat.
(it's actually a braise not a roast)

It's sauce-y enough to compliment a variety of carbs (rice, noodles, pasta, bread, etc) and has enough layers of flavour that you wont get tired of eating it for an entire week (or months?). It's also inexpensive, the main ingredients are potatoes and the cheapest cut of meat.

The flavours come from a variety of ingredients, which is perhaps the only annoyance to those other than me who wish to replicate it (and you don't, change the flavour up as you wish). But for a Sichuan flavour, use the following:

• smashed ginger and ginger added first to the hot fat (veg oil, or I try to throw in the fatty bits of meat to render)
• dried spices: sichuan peppercone, bay leaf, star anise, dried chili, cinnamon
• the essential flavour: 郫县豆瓣 (chili-bean paste)
• others: citrus fruit peel, chili oil, salt and soy sauce
• optional, non-traditional add-ins: green onion and cilantro (added in at the end, usually to roasted beef but works well with pork too)

The process goes:

• cooking the flavouring in oil
• adding in the meat (I usually brown them a little beforehand, but not necessary)
• add in water and braise for an hour or so until meat is tender
• add in potatoes (or radish, usually not together but I did this time and its fine) and some more water to braise
• cook for at least another hour, until meat easily falls apart when poked. My usual cook time is 3-4 hours
• eat slowly as the leftovers are even better

In other news, field to fork event at school:

All prepared by residents, just 100x better than their regular meals.