Simple Life and Sandwiches

     

     Whew, the Great Cake really took it out of me. I mean, I've recovered from the making already but that was a Long post to write. I don't suppose any of you are attempting making it Right right now, but in case you have looked at the recipe, that was a long time of typing time right there. So, it's time to take a break. Slow down. Relax. And make some sandwiches.

The Feast

Look PN is back!     

     On April 20, 2011, PN and I had a Feast. It was an amazing feast. The table was loaded with delicious foods. And do you know what the theme was? Mexican. Can you believe I have never made Mexican food before? I mean, maybe you can if you have been following this blog and realized I never discuss south of the border cuisine. But, it was totally unintentional. It's just not something I think of making on a day to day basis, but I love Mexican food. Making it was actually fairly unintentional too, I just had that large pork shoulder on my hands (remember me hacking away at it?) and I couldn't figure out how to cook it while dealing with it as little as possible. Googling brought the best ideas to the forefront: use the slow cooker and make carnitas!

     The slow cooker is my friend. I rubbed a bunch of spices onto the pork, and put it into the slow cooker with chicken broth (made courtesy bouillon cubes, I love those things and had almost forgotten I had them, tsk tsk) and then got to enjoy lovely stewing pork and spices aroma while I spent the day baking with AN. Yup, this was that same day. It's great to remember so much hard work. Even though, it doesn't really seem like work to cut a pork shoulder into quarters and dump it into the slow cooker, but hey, it counts if I get a meal out of it!

Full to the Brim

     

     I am full in so many ways. My apartment is full of delicious foods. My oven was full, my slow cooker is full, my fridge is full. I adore this fullness. I am also full myself, I have eaten far too much. My dinner was amazing, absolutely amazing. Are you looking at it? Are you jealous? You should be. You might also be wondering where Part II of the Great Cake went, don't worry it is coming. I just thought it might get monotonous if I kept posting one cake after another (or not as suspenseful). So, we are looking at my dinner tonight instead. And drooling. At least I am.

     This dinner was a very spur of the moment thing. I happen to have a very large pork shoulder defrosting in my fridge. Well, I had taken it out of my freezer yesterday to defrost. As you have probably guessed, it did not. It was still frozen solid when I took it out of the fridge this morning. So I dumped the whole thing into a brine. By 2, the edges were a little more thawed. Exasperated, and extremely hungry, I began hacking away little pieces of it and throwing them into a bowl. And I mean little bite-sized pieces. I threw them into said bowl, covered them with Korean marinade from H-Mart, and then promptly forgot about them. (That was the Great Cake Part II's fault).

The Last of the Catch Ups

     Hey! After these recipes we will finally arrive at foods I made this week and not last week before I left for Boston. Yay me! Yay for how much I cooked before I left! Look at how generally healthily I ate. Obviously, that has all gone downhill this week (six brownies do not a meal make) but still. Makes me feel nice to look at all those veggie recipes. And finally, I did cook something with meat in it last week. Hallelujah!

Fixings for a quick meal

     Today is a day for exclamations, apparently. Sorry, I'm just a little happy because two of my classes were cancelled today, and then I skipped the other one. Random mid-week vacation! Hush, a girl deserves a break sometimes. Even if she just had one and got to go home. School is tough and stressful. Staying up all night to make foods, which you will hear about tomorrow and after, is necessary stress relief. Class in which I generally spend all my time blogging is unnecessary stress. Hurrah for strangely circular stress related sentences!

I miss this dinner. I want more.

Time Off

What could it be?

     You might have noticed I took time off again. It tends to happen when I go home, something about my need to cook and in general have any responsibilities or obligations shutting off. They are on again - or maybe halfway on since I'm on the bus to Philly, and I don't really have to cook, just blog.

     Also, because I have a ton of recipe catching up to do. I went a little crazy last week, actually cooking every day again, because I was just so happy to have vegetables and cook fresh food. I'm going to have to grocery shop soon because I refuse to go through the kind of drought I had after spring break again. I may have a midterm next Monday, but I will grocery shop this week. Eating out just doesn't cut it.

