When all else fails...COOK!!

[maygra]

Years ago, my mother gave me a wok as a birthday present. I used it pretty steadily for a half-dozen years, then I moved and the stove was electric and ..yeah. Under the cabinets it went. We've been doing some cleaning and culling around the house and I pulled it out. It's not particularly deep, and it's aluminum, not iron, but it's still got a nice seasoned finished to it still and after a scrub and re-seasoning, it was good to go.

I really recommend that if you don't have a wok, you get one, even if you aren't all that fond of asian food. Buy an electric one if you have to (there are decent ones for not much money) because it really is an efficient way to cook fast. I kind of adore one pot cooking and I'm incredibly impatient, but I don't want to give up flavor or texture, so yeah, wok.

At any rate, I've been putting it to good use lately and since I'm getting shit-all else done, writing-wise, cooking is my therapy...so...


5 Spice Pork Meatball Stir Fry

1 lb ground pork
1 large carrot, peeled and then slivered (or strip peeled)
2 Bok Choy stalks chopped (with leaves)
1/2 yellow onion sliced
1/2 green pepper sliced
1 cup bamboo shoots
6-7 scallions, chopped (green parts only)
1 package rice threads (rice vermiccelli) cooked, drained & cooled (or 2 cups cooked rice)
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
3 Tablespoons corn or peanut oil
1/2 tsp chinese fivespice* (or you can grind your own: coriander, anise, cinnamon, white pepper, licorice root, ginger, cloves -- yeah, I know it's more than 5, I don't know either)
2 Tblsps hoison or plum sauce. (optional)

Take the pork and make meatballs, fairly large (they cook down.) I can usually get 10-12 out of a pound of ground pork.

In a small bowl mix fresh ginger, soy, pepper flakes, fivespice, and hoison sauce. Mix well.

In a wok (seriously recommended) or deep-sided non-stick frypan, heat the oil and drop the meatballs in. Cook until nearly brown on all sides. Scooch them to the middle. Reduce heat to medium.

On top of the browned meatballs lay, in this order, onions, peppers, bok choy, carrots, bamboo shoots, scallions. Cover and let steam for about 3-5 minutes or until onions start to wilt. Pour spice mix on top and toss everything together until vegetables are the desired tenderness.

Lay cooled rice noodles (or cooked rice - if you use rice, serve it warm) on plate and serve meatball and veg mixture over them. Serves 4.


*fivespice is really like curry. There's a lot of variations, so check the labels if you buy it off the shelf. This one does in fact, taste a little like a sweet curry, and a little goes a long way. The whole dish has a sweet heat to it, not overwhelmingly hot and not actually sweet. Plus, your kitchen will smell amazing.

My roommate, who doesn't really like curry or the very sweet Chinese sauce dishes, really like this.

Comments

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

I love my wok. Don't know what I'd do without it, even with an electric stove. I actually began with an electric one and graduated to a nice, heavy steel one. I don't think a week goes by that I don't use it.

I'm particularly fond of my pressure cooker, too. It's fantastic for cooking in a hurry and will make even cheap, tougher cuts of meat melt in your mouth tender.

I also have a crock pot! *G* I'm a big fan of one pot cooking, too. I even have several one pot cookbooks including one geared especially for diabetics.

[maygra.livejournal.com]

I wish I had a pressure cooker. I've looked at them..but sheesh!

If you leave out the hoison sauce on this, this would be a good recipe for you. Very low in carbs (you can make it even less by taking out the carrots) and once whole package of the rice Vermicelli is a about 80 carbs, so split four ways...well, you can do the math *g*. I try to aim for under 50 carbs a day, equally spread over my meals. I'm not sure what you are aiming for but if that's still too high, this tastes fine without the rice.

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

Heh! You're doing a lot better at lowering your carbs than me. I try for somewhere between 100-120 carbs a day (spread out over the day). According to my diabetes classes, the object is to find a medium where I can eat carbs without it shooting my blood sugar up so high that it can't lower itself down below 150 within 2 hours of beginning to eat. Usually I do pretty good at it. But I've been slipping lately and need to get myself under control again.

I think I'd go postal if I ate under 50 carbs. You're a stronger woman than me, my dear. *G*

[maygra.livejournal.com]

Well, when you have to cut out the wheat flour, you'd be amazed at how muh easier it is *g*. I'm good for about 2 slice of bread a day or an equivalent amount of pasta. Wheat glutens give me massive indigestion, so seriously, when you can't have that, cutting the carbs is a whole lot easier. Although I really am fond of rice noodles just because.

I probably do get more than that because I do love carrots and there are other veges, simple carbohydrates that I'll give myself room on.

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I actually got my pressure cooker at Wal-Mart for under $30. It's not the largest one they had, but it's not the smallest, either. It's the size of a large Dutch oven (about 6 qts I think). This is a good time to go looking for one. Stores are stocking up for summer canning.

[fiercy.livejournal.com]

I have a strange question. I went to an Indian restaurant once. The pervasive smell did not agree with me, nor did the strange flavor. I've always assumed it was saffron that I couldn't tolerate. Now I'm wondering if it's curry. Do you know what I'm talking about? I've been in a few other Indian restaurants or passed by them briefly and the aroma is always the same, so I'm thinking it's one or the other.

[maygra.livejournal.com]

I'd be hard pressed to tell you because curry isn't a single thing, it's a combination of spices. Saffron has a very mild aromatic smell, if it has any smell at all and in an indian restaurant, unless it was right up under your nose, I doubt you'd notice it at all, but clove, cinnamon, anise, tumeric, ginger, nutmeg, coriander, cardamon -- all of those have far stronger scents. I'm guessing you've run into clove, nutmeg and cinnamon before, elsewhere so it's likely none of those. Tumeric is the spice most often used in place of saffron (because saffron is hella expensive, and most restaurants don't use it any longer unless they specifically say it's saffron say in rice or chicken.)

Other than actually your nose-testing all the spices that can be in a curry, I'm not sure you could narrow it down. The indian restaurant I eat at most often, I don't notice the smell particularly unless I'm at the buffet or have a plate in front of me...but I'll admit the combination of spices can be very strange to our western palates.

Anise and Cardamon both have a vaguely licorice taste and smell -- anise more than cardamon. I think you like chinese food so Ginger isn't likely the problem either, so I'm not sure what to tell you. It's too bad though because not all indian food involves curry and curry isn't my favorite although I'll eat the milder curries (not so much with the hot ones).

[tracy-rowan.livejournal.com]

I always love your recipes. I'll try this for a girl's night sometime. Thanks.