Going in Circles

    

     Isn't it funny how different cultures manage to come up with the same things? How people in China and Europe came up with movable type and printing at different times? How people everywhere from Russia to Korea pickle things? (Even though there are so many people who don't like pickled things, after all. I am not one of them - you can give me pickled diakon anyday!) How the French have crepes and Indians have dosas? And why was I think about this? Because, the Japanese have Pork Katsu (which I made what seems like a ridiculously long time ago) and the Austrians have Schnitzel!

     Of course, having just done some googling to find this out, katsu (or tonkatsu really) was invented in Japan as an interpretation of European cuisine. So, I guess its because of the Europeans that the Japanese have katsu and its not really the same as what I was talking about...but whatever, you get my point, right? What's more, at this point katsu is so Japanese-ized (I'm sure there's a better way of saying that) and eaten with its traditional katsu sauce that it does seem miles away from Pork Schnitzel eaten with a simple lemon slice. Or with spaetzle (those little round egg noodles), which is the way I ate it during a blissful summer vacation in Germany so long ago.

     The point of all these heartburnings being, that I really wanted to make pork schnitzel for dinner tonight. Mainly because I had more of those those lovely thin pork chops I keep going back to in my fridge. And, in honor of those spaetzle so long ago, I wanted to accompany it with pasta. Rightfully I should have accompanied it with spaetzle, but I got lazy. It was such a beautiful day outside! And there were people to see and talk to.

     So, I made schnitzel. It seems almost cheating to put down this recipe because it is so similar to the katsu one. I even used panko instead of breadcrumbs. But, there are the slight differences: the milk mixed in with the egg, the seasoning in the flour, and the accompaniment after all. But, let me warn you, the recipe for the "sauce" I made isn't so much of a recipe as just a bunch of ideas for what you can do to make a good sauce. You can use whatever spices you like for pasta sauce and use other liquids, like wine, instead of chicken broth for the deglazing. But in the end, my pork schnitzel and pasta made a lovely dinner. The crust of the schnitzel was crispy, and it had the flavoring of the spices so it wasn't plain. The pasta was creamy and delicious, and the peas made it healthy! Yum yum.

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).

Necessity, Invention, and All That

Yay Star Anise!

     I still have not gone grocery shopping, not really. It is awful, I know, but where is the time? On the other hand, what will I eat? Well, whatever is left in the fridge. A few carrots, I love the hardiness - and long life - of carrots, green beans, and some Korean pork my mom packed for me to bring home. What to make of all this? 

Korean Pork looks menacing...

     Well, the easiest solution to this problem, if you know me, is not hard to figure out: some sort of - preferably Asian themed - soup. I'm sorry for the overload of these, but I can't help it! I must put food in my mouth in the shortest time possible, and soup is generally the way to go. So, what's new about this soup? Well, for one thing I don't think any self-respecting Asian of any kind would come up with it because it doesn't not belong to any one part of Asia. Star anise, coriander, oyster sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce might all kind of go together but then there's the Korean pork and the rice cakes. This soup owes allegiance to no country. 

Yes, I know it is sideways.

     Have you ever had rice cakes, or as my friends here seem to call them: rice lumps, before? They are disks of glutinous rice pounded together and you can cook them like noodles, and eat them the same way. I mean, in the sense that both provide carbs. To taste, rice cakes are flat chewy disks of goodness that soak up lots of delicious flavor when cooked in soup. At least each of my soups has something new! 

     So, what did my creation taste like? Well the best part about making recipes up is that you can just keep adding things to it until it tastes really good. My soup tasted delicious. The carrots were just right, not too mushy but not crunchy, the green beans made me feel healthier (I don't really like green beans...so I can't wax eloquent here, sorry), but the broth was just perfect. Actually, at first it was a little bit sweet and seemed to lack some tang. I kept looking around for something spicy to add to it, and then realized that the pre-marinated and pre-cooked (by my mother) Korean pork that I had would do just that. It made the broth perfect. You could add any protein you have lying around for this soup, or fish cakes, or I think the Chinese Roast Pork I once made would go really well. If your meat isn't spicy though, throw in a squirt of Sriracha to make the broth that perfect combo of spicy and sweet that I got. I love quick meals. 

Rice Cake Soup 

1 Star Anise

1/2 tsp Coriander Seeds 

2 cups Water 

1/2 cup Rice Cakes 

1 tbsp Soy Sauce 

1/2 tsp Oyster Sauce

1 tsp Hoisin Sauce 

3 mid-sized Carrots, Peeled and Sliced not too thin  

1/2 cup Green Beans, Sliced (or from frozen, like me) 

1/2 cup Protein of your Choice, Cut into Thin Slices or Small Chunks 

In a small frying pan, toast the star anise and coriander seeds for three minutes until they are fragrant. Add the water to a separate large saucepan at medium heat, and then add the spices to the water. Stir in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and hoisin sauce as well. Add the rice cakes, carrots, and green beans. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer until the rice cakes and carrots are soft (it took me about 10 minutes). Because my meat was very very thin and pre-cooked to perfection, I only added it to my soup after I had poured it into a bowl, which was enough to get it hot. If you meat is thicker and will need to be heated up more thoroughly, add it to your soup now while it is simmering in the pot, and then serve the soup after two minutes. Enjoy! 