     So, what first to share with you? It's a good thing that pictures get downloaded off cameras in chronological order, because now I can just share what I made longest ago with you today. That sentence got convoluted, but I'm sure you know what I mean. What did I make longest ago? Let's check the Pictures Folder. Oh right. Tofu. It was tofu week last week, and you are going to be hearing about tofu in many different incarnations. I'm excited, and if you are not excited than just be glad that even I cannot eat tofu for every meal so there are some non-tofuy things coming up as well.

So healthy!

     The tofu recipe of the day is mindnumbingly simple. It involves mixing a lot of things while cooking them in a frying pan, and then eating them super fast with a tortilla or roti or some rice because you don't have time or are famished after a long day. This is the kind of meal that is: super quick, super yummy, super super. Super. I'm happy today? Just looking forward to getting off this bus I guess.

     This is tofu done the Indian way. Its like mock scrambled eggs: Fry up some onions, spices, and tomato paste, dump in finely chopped tofu (instead of the eggs), whatever veggies you may have, mix everything together until it is cooked, and eat. It is flavorful. It is satisfying. I was so hungry I ate it right out of the pan and my tongue was burned for days - sometimes, you should not follow my example. Except when you have tofu and are out of fancy ways to cook it. Then you should make this, and be glad.

Tofu Scramble 

1/2 tbsp Vegetable Oil 
1/2 mid-sized Yellow Onion, Chopped as small as you like eating onions 

1/2 tsp Turmeric 

1 tsp Garam Masala 

1 tsp Coriander 
1/2 tbsp Tomato Paste
1/3 block Tofu, Sliced and then chopped into very small pieces 
Dash of Salt

Heat the oil in a frying pan at medium heat. Add the turmeric, garam masala, and coriander, stirring and frying for a minute. Then, add the onions and fry until they are translucent. Mix in the tomato paste and fry it for a minute, then dump in the tofu and the dash of salt. Stir everything together thoroughly until it is well combined (the tofu will become rather yellow from the turmeric). Cook at medium heat for about four minutes, stirring all the while, and you are ready!

Note: You may have noticed I also added three mushrooms (sliced) and maybe a half a handful of kale I had left to my scramble. I added them in at the same time as the tofu, and just left everything in the pan for a little longer to make sure each veggie was cooked properly. Feel free to do the same if you have mushrooms, spinach, kale, fresh tomatoes, etc. You will feel extra healthy.

When Slowly Starving

     

     Some days are long. So long because you have work in the morning, class in the afternoon, work at night, and then you get home and you just want to EAT something but you don't know what. So what do you do? Well, I putter aimlessly around the kitchen for five minutes. There is pork in the fridge but what to do with it? Baking it is obviously not an option, not if my stomach is making certain grumbling noises.

     But, this Thursday I got lucky. My aimless puttering landed me in front of our giant bag of rice and I realized I knew exactly what to make which would be quick, simple, satisfying, and delicious. Fried Rice. Who doesn't like fried rice with pork? Except Vegetarians, who don't count (hush I'm making a point here).

     So, I marinated my pork for ten minutes while I cooked rice in the microwave. In case you ever don't have time to use the rice cooker (since mine generally takes 20 minutes) and want to make rice for just yourself: Put 1/2 cup of rice in a microwave safe bowl, add 1 cup of water, cover the bowl with a microwave safe lid and microwave for about 8 minutes. 8 minutes makes the rice perfect with my microwave, but it took much trial and error to find that out. You may have to fiddle with a few different times. Double the amount of rice and water for two people and so forth. 

     Anyhow, my fried rice ended up containing pork, egg, and kale. There is kale now defrosting in my fridge, as you may recall, and it needs to be used up. I love fried rice. To me, it is comforting in a french fries and burger kind of way. It has an unhealthy-tummy filling-utterly delicious vibe, but when you make it at home, it's not actually that unhealthy. What else could one ask for? I was so happy with it, I gulped it down in five minutes flat. My soy sauce-hoisin sauce-honey marinade made my pork taste great and just like restaurant pork. The kale made me feel a little healthier, and gave everything a fresh taste. And the rice was delicious. I love that this fried rice actually reminded me of take-out fried rice. Maybe I should package some in those little white boxes, except I wolfed it all down too fast. Next time. 

