Chinkiang Pork Chops: Fit for a Dragon
It's New Year's again — Yay! And though we might be hard-pressed to find a lion dance or firecrackers in our neck of the woods today, that doesn't mean we won't celebrate the Return of the Dragon this Lunar New Year with a special meal (or two), like these elegantly spiced Chinkiang Pork Chops, from Breath of a Wok, by Grace Young.
I was intrigued by this recipe because it has some rather unusual ingredients — namely, A.1. sauce, ketchup and Tabasco! Not exactly what one expects to see in a Chinese cookbook! Ms. Young attributes this recipe to Chef Henry Hugh of the N.Y. School of Culinary Arts, so that might account for the fusion of Western and Asian flavors. The chops are briefly marinated, then seared in a skillet and finished in a simmering sauce. The nice thing about this recipe is that you could easily sample this rather exotic dish using ingredients you already have in your cupboard! The Chinkiang vinegar, which lends its name to this dish, and Shaoxing rice wine are the only ingredients that would require a special trip to a Chinese or Asian market, but Ms. Young provides appropriate substitutes from Western kitchens that approximate the flavors of the special vinegar and wine.
I really enjoyed these chops, but T. was a bit ambivalent. My notes on the recipe say the sauce reminds me BBQ, so maybe that's why I liked them so much — you know I have a weakness for BBQ'd pork! I would like to try this recipe again, but using pork ribs instead of chops — I love the texture and flavor of the meat closest to the bone, so the more bones the better!
Don't forget, Lunar New Year celebrations extend from the beginning of the new moon, which is today, to the full moon, which is on February 7th! So you have two full weeks to enjoy and count your many blessings for the year.
Happy Lunar New Year — it's the Year of the Dragon!
(Method adapted from Breath of a Wok, by Grace Young)
Serves 3-4 persons as part of a multi-course meal
For the Marinade:
1lb/450g of thin-sliced pork chops, about 4 pieces
2 TBL Shao Hsing (also spelled Shaoxing) rice wine, or pale dry sherry
1 tsp soy sauce
½ tsp sea salt
1 large egg, beaten
½ tsp cornstarch
Lay one chop in the middle of 2 sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap. With a mallet, rolling pin or meat pounder, gently but firmly pound the meat to flatten and tenderize. Turn the chop over (I just turn the whole thing, paper/plastic and all), and repeat on other side. Repeat with remaining chops. Author recommends cutting each chop into 3 pieces, keeping the bone in one piece; I didn't do this.
In a shallow bowl or plate, combine the wine/sherry, shoyu, salt, egg and cornstarch. Marinate meat in this mixture for at least 30 minutes.
For the Sauce:
3 TBL Chinkiang vinegar, or balsamic vinegar
3 TBL raw sugar
1 TBL ketchup
½ tsp A.1. Sauce
½ tsp Tabasco brand hot sauce
¼ tsp sea salt
Combine all Sauce ingredients, stir well, and set aside.
To Finish:
¼ cup cornstarch, for dredging
2 TBL peanut or safflower oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
Pre-heat large skillet over medium-high heat.
Meanwhile, remove meat from marinade and pat dry. Dredge in cornstarch, and shake off excess.
Add 1 TBL oil and pan fry meat to brown well on each side, about 1 minute each side. If necessary, do this in batches so the skillet is not over-crowded. Remove to serving platter, as they brown. Turn down heat to medium.
In the same pan, add remaining oil and garlic, and cook until garlic is fragrant. Immediately add the combined Sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn heat down again to medium-low, return pork pieces to the pan and simmer together until the meat is cooked through, about 4-5 minutes.
Serve pork chops with sauce drizzled over, and accompanied with rice and vegetables of your choosing. We had them with Chinese Broccoli with Wolfberries, Fresh Corn and Mushrooms (photo below), which is also adapted from the same cookbook. But go with what makes you happy!
