Homely Food

It’s almost summer, but isn’t there yet, chill is up in the air. So I decided a warm hearty soup is the best for this season. It’s made of pork ribs, carrots, potatoes and spring onion. Pork stock existence made a potentially thriving discussion on http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2008/03/why-isnt-there-pork-stock.html (God, how can you live your life now?). I’m not trying to be racist, but, I am set out to defend the right of pork in the stocking/ saucing/ broth list with this dish. 

This is how a proper pork stock is made:

Boil pork ribs with cold water. This has to be cold water, the bone will be easier to separate from the meat and the meat heat up gradually. Don’t skip! I repeat, DON’T!

Immediately when the water made bubbles and cream foams, drain and wash the ribs in tap water. This step is to eliminate all the strong ordour of the pork without letting all the juice out. Washing the ribs is  for the stock to be clear. (Now, if you want to make the stock only, you can put in cold water, spoon of salt, and boil again. I like to add onion roots if the ribs are still smelly, but let’s hope yours won’t. )

If you want to make my dish (serve with rice):

Instead of boiling the meat immediately, you season the meat with salt, pinch of pepper and tiny amount of garlic powder (if you don’t have garlic powder forget it). Set aside.

Now bring the carrot to a boil (cold water, remember?), then add the potatoes. Add salt. Wait for 2 minutes then add the meat. Take out all creamy foams as it develops, then lower the heat to simmering. 

Go read a book, 

or add chopped tomatoes in for the look

Haft an hour later come back and add chopped spring onions.

Tadaaaaa! 

*My 1st follower told me to play with photoshop for a better picture effect, so I did, hope it doesn’t make you feel like eating alien’s food, lol. BTW, it’s Asian, I don’t invent it sorry

Bun chan gio ninh mang. Pork and bamboo with vermicelli. This is a Vietnamese recipe used especially for family meal. Depends on how heavy the meat or seasoning is you can count it towards winter meal or summer meal. For me it’s a great cooling meal for summer lunch.

How to do this:

First of all, this recipe can be done with all sort of meat where you can get good gelatin without overpowering scent to the soup. These are: Pork, chicken, duck, geese. However with duck, geese, due to the strong scent of the meat you need gingers to accompany the stock. Here I will introduce the recipe for pork, which is the more difficult one.

Ingredients:

Meat cut you love

Bamboo you can afford

Vermicelli

Salt

Pepper

Fresh coriander (chopped)

Fresh green onion (chopped or boiled)

Chilly (optional,sliced)

Fish sauce (optional)

Lemon (quarter)

Add these if you use duck or geese:

Fresh ginger (crushed)

===

First of all: Bamboo

I use dried bamboo, which is the meatiest. You soak them in rice water (water used to wash rice) for 2 days for it to open up. You can use canned or packed bamboo, but if you don’t like sour taste (I don’t see why though) remember to wash them throughout.

Ready made bamboo can be set aside after wash.

Dried bamboo has to be boiled prior in a sauce pan with cold water. You have to keep boiling and drain and add water and boil until the final water come out clear, not yellowish, so make sure you do this at the same time as boiling the meat.

Secondly, the meat.

Actually, you are more concerned about the bones than the meat. You can buy ready made stock but that’ll be your recipe, I detest ready made stock so don’t talk to me now.

If you can’t get a hold of proper bones, chickens/ ducks/ geese wings and thighs will do (as long as they have bones in them).

If you like bony parts, I recommend chopped pig feet, yes, I mean it, actually the original recipe comes with the feet not the meat:

Pig feet have lots of good protein, good for recovering from exhaustion or malnutrition. It has been a good “grandmother recipe” for women who want to have lots of milk after giving birth. I guess this kind of gelatin is really helpful for breast because natural gelatin from animals has been my favourite when I was small. However, if you are healthy don’t overdose, it can easily gain you extra weight. The above would be chopped into 4 pieces.

They don’t sell pork feet here, therefore, I used pork hock or knuckle - lots of gelatin mixed with the meat and less fat (pork use this part to erm… move you know). Like this:

OK, whether you use pork or other meat, first you wash the meat. For geese and duck spread fresh crushed ginger (no powder, you need the juice) on the meat, if you have rice wine spray on the meat too (this is optional) and set aside for 15 mins. Other meat you can just add it in cold water with salt, pepper (for geese and ducks adds gingers and onion) and bring to a boil. Take out all the foams that developed when boiling, lower the heat to simmer. 

Go read a book, come back every 10-15 minutes to check if the meat is done (use knife point to check if the blood come out, if not it’s done.

When the meat is done, take out the bone and put it back into simmering water , the meat set aside to cool (don’t cut it yet). If it’s pork feet it’ll take very long to be done and rarely overcooked unless boiled for >2 hours so it can stay in the stock til the very end and no need to bone it.

Thirdly, vermicelli

Bring the vermicelli into boil, drain like normal noodles/ pasta. 

Fourthly, cook bamboo.

Now your boiled dried bamboo should be ready and open up wholeheartedly, drain it. Up until this point you should be 30 - 40 minutes into cooking (if not you probably have a smaller meat cut than I do).

Pour a little oil on a pan and add chopped onion, when the onion start to be golden (not caramel, golden), add the bamboos (canned or dried), adds salt and pepper and stir fried until it taste good and still a little crunchy. Put it into the meat stock and bring to a boil then simmer.

Finally: Arrangement

Now the previous meat should be cooler, cut it. 

Chop fresh green onions and coriander (repeat, no coriander powder), chilly (optional), quarter the the lemon.

Put the cooked vermicelli into the bowl, add the meat (or feet pieces), chopped onion, coriander, chilly. Pour the stock and bamboo over it, serve hot with sprayed lemon on top.

Done.

Dried Shitake mushroom can add to the dish, but I prefer not to use it. There are many variation of this dish, one which focused on the meat you cook the meat and make fish sauce with lemon, pepper (add chopped ginger if use ducks or geese) and eat vermicelli with meat dipped in the sauce. The bamboo & meat stock can be used later. 

Happy eating!