Pork Fried Rice

For Pork:

1 Thin Boneless Pork Chop 

1 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tsp Hoisin Sauce

1/2 tbsp Honey 

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil 

For Fried Rice: 

1 Thin Boneless Pork Chop worth of Cooked Pork 

1 Egg, Beaten 

1/4 cup Pre-Boiled Kale 

1 1/2 tbsp Vegetable Oil 

1/2 cup Rice, Cooked and Cooled (Note: See Post Above) 

1 tbsp Soy Sauce 

To Cook the Pork

Trim the pork chop of excess fat. Then, cut it into bite size (1/2'' by 1/2'' pieces). In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and honey together. Drop in the pieces of pork and turn them to allow each piece to be thoroughly coated with marinade. Allow the pieces to marinate in the bowl for 15 minutes while cooking rice, etc. Then, heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan at medium heat. Cook the pork for 2 mins on each side until each piece is cooked through. Transfer it back into the bowl with the remaining marinade. (I used the oil left in the pan to scramble the egg in.) 

To Cook the Fried Rice: 

After cooking the pork, pour the beaten egg into the frying pan and scramble it. Set the pan aside. In a wok or large saucepan (what I had), heat up the vegetable oil at medium heat. Add the rice and and soy sauce, and mix them together thoroughly. Add the pork, the remaining pork-marinade, eggs, and kale, stirring till everything is well combined. Allow everything to cook together for a few minutes, and you are ready to serve! 

Healthiness

     

     I love having groceries. I love being able to open my fridge and pull out food. The simple pleasures of life are always the best, right? What I love most of all, though, is being able to cook my own meals again. (As though I was being Forced to not cook the past two weeks - I know it is my own fault I didn't grocery shop before...don't look at me like that.) Point being, I felt so unhealthy the past two weeks eating out all the time - I have had more Chipotle in these few days than I have had in my entire life combined before now. So, now that I have food, what am I making to make myself feel better?

     Pizza, apparently. Pizza doesn't even sound like a healthy food, but my pizza was as healthy as pizza can get (probably). Potatoes, kale, a little bit of cheese - I didn't even put a sauce! What else can you ask for? It is sitting in my bag staring at me, and I really want to have some even though these two pieces have to last me till 4:30 (when I finish class). Excuse me while I eat.

     Yum. Anyway, I still had a Trader Joe's Pizza Dough sitting in my freezer so I defrosted it along with the kale I boiled and froze a long time ago. Must make way for all the new groceries that are going into my freezer. I bought the potatoes yesterday, and I couldn't wait to use them - so of course they had to go on the pizza as well. Also, I like kale, and it's healthy and all, but I can't imagine eating a Just Kale pizza. That just sounds awful to me...

     Making pizza is so relaxing and easy. Especially when the most time consuming part of the process is waiting for the potatoes simmering away in a pot of water to become tender. It sure takes a lot of hands on work. (Sarcasm, just in case its not clear. Sarcasm and writing on the internet don't seem to always go together.) So, what does my pizza taste like? Crust thats crisp on the outside but has a little give on the inside, hurrah for Trader Joe's, soft potatoes, salty garlicky lemony Kale, and the nice crunch of cheese. What else can one ask for?

Kale and Potato Pizza


1 16 oz ball of Trader Joe's Pizza Dough
OR Enough Pizza Dough for a 12'' diameter thin-crust pizza 
3 mid-sized Red Potatoes 
1 tsp Salt 
1 tsp Pepper
2 tbsp Olive Oil 
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
1/3 cup Pre-boiled Kale (or you could use fresh kale) drained of water
1 Lime (or Lemon)
1/3 cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (or whatever kind of cheese you have) 

If your pizza dough is in the fridge, make sure to take it out 20 minutes before you plan to use it.