Here are a few other recipes that you might consider for your Lunar celebration:
Venison Dumplings, Watercress Dumplings,
Steamed Fish with Ginger and Scallions,
Lychee Sake Pork Stir-fry,
Choi Sum with Garlic, Five Spices Chicken,
Flash-Cooked Watercress,
Chinese Mustard Green (Gai Choy) with Garlic,
Black Silkie Chicken Broth
Community Acupuncture: A Revolution in Health Care
$15 - $35 Acupuncture Treatments
"Providing Affordable Care for the Health of our Community"
(Used with permission of Jessica Feltz, co-producer)
While we're all still thinking about our various New Year's resolutions to get healthier and stay that way, let me share with you something that just might help you keep that promise to yourself. It's one of the best kept secrets in affordable health care in the U.S.: the community acupuncture network.
For T. and I, acupuncture was a godsend when we first tried it during our time in Hawaii. We found tremendous relief from many things, including sore joints, back aches, allergies, menstrual distress, insomnia, and stress, and shared some of those experiences in these pages in 2008. At that time we were receiving acupuncture from a doctor of Oriental Medicine, and our monthly treatments included comprehensive diagnostic interviews before each session and prescriptive herbal tonics to take home. The cost of each session was $55-80, depending on the length of the acupuncture session and the tonics prescribed. We were able to get monthly treatments at these rates. And although our insurance didn't cover acupuncture, we were able to pay out of our Flexible Spending Account (FSA) — in the U.S., it's a special savings account where money is set aside before it is taxed, but can only be used for certain health care related expenses.
Since leaving Hawaii 3½ years ago, we had gone without acupuncture until last September when we met Ms. Jessica Feltz, L.Ac. at an outdoor festival in downtown Frederick. She was offering free acupuncture treatments on-site at the festival as well as coupons for free introductory treatments at her clinic, Turning Point Acupuncture, where she offers treatment on a sliding scale of $15-35. I'll be honest, when I first heard Jessica say this, I looked at her a little sideways. As a former consumer fraud prosecutor, I had seen a fair share of "too good to be true" deals in my time, and skepticism was my armor. I asked her how on Earth she could charge so little when many acupuncture clinics in our area started their fee schedule almost twice her highest fee! She explained the community acupuncture concept this way: treatment is offered in a group setting, with clients resting in recliners arranged in an open room so the practitioner can treat multiple people (at her clinic, Jessica can treat 10 people at once) in the same hour in which other practitioners might treat 1 or 2 clients. She went on to say that this setting was closer in style to how acupuncture is offered in its traditional culture — that is, it's not reserved only for those who could afford costly treatments but is available to everyone as needed.
Yes, in the community room setting you can see the other clients in the room with you, but there is no need to undress or otherwise expose any part of the body except the legs up to the knees and the arms up to the elbows. The community room at Turning Point Acupuncture is an inviting place, full of natural light, and the ambient sounds of trickling water and meditative music. Jessica herself is a warm and calming presence — with a gentle touch and a caring ear, she creates a sense that your concerns and needs will be addressed during your time together. After my first visit, I was a convert to the community acupuncture model, and relieved I could afford the weekly treatments I needed for the symptoms that had relapsed during my long drought without acupuncture. I've also found I actually prefer the community setting to the private one (1 client per room) because often I sense a palpable energy in the community room that I find very healing in itself. During one visit early on, I was alone in the community room for the first 30 minutes or so, and it wasn't until another client had settled into his/her treatment that I noticed I reached the deepest part of my own relaxation. I've been able to use that experience as a touchstone against which to gauge how quickly I reach deep relaxation alone or when sharing Qi (chi) with others nearby!
Probably the most amazing thing about the community acupuncture concept is that each client decides how much s/he can afford on the scale of $15-35 per treatment. There is no income test at The Turning Point, or any of the other 120+ clinics in the community acupuncture network (CAN) in 34 U.S. states. During your first visit, your practitioner will discuss how often s/he think you should receive treatments (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.). The emphasis at Turning Point and CAN clinics is on clients — that they receive the treatments they need for their well-being and can afford to come as often as their practitioner recommends. It's quite an incredible model when compared to our prevailing health insurance system, which repeatedly demonstrates that it's driven primarily by profit and not by the patient's best interest. In fact, the CAN model has even found space to grow in places with universal health care — you can find clinics using the CAN model in Canada as well.
