Chinese Cooking: Steam Cooking : Steamed Pork or Substituted Meats

STEAM COOKING

Steam cooking is used with rice, meat, poultry, buns, dumplings, pastries and custards as well as keeping fish moist and tender. Steamed dishes are cooked in their serving dishes and go directly table steeped in their natural juices and flavours.  Direct steaming calls for live steam to rise from the boiling water to circulate and cook the food by direct contact. Steaming can be on a rack, pot containing boiling water or a steamer. In rack steaming the rack stands two or three inches above the water. The ingredients are placed in shallow dish and set on the rack.  The pot within a pot places a bowl on the bottom of the pan surrounded by boiling water and is used for large cuts of meat.  I prefer using a enclosed steamer with water in the bottom, two trays and a covered top. Ingredient steaming may take 15 minutes to several hours.  One must periodically check the level of water and replenish the boiling water lost to evaporation.

(Paraphrased from: Gloria Bley-Miiler. (1994) The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. New York: Simon & Shuster.)

CHINESE STEAMED PORK   by Ron Lee

INGREDIENTS:

Steamed pork only   or substitute (beef, moose or elk burgher only)

One pound minced pork (elk burgher or moose burgher should be mixed with 50% pork)

2         tablespoons of cornstarch

1     EGG

Water chestnuts (sliced in strips)

Black mushrooms (diced)

Baby corn (diced)

Bamboo shoots (sliced in strips)

1/2 cup of water

2 tablespoons of light soy sauce

UTINSELS:    Steamer,   dish to hold chopped meat pattie

PREPARATION:

1. The traditional Chinese method to make the diced pork meat was to use two meat cleavers and slice the meat into small strips and then use the two cleavers in both your right and left hands  and begin chopping the meat into a finely ground mass. (Using a Cuisinart makes the meat stringy)

2. Once the meat is chopped you would add the diced black mushrooms, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and mix together.

3. In a measuring cup you would place one beaten egg with a half a cup of water.

4.  Take the meat mixture and slowly partially cook the meat mixture in a wok with oil in the bottom of the wok.

5. Add the mushrooms, baby corn, and bamboo shoots.  (You can add what you like) Grandpa would sometimes add minced ginger root with the egg water mixture into the meat mixture.

6.  Place the half cooked meat mixture into glass bowl or glass pie plate and place in the steamer. Flatten the meat mixture into a nice big fat meat pattie.

7. Place the two tablespoons of soy sauce on top of meat pattie.

8. Place the meat plate into your steamer.

9.  Steam the meat mixture at the lowest possible steam temperature.  The longer /slower steaming time will produce a more tender meat dish.

10. Steam for at least 20 minutes.

 

Note:   For just the steamed pork:  One stirs the two tablespoons of cornstarch into a half cup of water that is added to the half-cooked meat mixture and follow the same procedure for steaming.

I believe this is one of Lee Duck's original recipes that he taught my grandmother and his children. My mother showed me how to make this recipe. The dish is quick and easy to prepare and it is quite tasty when served with steamed rice. This a dish native to Toisan Province in Guangdong Province.

 

Chinese Cooking: Cantonese stir-fry

The Essence of Chinese Stir-Fry

The aesthetics of Chinese cooking is designed to please all the senses. Foods are combined to blend fragrances into memorable aromas. Color is important. The Chinese love the clear gold of chicken broth, the whiteness of rice and the green of vegetables. There is the play of textures by combining crunchiness and smoothness such as the crispness of celery and the creaminess of bean curd. Exquisite smooth sauces stimulate the senses with contrasting tastes.  There is a contrast and variety in dishes by playing hot dishes against cold, small ingredients against large, dry dishes against gravies, sweet with salty, bland against highly seasoned. There is no one main dish in a Chinese dinner but several dishes. Chinese cooking calls for maximum preparation and minimum cooking. The starting point is the ingredient, not the cooking. Ingredients are combined and not cooked alone. It is the cook that seasons the food and the cook who cuts the food and not the diner. The civilized person who partakes in the dinner needs only a pair of chopsticks and a soup spoon.

The Cantonese style enhances the original taste of each ingredient and blends natural flavours. A few  seasonings  are needed such as ginger root, garlic, soy sauce and wine.  The quick method of stir-frying

is the  characteristic of Cantonese cooking.

The following dish is a variation of a vegetable and pork stir-frying dish that I created. Chinese cooking is noted for what is available and what happens to be in season.

Stir-Fried Asparagus, Peppers. And Pork  ( 4 to 5 servings)

Ingredients:

3 peppers ---red , green, orange

2 bunches of asparagus

2  large pork chops or pork loin ( 1 lb.)

4 slices of ginger root

3 cloves garlic

½ tsp of black pepper

½ cup of black bean

3 tablespoons light soy sauce

Olive oil

Utensils:

Cutting knife

Cutting board

Spatula

Wok

 

Preparation:

Cutting is important in Cantonese Chinese cooking when stir-frying. Ingredients cut into small pieces can be stirred easily, cooked quickly and eaten with chopsticks. In cutting the ingredient consideration is given to the nature of the ingredient, how it is to be cooked and the combination of ingredients. Cutting improves the flavor by exposing a large surface area for seasoning. Chinese cutting includes : slicing, dicing, shredding and mincing.

1.       Slice the peppers using a straight cut. Core the pepper and cut the peppers into vertical strips.

2.       Slice the asparagus using a diagonal cut.  The asparagus should be uniform in size to the peppers strips.

3.       Straight cut four slices of ginger root and then mince the slices.

4.       Place the cut peppers, asparagus and minced ginger into a bowl of cold water.

5.       Straight cut pork chops into thin strips along the grain of the meat. Cut the strips into one or two inch lengths and ½ inch widths.