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Place the three potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with water, adding a dash of salt. At medium heat, cover the saucepan and let the potatoes simmer for 10-15 minutes until you can easily stick a fork through them (it will take different times depending on the size of your potatoes). Meanwhile, cut the ribs off your kale if you have not already, and shred it into about 2'' by 2'' pieces.

Once your potatoes are done, pull them out of the hot water. While they are cooling, heat the olive oil up in a frying pan at medium heat. Add the garlic, and once it is lightly browned, add the kale. Stir everything together, cooking till the kale is limp, and then squeeze and mix in the lime (or lemon) juice. Turn off the heat, making sure the kale is thoroughly coated with lemon juice and olive oil. Then, slice the potatoes into about 1/4 '' slices. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on both sides of the potatoes, mixing them to make sure each piece is seasoned. Put the potatoes in the saucepan with the kale and toss everything a few times.

Take a large baking sheet and smear it with olive oil. Roll out the pizza dough or press it down until it fills most of that baking sheet. Top it with the kale, potatoes, and then the cheese. Bake it at 425 degrees for about 10 - 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Take the baking sheet out and allow the pizza to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer it to a cutting board. Cut and eat!

A Little Spice

Yummy.     

     There are some memories of middle school and high school that do not fade. For me, a lot of those memories are of food (obviously), especially of the Asian foods I discovered at my friends' houses. To this day, I love going to see my Korean friend HJY and helping her put together some Korean stew - with rice cakes or fish cakes or mixed seafood or whatever she has around. No matter what she has on hand, whatever we make is always delicious and always such a refreshing change from the Indian food of every day.

     Korean food has also been on my mind because I went to H-Mart. Do you know H-Mart? It is a lovely lovely lovely Korean grocery store, I know there is one in Philly and the one around here is in Burlington (yes, you should go). It has a bakery with lovely buns (like one with a blueberry filling that tastes like blueberry gogurt in the best possible way, if you don't believe me ask my brother) and a section full of delicious Korean side dishes and appetizers (pan-fried whiting that tastes like spicy sticky candy? don't knock it till you've tried it) and a lot of samples! Samples are just the best.

     So, what did I (i.e. my parents) buy from H-Mart? Fish cakes. Tofu. Sriracha. Soy sauce. All the things you need to make a good spicy stew. So, that is just what I did. Last night, I made dinner for my brother and I, and it was good. Actually, it was far far far too spicy - I suffered through it, huffing and puffing, but I sweetened my brother's version quite a bit (honey always saves the day). So, I'm going to give you a modified recipe, one which makes just a little more sense for the ordinary person. Don't worry, it will not be bland.

     I just realized, saying I "suffered through it" makes it sound bad. Let me correct that notion, I would not eat anything half that spicy unless it tasted very very good. I love fish cake, you should try it if you have never had it. The kind I got is very thin, and I sliced it into strips. Once you cook it in liquid, it puffs up and is so soft and soaks up all the flavors around it. Try it! The fish cake, tofu, and udon really soaked up the sweet and tangy flavors of the soup without becoming too spicy, and I just couldn't stop slurping them up even with my lips and tongue on fire. I want more.

Korean Stew with Fish Cake 

3 pieces Fish Cake, sliced lengthwise into 1 inch strips  
1/2 box Tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes  
1/2 cup Shredded Carrots 
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil 
1 Mid-Sized Onion, Minced 

1 tbsp Soy Sauce 

1 tbsp Fish Sauce 

1 1/2 tbsp Sriracha 
3 cups Water 

In a large saucepan or wok, heat up the vegetable oil at medium heat. Add the onions and sauté them until they are translucent. Add the soy sauce and fish sauce and sriracha, and stir everything together. Then, add all the water and the fish cakes. Allow the fish cakes to puff up a little, then add the tofu and the carrots. Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring once in a while, until the fish cakes are much more puffed up and soft and the tofu is soft as well. It is now ready to serve. I served it with a packet of frozen udon noodles I just cooked in the microwave, you could also serve it over rice.