If you would like to learn more about the history of community acupuncture clinics and the impact they have on their communities, come to the Mid-Atlantic cinematic debut of a documentary about the movement, "Community Acupuncture - The Calmest Revolution Ever Staged," here in Frederick next Monday, January 30, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. at the MDL Holiday Cinemas. For tickets and information, call Turning Point Acupuncture at (240) 405-7878, or click here. The film's co-producer and local practitioner Jessica Feltz will be on hand to introduce the documentary and will open the floor to questions about acupuncture and the community acupuncture model after the screening. Tickets are just $10 per person, and Jessica will honor each ticket at her clinic for one acupuncture session in the weeks following the documentary's premiere! If you've always been curious about acupuncture but been shy about taking that next step, this screening offers a unique way to learn more, meet a local practitioner (and probably many of her happy clients), AND get a full acupuncture treatment (later in the week, not that night) for one very low price!
If you can't make it for the movie screening but are still curious about community acupuncture, this YouTube video features several CAN practitioners, including Ms. Feltz, and real clients from CAN clinics describing their experiences with community acupuncture. In their own words, including Spanish and ASL, clients describe what ailments brought them to the clinics and the relief they have received through treatments. It also gives you a peek at what community rooms in real clinics look like before you come!
The community acupuncture network bills itself as the "calmest revolution," but it's also been one of the quietest, — except maybe for the occasional client who is so relaxed during treatment that s/he falls asleep and starts snoring (yes, there are "shes" too)! Not one person I've talked to about community acupuncture had ever heard of it before, and that has got to change! I've done my best to introduce family and friends to community acupuncture here in Frederick and near where they live. Now I'm telling you, and hoping you will check it out and spread the love to your friends and kin, too.
Come join the Recliner Revolution!
Wild Fermentation: Homemade Sauerkraut
Lamont generously gifted us with one of those crocks full of Sauerkraut-in-waiting, and coached T. on its maintenance. We patiently watched over our crock, taking care to check the kraut for surface "bloom" — an unsightly but mostly benign bacteria that can grow on the brine surface that should be removed — and keeping the well around the lid filled with clean water to create an air-tight seal. After the requisite 10-week fermentation period, it was quite a treat to eat fresh hand-made and homemade Sauerkraut! T. could not wait to try it again on his own. But just as he was planning to search for his own shredder, we learned we had one month to prepare for a move to Hawaii!
Now, three moves and six years later, we have found ourselves in a part of the U.S. that was settled by German immigrants — an area in which T. might finally find an antique cabbage shredder. For over a year, we scoured antique shops and flea markets in search of a functional shredder. Many of the antique shredders we saw were rendered unusable by paint, glue, or other decorative touches. He finally found one that was merely rusty, as well as a wooden tamper for pressing the cabbage in the crock. After disassembling the whole shredder, removing all the rust, sharpening the blades, and cleaning and finishing the wood with a food-grade oil, he was ready for his first batch of Sauerkraut.
For directions and safety guidelines for making Sauerkraut, he used several sources on the Web. Check out Wild Fermentation, Wedliny Domowe (a Polish culinary how-to site), and the Sauerkraut forum on The Garden Web for detailed information if you are inspired to try this at home.
T. insisted on doing this the old-fashioned (= hard) way, but you can absolutely
shred the cabbage with a modern mandoline or even a food processor.
Sea salt was mixed in as each cabbage was shredded
(any iodine-free salt will do).
It took 15 heads of cabbage to fill the crock! He used cabbage grown in
nearby Sharpsburg — locally grown produce will be freshest and
will have the highest water content to make a natural brine.
The salted cabbage was tamped down in the crock.
To keep the cabbage weighted so it stayed submerged,T. used bags of brine.
The brine was a precaution; if the bags accidentally broke, the salt water
would not interfere with fermentation.
This crock has a well around the lid that is filled with water to create a tight seal to keep out pathogens.
You have to check the lid every day or two to make sure the water hasn't evaporated.
Sometimes you can hear the crock "burping" when gas escapes from under the lid and through the water!
After 4 weeks: starting to ferment, but still crisp green — a cabbage/kraut hybrid.
T. was already sampling the kraut as a salad at this point.
T. enjoys Sauerkraut as a side dish, uncooked and ungarnished — which is the best way to gain the full benefit of fermented food. Sauerkraut is high in fiber and Vitamins C and K, and is a good source of lactic acid bacteria which contribute to a healthy digestive tract and immune system. To get the latter benefits, though, you should eat Sauerkraut raw and seek out brands that are unpasteurized. Or make it yourself, of course! But if you plan to cook the Sauerkraut, a pasteurized brand that is naturally fermented and packed in plastic or glass works fine.