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. 

Adventures in a Foreign Land

     

     Yesterday, I went to Chinatown with PN. It was to be a short, simple grocery shopping trip for me: pick up some veggies and some Asian condiments (as I was woefully lacking in anything I need to make the Asian foods I crave). Somehow, I ended up with four bags full of food. I got hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. I got cauliflower and scallions and bok choy. I got pho noodles and rice cakes, panko bread crumbs, and lychees... I went a little crazy.

Post-ravagement.

     But, that's not even the best part of this story. At this Chinese supermarket, no one seems to speak English. Especially the butchers. So, we stood in front of the meat counter, trying to stare through foggy glass at cuts of meat labelled in Chinese. It doesn't help that neither of us has paid much attention to our mothers' purchases of different meats in the past. This is how it went:

PN: Do you think those are pork chops?
Me: They seem like the right shape?
PN: Which one do you think is the butt?
Me: I think that one might be, because the butt is bigger than the shoulder, right? What do you think that is?
PN: I think that's the shoulder!
Me: Oh good! I want one.

     And so forth. After jumping up and down and saying Excuse Me at varying volumes to get the attention of the butchers, PN was brave first and bought two of the pork chops through ingenious use of pointing. I went next and did the same for a pork shoulder. Then she bought half a pound of something highly intriguing. They looked like ribs, except were cut even smaller than normal riblets, and some of the pieces didn't even have any bone (See picture above). I bought half a pound too.

     Back at home, I got tired of googling for potential recipes. I knew I wanted to marinate these pork bits in my newly bought sauces, but I didn't know what else to do. So, I did what any good cook does in times of trouble: I called my mom. From her, I got this simple procedure for cooking my baby ribs to perfection. They are tiny and delectable, I can easily see them playing the role of an appetizer at a party. But, regardless of what they can be, the sticky sweet and tangy marinade on the melting pieces of meat was irresistible. While "watching" them cool, I tried one, and then another, and then another. The next time I looked, half of the riblets were gone. Sometimes, you cannot wait to take pictures before you eat.

     Today, I wanted these riblets to be part of a real meal. So, I made rice, stir fried some bok choy, and here we are. A perfect Asian meal, using almost all the ingredients I bought yesterday. That, gives me a very satisfactory feeling indeed. To match the satisfied feeling in my stomach from warm rice, garlicky, crunch bok choy, and sweet savory pork. Just a note: these pork bits (if you use these to cook and not regular ribs, which you could also use in this recipe, if you just doubled the marinade), anyway: they have plenty of fatty bits and little bones. So, keep a napkin and potentially a bowl for bones around while you eat. Point being, it doesn't matter because they are just so good.

Hoisin-Honey Glazed Pork Riblets 

1/2 lb Pork Riblets 

1 tsp Sugar 

2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce 

1 tbsp Soy Sauce 

2 1/2 tbsp Honey 

1/2 tbsp Oyster Sauce 

2 tsp Salt 

1 tsp Black Pepper 

1/2 tbsp Vegetable Oil 

Prep For Pork: 

Fill a large bowl with water, 1 tsp of sugar, and 1 tsp of Salt. Submerge meat in it to brine. 

Marinade: 

Meanwhile, mix the hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, honey, and soy sauce in a medium bowl. Set aside. 

Cooking Pork: 

After 10-15 minutes of brining (these pieces of meat are so small you barely need to brine them at all), pour the water out of the bowl. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel. Then, dry rub with the black pepper and remaining teaspoon of salt. Lay the meat out on a cutting board (or something) so it dries completely. Once it is dry, heat the oil in a large pan. Sear the meat in the pan, browning it on both sides. Take the meat out of the pan. After letting it cool for a minute, put it in the marinade. Mix so each portion is coated thoroughly. Leave the mixture for half an hour (or longer for even better results). Then, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the marinated pork on a baking sheet, and place inside the oven. It will only take 5-10 minutes to cook if you use the small size riblets I did. Regular riblets or ribs would probably take 10-15 minutes, just keep an eye out.  

Note:

Since all my marinade didn't get soaked into the pork, I just poured it back onto the pork once I took the slightly cooled pork off the baking sheet and placed it in a bowl. 

Garlicky Bok Choy 

Adapted from Steamy Kitchen

1 Bok Choy 

1 Small Garlic Clove (or 1/2 of a larger one), Minced 

1/8 tsp Ginger Powder 

1/2 tbsp Vegetable Oil 

1 tbsp Water

Prep for Bok Choy: 

Trim the bok choy by cutting off the very bottom of the stem (the thickest part). Then, pull part the different segments. Keep the little baby bok choy in the center intact. Rinse all the segments lightly under water to clean, then drain. 

Cooking Bok Choy: 

Place the oil, garlic, and ginger in a cold wok or large frying pan. Heat them all up together at medium heat. When the garlic is sizzling and golden, add the bok choy. Toss the segments in the oil till they are all completely coated with garlicky oil. Then, pour in the water, and immediately cover the pan. Let it cook for 1 minute, and then take out and serve.

Note:

I only made one bok choy because I just wanted it for lunch today. But, if you are cooking for a crowd or just want to eat more veggies, the Steamy Kitchen link has the proportions for cooking 1 lb of bok choy.