Note:

If you want things much less spicy, add just half a tablespoon of sriracha and you can always add more when you serve it into bowls! 

An Invasion

     Today, our home was invaded by thirteen year old boys. It was actually a dinner party for my brother and five of his friends. So, I spent the day cooking for them. Kind of. I made the carrot cake last night, as you know, and my mom did all the prep for the main entree we prepared. So really, I was quite lazy. But, this main entree we made is a food that is quite famous, especially if you like Julia Child and have watched "Julie and Julia" or both. It is boeuf bourguignon!

     It is basically beef stewed for a couple of hours with garlic and carrots and onions and herbs and loads of red wine. Yummy. When I watched it being made in "Julie and Julia," it seemed hard. Something where lots of things could go wrong. But, it is not! Granted, I didn't use Julia Child's recipe, so maybe that one is fussier. The recipe my mom wanted to try is from "The Paris Neighborhood Cookbook," which has recipes by quartier in Paris. It is very cool, and you should check it out.

     Anyway, so we cut up carrots and onions and a beef shank. I browned the beef up, and then we let it stew. Meanwhile, I watched lots of Friends and NCIS. I do love cooking. Isn't it so therapeutic to just let things simmer? You don't have to do anything, and you get lovely smells wafting through the air. It makes me happy.

The finished carrot cake by the way. In case you were missing it :)

     So, the thirteen year olds chowed down on my fancy Frenchy dish. Don't believe me - it's not fancy at all, just homey goodness. Just melt in your mouth beef, soft carrots, and a gravy with sweetness and a great depth of flavor. I want more...But to get back to the point, the boys seemed to enjoy the dish, considering how little is now left. There was another dish on the table as well, but you will have to wait till tomorrow to see that one. Just enjoy what you get for now: really good Meat.

Boeuf Bourguignon 
Adapted from "The Paris Neighborhood Cookbook" by Danyel Couet 

1 Spicy Italian Pork Sausage 
2 lb Beef Shank 
1 tsp Salt 
1 tsp Pepper 
4 small Carrots 
2 tbsp Butter 
1 Large Onion, Minced 
5 Garlic Cloves, Sliced  
1 bottle (good if possible) Red Wine 
2 Bay Leaves 
1 tsp Dried Herb Mix 
1 cup Chicken Stock 
1/4 cup Parsley, Chopped 
4 in Baguette or Similar Hard Loaf
1 tbsp Olive Oil  

Prep:

First, cut the beef into 2'' cubes and pat all the pieces dry with a paper towel. Add the salt and pepper to them and turn the pieces, so they are all seasoned. Also, chop the sausages into small pieces and the carrots into 1'' pieces.

You want the bread to be croutons. So, cut it into 1'' cubes. Pan fry the cubes in a little olive oil until they are crisp. Then, set them aside.

Making the Bourguignon:

First, heat a little oil in a very large saucepan and fry up the sausages. Take them out of the pan and set them aside. Then, heat the butter at medium heat in the same pan. Add the beef, and brown the pieces of meat on all sides. Don't crowd the pan, do it in two batches or more if you need to. Once the beef is browned, add the carrots, onion, and garlic. Fry at medium heat while stirring. After a few minutes, add the bottle of wine. Stir and scrape the pan to loosen any meat juices, then add the bay leaves and herb mixture. Pour in enough chicken broth that the meat is completely covered. After making sure that everything is thoroughly combined, cover the pot and let  simmer for two hours. Then, uncover, and take the pieces of meat and carrot out into a different bowl. Add the parsley to the remaining liquid, stir it in, raise the heat to medium high, and boil the liquid off until it has a "syrupy" consistency (which I took as - until it is slightly thick). Add a few pinches of salt, to taste, and then mix the meat and carrots back in. Heat everything up till it is hot again, and top it with croutons. Now, you are ready to serve! I suggest with mashed potatoes. 

