Happy New Year Asia! Its the year of the boar
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
According to my place mat at Shanghai restaurant, if you were born in 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983 or 1995, you were born under the sign of the pig. You are highly regarded for your chivalry and pureness of heart, and you often make friends for life.
One of the Internet horoscopes I read stated: “For 2007, any recent setbacks or obstacles can be overcome, so look forward to a year in which to really shine, either personally or professionally.” Hurrah!
Since boar is a little tough, we’re looking at pork recipes today. Ralphie and Jim Hill e-mailed this recipe, with a note: “This is a good one for Chinese New Year. We spent a lot of time working out the sauce recipe to match what we got at Jimmy Wong’s in the Chicago loop area many years ago.” Thanks for the dish!
EASY SWEET AND
SOUR PORK
2 pork steaks
1 cup Bisquick
1 egg
milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/3 - 1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup water
oil for frying
Make a batter by mixing the Bisquick and egg with just enough milk to make it thick and smooth. Make the sauce by first combining the sugar, ketchup, soy sauce and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and add 1/3 to 1/2 cup vinegar, depending on taste. Return to a boil and stir in the cornstarch dissolved in 1/3 cup water.
Dice the pork steaks into small pieces (about one-half inch square). Dip these in the batter and deep fry them at 400 degrees until crisp and brown. Drain on paper towels, then add to sauce and serve over rice.
Dorothy Eyman had a recipe from Maui that her son Blake shared. It’s got pork and eggplant with an Asian flair.
MAUI EGGPLANT WITH PORK AND GARLIC
2 large eggplants
oil for frying
2 1/2 Tbsp. shoyu sauce
1 1/2 tsp. sherry
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
5 oz. ground pork
3 Tbsp. mushrooms, chopped
2 tsp. garlic
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
pepper to taste
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. sesame oil
Stem and peel (optional) your eggplants and slice them into about 12 lengthwise strips. Cut gashes in each strip and deep fry them in oil (375 degrees) for about 2 minutes, until brown.
Combine the shoyu, sherry, cornstarch, pork, mushrooms and garlic. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Fry the pork mixture about 2 to 4 minutes or until well cooked. Add the fried eggplant and mix well.
Season with pepper, salt and sugar to taste, then stir in the sesame oil and serve with hot rice or noodles. Sounds tasty!
Remember our noodle bowls from last week? Here’s one with pork: not too spicy, very light. Glass noodles are also called bean threads. You should be able to find them in any Asian grocery store, or perhaps in the Asian section of your regular store. You will need to soak them for a few minutes in hot water and then use kitchen scissors to cut them into smaller pieces. After that, drain them and they are ready to use in your soup recipe.
TOM JUED
10 - 12 oz. minced pork
2 Tbsp. coriander
6 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 cups bok choy, shredded
1 cup tofu, cut into small pieces
12 oz. glass noodles
3 Tbsp. light soy sauce
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup coriander leaves
Mix the pork, coriander and garlic together as though making meat loaf. Roll into meatballs about a half-inch wide. Set aside. Soak the noodles in warm water to soften.
Put the stock into a pan and bring to a boil. Add the meatballs and cook for two minutes. Reduce to medium-low, then add the shredded cabbage and tofu and simmer gently for another two minutes. Add the drained, cut-up noodles, soy sauce and fish sauce.
Reheat thoroughly, then serve in bowls garnished with chopped green onions and coriander (or cilantro) leaves. Have some hot sauce or chili sauce on hand to spice up the dish to taste.
Dumplings are a big deal for New Year’s Day. There is a Chinese story about a poor farm family. They were discussing what to do about the New Year since they didn’t have any food. The grandfather jokingly declared that they should have bags of gold, cooked over a fire of gold bars.
The daughters spent the night trying to figure out how to feed everyone. They scraped the last of the flour from the storage jar, and chopped the vegetables that had frozen in the garden. They built a fire from pieces of the garden fence and made a small pot of dumplings.
Guan Di (God of Prosperity) looked down and took pity on them. He secretly inserted gold coins in their dumplings and gold bars into the fire. When everyone gathered to eat the meal, they discovered their good fortune and it lasted them throughout the year. Now everyone has dumplings (usually steamed) on New Year’s Day in the hopes that Guang Di will bless them with wealth.
There seems to be a general idea that whatever you have on New Year’s Day will follow you through the year, so you'd better mind your P’s and Q’s! This recipe for bags of gold came from the Kikkoman people, who make a lot of the sauces that are called for.
CRISPY BAGS OF GOLD
1/4 lb. ground pork
2 Tbsp. stir fry sauce
2 Tbsp. grated carrot
2 Tbsp. green onion, minced
1 pkg. round pot sticker wrappers
4 Tbsp. plum sauce
3 Tbsp. sweet and sour sauce
4 Tbsp, Thai-style chili sauce
oil for frying
Mix the pork, stir fry sauce, carrots and onions very well. Lay out six wrappers and moisten he edges with water, Place one teaspoon of filling in the center of each wrapper, and bring the edges together over the top like a drawstring purse. Pinch to seal, move to a baking sheet and keep covered with a damp paper towel while working with the remainder. Build the rest of the dumplings, six at a time.
Heat oil in a wok or dutch oven until about 380 degrees. Deep fry the “bags” in batches of five or six until brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels.
Whisk together the plum sauce and sweet and sour sauce to make a good dipper for the Bags of Gold. Serve with the sweet sauce and hot chili sauce.
Happy New Year! Next week is Valentine’s Day and we’ll have a whole bunch of chocolate recipes for you. The week after that I have a special column on Muslim food that you’ll just love. Let’s get cooking!