Most of this first batch was given away to T's colleagues, who were intrigued with the whole idea of homemade kraut and wanted to taste for themselves. We did enjoy Apfelsauerkraut (recipe below) with turkey keilbasa a couple of times, but I was shocked to learn yesterday that the first crock of Sauerkraut is already history! So this can only mean one thing — a second batch is being planned, this time with other vegetables (carrots? Brussel sprouts? cauliflower?) thrown in as well. Of course, it will be at least a couple of months before another batch will be ready. Oh well, we still have kimchi when we need a fermented cabbage fix!
If you're in an especially adventurous mood, you might want to try this unusual and utterly delicious tomato-based soup laced with orange: Krautsuppe mit Krabben, Sauerkraut Soup with Shrimp. If you enjoy the Korean kimchi soup, Jigae, you might like this German take on a fermented cabbage soup.
(APPLE SAUERKRAUT FOR SAUSAGE OR PORK CHOPS)
Serves 4 persons
This recipe has won converts from sworn Sauerkraut-haters — the addition of apples and apple cider mellows the sourness of the kraut without erasing its characteristic flavor. Feel free to substitute apple juice, beer, dry white wine or chicken broth for the hard cider too.
Make this without any meats, to serve as a side dish with ham or salmon, or mix in with egg noodles for a non-meat meal.
4oz bacon or salt pork, diced (optional)
2 TBL light olive oil
1-2 tsp. caraway seeds
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
2-3 large, firm cooking apples, such as Cox-Pippin or Granny Smith
(about 1.5 lbs/750g), cored and sliced into 16-20 pieces
2 lbs/ 1kg fresh sauerkraut
1 cup hard apple cider
2 lbs sausage or wurst, or 4 pork loin chops, browned well (optional)
Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C.
Place oil and bacon, if using, in oven-proof skillet large enough to hold sauerkraut and sausages/pork chops. Over medium high heat, render fat from bacon, if using, about 5 minutes. Remove browned bacon pieces from skillet.
Turn heat down to medium, add caraway seeds and stir until the seeds are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add sliced onions, and stir through, then cook slowly until onions just start to turn translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add sauerkraut and sliced apples, and stir through. Add pre-browned sausage or chops to top of sauerkraut. Pour cider around sauerkraut, and cover skillet with lid. Place in pre-heated oven for 25-40 minutes, or until meat is cooked through (sausage will cook faster than pork chops).
Apfelsauerkraut with turkey kielbasa and purchased
Kartoffelknoedel (Bavarian-style potato dumpling)
Food as Medicine: Black Silkie Chicken Broth
If one of your New Year's resolutions is to eat healthier this year or to try new and exotic foods, here's a bird that might help you satisfy either or both resolutions!
Available fresh or frozen in well-stocked Chinese groceries, the Black Silkie is prized for its distinctive flavor, and its elegant broth is purported to have restorative qualities. Even its flesh is dark grey laced with black streaks, and is supposed to be very stringy and gamey — most soup recipes recommend discarding the entire carcass and drinking only the broth. Since it often costs almost twice as much as other soup hens, I've hesitated experimenting with this chicken. But on a visit to our area's newest Chinese supermarket on New Year's Day, the moment felt propitious and warranted an adventurous purchase.
Once home, a search on the interwebs for soup recipes, yielded a few ingredients common to most: ginseng root, jujubes and dried Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita). The ginseng and jujubes were easy enough to find without having to trek back 40 miles to the nearest Chinese grocer. But the Chinese yam — which I knew to be as thin-slices of a dried white tuber used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) tonics — was not readily available in the Korean markets that were closer to home. As I searched again for recipes, I came across one from a TCM college that used cubes of fresh Chinese yam, also called shan yao. A cross search of "shan yao" yielded a surprising result: I knew this yam! But I knew it by its Japanese name, yamaimo (literally, "mountain yam/potato"). Hurray! I could find all the ingredients at the Korean market (a mere 22 miles away).