A Balanced Meal

     Today, it took me a very long time to get around to eating. I mean, of course I ate my Fruits and Cream Quaker Oats Oatmeal this morning before class. I promise I'm not an ad, it is just actually what I eat every morning because it is the deliciousest fast breakfast there is. Anyway, of course I ate that. But between having class till 1 and then getting caught in a torrential downpour and having to seek shelter in a friend's house, I did not get around to cooking till 3:30. And then, I decided to cook something that would take an hour and a half. Why? Because I knew it would be worth it. (And I still had some peanut butter bar to eat..)

     It was pork. Do you know that bright red roast pork you get at Chinese take-out restaurants? It was that pork. Just, not bright red because that beautiful color comes from....guess what? Food Coloring. Of course, it would. Also, my pork was not exactly authentic Chinese because it was Yakibuta, the Japanese version of the Chinese Char Siu, from a recipe I found on the lovely site Just Hungry. And, I was all prepared to make this great dish! Last night before work, I filled a bowl full of marinade and dumped the pork in. So, all I needed to do was stick it in the oven, and it would be done. 

     Was it really as simple as that? A bowl of soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and a star anise, and then just turning on the oven the next day? Yes, yes it was. This is why I love the oven, you can put things in and not worry about them and then suddenly you have a plate of lovely food! Well, I had some intermediate steps of course. To make sure my meal made up for my previous lack of meals, I made rice and bok choy as well. The bok choy was easy. It was just a version of the bok choy I made previously without the garlic, with a little extra ginger, and with some shitake mushrooms thrown in before I started cooking the bok choy. 

     I love my meals nowadays. The pork was ridiculously moist and tender, with that subtle taste of sweetness which I can't seem to find an adjective for except Asian, and that is utterly unworthy of this marinade. I started boiling down the marinade at a low simmer once I put the pork in the oven, and then I used some of it as a sauce for my rice. It was delicious. With the bok choy, finally making me feel a little healthy, this was just a perfect little meal.

Japanese-style Chinese Pork 

Adapted from Just Hungry

1/2 lb Pork Shoulder 

3/4 cup Soy Sauce 

1/2 cup Water 

1 Star Anise

1/4 tsp Ginger Powder (or a small chunk Fresh Ginger) 

1 Garlic Clove, Minced 

1 tsp Sugar

Trim the skin and excess fat off the sides of the piece of pork. Place it in a medium bowl, add the soy sauce, and then enough of the water to fully cover the pork. Add the star anise, ginger powder, and garlic clove and mix it in the soy sauce. Turn the pork a couple of times to make sure it is properly covered. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and place it in the fridge overnight or for at least three hours. When you are ready to cook the pork, pre-heat the oven to 280 degrees. Sprinkle both sides of the pork with sugar. Then, place it in a baking dish with about 1 cm of water. Bake it for about an hour and a half, turning the pork over every half an hour, until you can stick a knife in it and the juices run clear (not red). 

Note:

You may have to add more water after an hour or so to keep it at 1 cm. 

I cut the pork into slices to serve. Feel free to cut it into cubes, or small strips, in order to put it in rice, noodles, salad, or whatever else your heart desires. You can also cut it up and then freeze it to have it for later!

A Happy Day

     

     Some days are just perfect. Even if you have three classes and then a lab practical, sometimes you are in a really good mood. You come home, you go to the supermarket, and let me come out of my dreamy tone for a second: Did you know that Supreme Shop and Bag on 43rd and Walnut has spices for 99 cents????  They have bags and bags of beautiful spices. Finding that out was probably the start of my dreaminess. So, I bought the amazing star anise you see above and the coriander seeds. And what did I need this bounty for?

Best Dinner Ever. 

     Pho. The soup that is the joy of Vietnam. The only thing I ever get at a Vietnamese restaurant even though I always say I will order something else -- how can I order anything else when I know there is pho simmering away somewhere in the kitchen? It's even one of Anthony Bourdain's favorite foods! (Pride of the travel channel? Amazing host of No Reservations? Anyone?) I have been wanting to make it for so long. I bought pho noodles and pork shoulder in Chinatown for that sole purpose. Today, I finally got a chance to make it! The joys of not scheduling any work.