6.       Mince the garlic cloves and sprinkle minced garlic over pork strips

Stir- Frying

1.       Place the wok on the stove and pour two or three tablespoons of olive oil into wok.

2.       Turn the stove on high heat and heat wok until oil is hot.

3.       Stir- Fry the vegetables first.  Add one or two handfuls of peppers, and asparagus and quickly turn for one to two minutes and place in a bowl. Vegetables will still be crispy.

4.       Add more oil to the wok and under high heat begin to stir fry the pork in small handfuls. Remove to a bowl. Make sure pork is well done and no pink coloring.

5.       Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok and return the pork strips to the wok. Sprinkle in the pepper and add the half cup of black bean sauce.  Sprinkle in the light soy sauce. Be sure to be turning all the ingredients.

6.       Add the vegetables to the meat mixture and reduce heat to low to keep warm.  Stir-frying should not take longer than 4 or 5 minutes.

Greenhouses for sale

My good friend Dave Hartley is selling greenhouses that will be arriving May 1st. If anyone is interested in purchasing a greenhouse, let me know I will put you in contact with him. Dave has already sold and installed two greenhouses in Southern Alberta and they have survived this winter's cold weather and gale force winds with flying colors.  The greenhouses have an aluminum frame and hard corrugated plastic walls.  The dimensions of the greenhouse is 7 feet high, 8 feet wide and 12 foot long.   The cost for .one greenhouse is $1400. Dave will install the greenhouse with  a wooden base made of treated timbers and a gravel base for another $1,000 for a total cost of $2,400.

Medical Malady: Survival In A Minefield Of Medical Mistakes

In the third week of February I was running a booth for Merit Travel at the Calgary Teachers' Convention when I happened to meet Prad Chadhuri.  I had taught Prad's son Bobby twenty five years ago who was one of my star debater's when I was an English teacher at Western Canada. Bobby's promising medical career was abruptly cut short when he suffered anaphylactic shock by unwittingly consuming food laced with peanuts that would cause him to be placed into a coma with devastating results .  Prad Chauduri has recently published a book documenting the medical tragedy of Bobby's treatment and the medical malpractice that is not as uncommon as one thinks.  The book is called:   Medical Malady Survival In A Minefield Of Medical Mistakes. ISBN 978-0-9919404-1-7
I read the book in one evening and it is written from the point of view of  Bobby's father who through thorough investigation has shown the backroom politics of the medical profession in collusion with legal professionals whose main goal is to profit from medical malpractice where the victim is further victimized.   I read the book and knowing all the major players in this story was shocked of how our legal and medical system has failed Bobby.   Am I surprised? No.  I saw Bobby after the convention who was speaking at the Convention about his condition. Although now confined to a wheel chair, he was in good spirits. The lesson, I learned from this book, is that if you ever become a victim of medical malpractice don't trust the doctors who do not want to pay civil damages and who will quickly get a lawyer. And finally, get yourself a reputable lawyer with integrity or you will get sold down the river.   Justice is achieved by  those who have the most money and can afford the best legal counsel.

TWISTED ROSE DESIGNS

I was at the Calgary Teachers' Convention and was monitoring a booth for Merit Travel in the Telus Convention Centre.  During my break, I took a tour of all the display booths and discovered a lovely jewellery display booth operated Vi Parker , the owner of Twisted Rose Designs.  Vi creates custom jewellery using wire and semi-precious stones to make customized necklaces, bracelets and ear rings. Her designs are her own creations.  She was clearing out loose bags of semi-precious stones and beads that I purchased for my daughter who loves to make jewellery. I had a lovely chat with Vi Parker who was more than willing to talk about the art of making jewellery. I asked her to give a little presentation about her craft that I could place in my blog and she was more than willing to participate.  Crochet necklaces are her specialty with only a few people who make such a unique jewellery.

If you wish to purchase any of Vi Parker's jewellery she can be contacted at:
TWISTED ROSE DESIGNS
Creative Jewelry
Pandora Style Charms
Crochet Necklaces
Phone:   587-351-0610
website: www.twistedrosedesigns.esty.com
email: twistedrosedesigns@shaw.ca

Merit Travel/Travel Cuts

I have been hired by Travel Cuts a subsidiary of Merit Travel that is the largest independent travel company in Canada with over 40 locations. I am an independent travel agent that helps people customize their travel plans. In helping clients make their travel plans, I have access to all the land packages made available by all the reputable travel operators around the world. I show the clients the different brochures from the tour operators and then have the office staff at Travel Cuts book the appropriate tour. I can also completely customize tours for groups as small as two people to large groups .  I am able to use the Travel Cuts office that is located in McEwan Hall Student Centre located on the University of Calgary campus.   It is quite amazing all the tour packages that are available to any place in the world.  I periodically meet the tour operators who fly into Calgary to promote their land packages.   I am going to show you a brief video of some of the different land packages that are available such as tours of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Middle East, Latin America,  Cruises, and specialty tours.   Next week, I will be running a booth at the Calgary Teacher's Convention for Merit Travel.   I just finished writing my final immigration exam and will know in four weeks whether I passed the government exam and be eligible to become a registered certified ICCRC immigration consultant. I will then have two part time jobs to keep me occupied during my retirement from teaching.

Breeding Jewel Cichlids

The two breeding cichlids that I took out of the five gallon tank and placed in the community tank a week later laid a number of eggs on a rock slab and began protecting the eggs from the other fish in the tank.  The female and male took turns hovering over the eggs to protect them.