Deliciously yummy slab of pork collar on caramelized onions topped with spicy Thai green chilli salsa

There's actually a lot to blog about. My mom's trip, my company (currently spending more than earning in optimistic preparation for booming growth in the next couple of years) and the nitty gritty details of my wedding (which I have not finished organising ridiculous number of photos), but for now, it's the season of cooking, and I am very honoured to be sharing with all of you the self-created dishes which I am personally very proud of. The thing is, all of you should try these dishes, as they are simple -- requiring only fresh ingredients and an oven.

This time, I made a deliciously yummy thick slab of pork collar over caramelized onions and topped with a spicy thai chilli salsa. I chose pork collar because meat tends to dry up really quickly in the oven, and too many of my trials have resulted in my chop literally taking on the texture of a shoe (really!), so I realised pork collar would do the trick, as it is marbled with nice but not-obscene dollops of fat, which keeps it tender and moist. Directions below serves 2:

For the pork:

1. 2 thick pieces of pork collar, preferably ard an inch thick, 250g each
2. 1 big french onion, dice a quarter in to small cubes to marinate the pork, slice the rest for baking
3. 3 cloves of garlic, diced for marinating
4. Dried rosemary
5. Paprika powder
6. Salt, black pepper and olive oil, the mainstays of almost every dish
7. A small drizzle of balsamic vinegar

It's important to flavour the pork way before you cook, preferably overnight, and it's dead simple. Put some olive oil in a bowl and at your preference, put in all the ingredients above and mix until it gives a thick red marinate. Slam the pieces of pork many times with the back of a knife to tenderize them before massaging them in the marinate.

For baking, pre-heat the oven to 200degC, lay your baking tray with the sliced onions and put the pork on top. Bake for approximately 40minutes until onions are deliciously caramelized and pork is cooked through.

The thai chilli salsa is simply a twist from the sweet pepper salsa on my earlier post (you can just scroll down to view it). Instead of using sweet pepper, I used green and yellow thai chillis (think Nam Phrik Num from Northern Thailand, just more Western style) because they are more fragrant and pack a spicy punch. I also used lemon juice as the acid instead of balsamic vinegar for added freshness.

Put all the elements together with a smash of salad greens of your choice (rocket again for me) with some lemon olive oil dressing and enjoy this wholesome meal which will cost you a bomb in the restaurant.

My latest masterpiece

There are so many elements and layers of flavour to this dish. The freshness of the greens, sweetness of the caramelized onions, moist-ness of the collar and spiciness of the chilli salsa, it tastes fantastic and different in every bite!
PS. Thank you Li Li for helping me with the greens!