How to Make Pho Noodles

     So, I bought my spices. I toasted them, tossed them in my big pot with chicken stock, water, onion, fish sauce, and the pork. Forty-five minutes of simmering later, I had the best food in the world. The rich, flavorful broth, noodles to slurp, and tender pork all topped with the crunch of onions and the freshness of cilantro and lime juice. I want more just writing about it, especially with my empty bowl staring at me. My pho tasted just as good as restaurant pho - and I didn't even have to leave the house.

Cilantro, lime, onion, fish sauce, hoisin sauce-and the empty bowls where pho was.

     Now, I get to sit, blog, and watch Friends with PN. I am pleasantly full of pho, and I have writing part of my kid's book to look forward to. That's not sarcastic- I'm really looking forward to writing, finally. And, best of all, PN is Vietnamese and she loved the pho! I am very happy with the day. Second best of all, there is still a little pho left. I love knowing I will get a good meal tomorrow.

Pork Shoulder Pho 
Adapted from Guilty Kitchen        

Serves 2 

For the Soup:

1 Star Anise
2 Cloves 
1/2 tbsp Whole Coriander Seeds 
2 1/2 cups Chicken Stock 
1 1/2 cups Water
1/2 Mid-Size Onion, Finely Chopped 
1/4 tsp Ginger Powder (or a small chunk of Fresh Ginger) 
1/2 tbsp Sugar 
1 1/2 tbsp Fish Sauce   
1/2 Pork Shoulder (about 1/2 lb) 
1/3 pack Pho Noodles (about 2 cups) 

To Prep the Pork Shoulder:

Cut the skin and fat off the top of the 1/2 lb piece of pork shoulder. Trim some of the excess fat off of the sides. Cut it in half. Then, place it in a large bowl filled with water

To Cook the Soup: 

First, pour the chicken stock, water, chopped onion, ginger powder, sugar, and fish sauce in a large saucepan without turning on the heat. Stir them to mix. Then, place the star anise, cloves, and coriander seeds in a frying pan at medium heat (without any oil). Toast them for 3-4 minutes until they are fragrant. Once they are done, pour them into the saucepan. Place the pieces of pork in the pan as well. Turn on the heat to medium-high, and bring the pot to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about forty five minutes. Turn off the heat, pull the pieces of pork out and cut them (careful, it will be hot) into smaller pieces. Place them back in the broth.

For the Noodles:

Find a rounded sieve or colander whose insides will fit inside a saucepan. Fill the saucepan with enough water that the sieve would be submerged. Bring the water to boiling and reduce the heat slightly, enough to keep the water boiling. Place half the pho noodles in the sieve, and dunk it in the boiling water. Use chopsticks to stir the noodles around in the water till they are soft. Then, transfer them to a bowl. Repeat with the rest of the noodles.

For the Toppings: 

1 Lime, Cut in Half 
1/2 Onion, Sliced 
1 Handful Cilantro
Hoisin Sauce 
Fish Sauce 

Put your soup in a bowl, add noodles, and top with the toppings! It will be so delicious. 

"Study Time"

Do you know what this is?

     So, whenever I talk to you, I always seem to be talking about my hectic life, my constant exams, and my cooking-for-the-future-freezing-extra-food-because-I-have-no-time-ness. I mean, that is true, but only to a certain extent. I also spend my time being a couch potato in my friends' (PVL and BJG and RG and CC's) apartment on campus watching tons of Food Network and not getting anything done. It is a good balance.

A new base of operations.

   Yesterday, I got off work (still kind of full of hot soup) and went home. Almost immediately, I saw a text from PVL: "Are you coming over tonight?" I wanted to, but I had to cook! But, he was all alone in that whole apartment. What a dilemma. So, I did the only thing that made sense. I took all my cooking materials to his dorm. Pork chops. Check. Panko and flour. Soy sauce, ketchup, and vegetable oil. Black pepper and salt. An egg wrapped in a paper towel. Check check check. 