After straining out all the solids, we were left with a very dark and slightly unctuous broth. It was surprisingly mild, given its deep color, and light on the palate. And it definitely did not "taste like chicken." The broth was uniquely meaty-tasting — in the same way a mushroom broth can be described as "meaty" — but I really couldn't tell you what kind of meat it tasted like. Most importantly, the broth was incredibly warming, leaving a spreading sensation of warmth in the chest and abdomen long after the soup was finished. I understand why this soup is prescribed as a "pick-me-up" for women recovering from child birth and for anyone feeling under the weather.
We did sample some of the breast meat from the Black Silkie, and did find it as stringy as promised, but not really gamey. To be honest, it did not have much flavor at all, and we can only guess that it had lent all its soulful flavor to the broth.
As a first course, the broth provided a pleasing and unique start to our multi-course meal which included homemade char siu pork and Chinese broccoli with fresh baby corn and black mushrooms. An auspicious start to what we hope is a healthy and happy new year.
Happy New Year, Everyone!
Okinawan Sweet Potato Pie
Looking for something different for the Thanksgiving table? You'll certainly raise a few eyebrows and pique everyone's interest with this deep purple dessert that will taste familiar….but not: Okinawan sweet potato pie.
It was only last year that I made my first every sweet potato pie, but already I couldn't resist shaking things up a little. Usually we enjoy these vibrant sweeties mashed with butter, salt and a touch of bourbon or even sake, and served on the side with everything from salmon to meatloaf. We've even used them in a potato salad. So a pie couldn't be far behind, right?
Recently I was surprised to see white-skinned sweet potatoes at a nearby Giant supermarket (a regional chain), and for a moment thought that the Okinawan had gone mainstream. Unfortunately,a scratch test on one end of the potato showed that it was white on the inside. So unless you live in Hawaii, you may have to make a special trip to an Asian grocer if you want to try this for Thanksgiving.
Why use the Okinawan sweet potato other than for its stunning color? Well, it does have a more robust texture and a deeper, less sweet flavor than their orange cousins. The texture of the sweet potato pie I made last year was similar to pumpklin — silky, smooth and with a light mouthfeel. Perhaps because it is less sweet, the Okinawan is more potato-like when mashed or whipped — and in this pie, each mouthful feels quite substantial yet is creamy and surprisingly light on the stomach. This recipe is based on how I prepare Okinawans as a mashed side dish — with butter, dairy, salt and bourbon or rum; the eggs, sweetener, spices and additional dairy really make it pie-worthy.
But let's not kid ourselves, the best reason to use this sweet potato is for its knock-out color — definitely a stand-out from all the other root vegetables that normally grace the Thanksgiving feast! (Yeah, I said "root vegetables".)
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!
Serves 8
2.5-3lb (800-900g) Okinawan sweet potatoes, scrubbed well
Roast sweet potatoes in a pre-heated 350F/180C oven for 45-60 minutes, or until potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork. If potatoes are of different sizes, remove smaller potatoes as each softens.
Cool until easy to handle. Cut potato in half crosswise and scoop out flesh with a small spoon — you should have 3.5-4 cups (about 850g). You can do this step 2-3 days in advance — throw the potatoes in a pan when you are baking or roasting something else, and keep the scooped-out flesh refrigerated until ready to bake the pie.
To finish the pie:
2 eggs, beaten well
3 TBL unsalted butter, melted
1 cup half and half
¼ cup rum
¾ cup raw sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sea salt
1 prepared pie crust (use your favorite)
Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C. Set rack in the middle of the oven.
Line a 9" pie plate with the prepared crust.
Combine everything from eggs to sea salt and blend well, about 2 minutes on the medium setting on your mixer. There may be some small pieces of potato in the mixture — we like the added texture, but if you prefer a smoother custard, you may need to blend for a bit longer.
Pour purple custard into prepared crust, and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.
I have to admit that I never save room for dessert.
For me, the best time to eat sweets like this
is with that second cup of coffee in the morning.
But whatever time of day you indulge,
don't forget the ice cream!
More traditional desserts for Thanksgiving?
How about a Pumpkin Cheesecake or
Bourbon-Kissed Sweet Potato Pie?
A traditional but less common dessert:
Mock Indian Pudding.