     Have you guessed what I'm making? Well, maybe you have an idea, you just don't have the exact name. Here it is: Tonkatsu, or Pork Katsu, a Japanese pork dish. It's basically fried pork chops with a delicious sauce. And I have been craving it for oh so long.

     It is also, just like everything I seem to make, so easy! I know I had to buy panko for it, but panko is just the best kind of bread crumb that exists. If you ever plan to make anything of pure goodness involving coating with bread crumbs and frying, you should buy some right now! I'm sure you get it at regular grocery stores (I got it at Chinatown). 

    However, tonkatsu is generally deep-fried, and I am not a deep frying kind of person. Luckily, I found a recipe online for katsu from Amy at Nook & Pantry, who is apparently not a deep frying person either! It was great. I only changed it a very little, mainly to cut it down to size for my lovely, extra thin, boneless pork chops. Where she tenderized her meat with the spiky side of a waffle iron and then a pan, I battered mine with a plastic fork. I mean - it was mostly for stress relief, do those little chops even need tenderizing? Regardless, it was fun.

And then after frying pork chops, I fried the egg used for dredging...and ate it.

     So, that is why, after getting off from work at 9:15, after finishing writing my blog by around 11 (there was a lot of talking and Food Network-ing alongside), I made pork katsu, and we ate it for an almost-midnight snack. I split two of the chops with RG, and one with PVL (basically I am a little piggie sometimes), and that is how I ended up with no pork katsu lunch for the next day. But it's OK, because it was so good that of course none would be left over. It doesn't seem heavy, because the pieces are so small and it doesn't taste oily at all. The panko is crisp, the pork stayed moist and tender, and the katsu sauce...that sweet tanginess just brought everything together. It made me feel warm and full and good. Which is especially important on a night that ended up looking like this.

More Snow. Ah well.

Pork Katsu 

Adapted from Nook & Pantry 

Serves 3 (or the same number as the thin, boneless, pork chops you use - if you multiply, make sure to multiply the flour and panko amounts) 

For the Frying: 

3 Thin, Boneless Pork Chops (If you have fatter pork chops: you will have to debone them, and you will have to tenderize them more- See Nook & Pantry for details) 

Salt

Pepper 

1/8 cup Flour 

1 Egg, Beaten 

3/4 cup Panko 

Vegetable Oil 

First, trim the excess fat off the pork chops. Tenderize them by hitting them with the flat side of whatever utensil you have on hand, on both sides until they are flattened to about 1/4 in. Sprinkle a very little salt and pepper on both sides of the chops, rubbing them in. Then, lay out a frying line: put the flour in one deep plate, the egg in another, and the panko in the last. First, place the first pork chop in the plate of flour, turn it to cover both sides, and then shake off the excess. Next, put the chop in the egg, turning it to cover both sides, and letting the excess drip off. Lastly, put it in the plate with the panko, dropping panko onto the top-side to cover it as well. Don't shake, you want as much panko to stick as possible. Set aside and do the same for the other chops. Then, heat 1/4 in of oil in a large frying pan at medium heat. Once it is hot, put the pork chops in. Let them cook for about 3-5 minutes, then flip them, and cook them for 3-5 minutes on the other side, until both sides are golden brown. Place on a paper towel after they are fried, and pat them dry, so they are rid of excess oil. Cut into strips, and serve drizzled with Katsu Sauce! 

For the Sauce: 

1/4 cup Ketchup 

2 tbsp Soy Sauce 

1 1/2 tbsp Honey 

2 tbsp Teriyaki Sauce 

1 tsp Sugar  

In a medium bowl, mix the ketchup, soy sauce, honey, teriyaki sauce, and sugar thoroughly. Drizzle onto pork. Now, try to eat slowly. 

Note:

This is my own version of Katsu sauce because I didn't have the worcestershire sauce or mustard Nook & Pantry's recipe called for. Feel free to use hers or experiment by adding whatever else you would like!