Japanese Burdock Root and Pork Stir-Fry, a Little Sweet and Savory Combo on the Plate

If a little extra labor work is not a problem for you, I would say 80% of the time try to shave the Japanese burdock root with a knife. And don't worry about uneven thickness. The goal is aiming for the uneven, flat, and wide cutting surface.

That way, you can get the most flavor out of burdock root, and on the other hand, the burdock root slices get to absorb most of seasonings in the dish. Just a bit of muscle work though. If that sounds too troublesome or tiring, simply cut the burdock root into thin sectioned strips instead.

Japanese burdock root and pork stir-fry - 

Ingredients?

• 2 feet/about 60 centimeter long burdock root
• 500 grams pork belly slices
• 1 big garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Some toasted white sesame seeds

Sauce mixture:

• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon sake or Chinese rice wine
• 1 teaspoon sugar

How?

It's up to you if you would like to peel the burdock root or not. I usually do due to texture preference. 

So have a big bowl filled with icy cold water. While shaving down the burdock root or cutting through it, transfer the burdock root to the water. Just let it sit there while prepping other ingredients.

Use semi-fatty pork slices, this will help giving a smoother bite to the woody burdock root in the end. Slice the pork to smaller or shorter pieces if needed. Mix the pork slices with 1 tablespoon of corn starch all around. Peel and grate one big garlic clove.

Premix the sauce by combining 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of mirin, 1 tablespoon of sake or Chinese rice wine, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Try to stir a bit to help the sugar dissolve.

When ready to cook, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and switch to medium heat. Add in grated garlic and let it warm up a little. Just a quick moment, otherwise the heat will burn the garlic soon after.

Drain out the water for the burdock root. Further pat dry with paper towel then add to the pan. Switch to medium high heat here since there's no more worries about burning the grated garlic. Stir-fry and cook for couple minutes.

Push burdock root to the side then add in the pork to empty area. Cook till separated and about set. You can also stir-fry a bit to break the pork from sticking to one another.

Pour in the premixed sauce and stir-fry with all the ingredients in the pan. Make sure everything has been coated with the seasonings. Continue to cook till the sauce has been reduced and even appear darker brown on some parts.

Plate and sprinkle some toasted white sesame seeds.

By the way, I got this premium double roasted white sesame seeds from Kuki 九鬼, a prestigious brand from Japan. The easiest way to describe its aroma difference is by comparing to the regular white sesame seeds that we often tasted.

Such as the white sesame seeds from a bun then. Frankly speaking, it basically tasted like nothing. But the double roasted white sesame seeds I've got here, was like 10 times the nutty aroma. More so like a milder version of peanut butter. Highly recommended to give it a try if you ever find one at the supermarket.

Other recipes using burdock root (gobo):

• Kinpira gobo きんぴらごぼう (burdock root cooked in Japanese seasonings)
• Chicken and gobo takikomi gohan (鶏ごぼうの炊き込みご飯)
• Not quite the regular miso soup, it's tonjiru time (豚汁)

Spice Marinated Lamb Shoulder with Flat Leaf Parsley Salad (Surprisingly Tender Meat)

Mister doesn't really eat lamb, so all these 400 grams of lamb shoulder were all for myself. Too bad for Mister from my point of view because I know the lamb would be packed with flavors due to the spices used, but the meat was surprisingly tender too. Consider this a "monopolistic" feast solely tailored to my preferred taste.  

Spice marinated lamb shoulder with flat leaf parsley salad - 

Ingredients?

• 400 grams lamb shoulder
• 2 bulbs shallots 
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon all spice
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Flat leaf parsley salad:

• 1 small bundle flat leaf parsley
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 red onion
• 1 garlic
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

How?

Peel and chop 2 garlic cloves. Peel and chop the shallots, we will need about 3 tablespoons here. Mix these two together with the seasonings in a big container, that means 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of all spice, 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon of coriander, 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Trim and slice the lamb shoulder to large bite size pieces then add to the container. Massage and rub in these spices. Cover with lid and store in the fridge overnight. 

When ready to bake/roast the meat, take out the lamb from the fridge and rest under room temperature for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with foil if needed, also preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/175 degrees Celsius.

Transfer the lamb to prepped baking sheet then into the oven and bake for at least an hour.

During baking, let's make the flat leaf parsley salad. Trim the parsley by removing any tougher stems, also give the leafy part a few chops. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Peel and thinly slice the red onion. Peel and grate one garlic clove. 

Have a bowl of icy cold water ready and separate the onion slices in the water. Soak till ready to assemble the salad. This will help drawing out some of that spicy smelly onion flavor. 

For the vinaigrette, mix together that grated garlic, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper. 

Have a medium large bowl ready, add in drain and well dried onion slices along with halved cherry tomatoes and flat leaf parsley. Toss together with the vinaigrette.

When the lamb finishes baking in the oven, remove from heat and rest under room temperature for 10 minutes. Once ready, transfer to serving plate and serve with salad on the side.

The tangy salad works extremely well with spiced lamb shoulder. I think it's something about lamb and vinaigrette. They truly fit together, like one can cut through the distinct taste of lamb and the other can smooth out the sourish note from the dressing.

Either way, I'm somehow glad that Mister won't be fighting over this lamb and salad combo with me.

  

Braised Noodles with Luffa Gourd and Chicken Meatballs 絲瓜貢丸雞湯煨麵

The vegetable vendors at the traditional market in Taiwan are often very friendly. If you buy a lot of stuff from one stand, often times they'll stuff some other items in your bag for free, like scallions, red chilies, ginger, and cilantro.

So I was kind of "forced" to accept the extra scallion this time, in a nice way of course. I wasn't plan to use scallion in this recipe, but since I got some free scallion on hand, might as well use it right? In fact, I think the extra scallion was actually very helpful, providing much more depth and flavor to the final braised noodles.

Braised noodles with luffa gourd and chicken meatballs 絲瓜貢丸雞湯煨麵 - 

Ingredients (about 3 portions)?

• 1 luffa gourd (try to use the sweeter kind)
• 400 grams chicken meatballs (or regular pork meatballs 貢丸)
• 3 portions dried packaging thin noodles (no extra flour kind)
• 3 eggs
• 1 stalk scallion
• 500 grams chicken stock
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons shrimp skin 蝦皮
• Some olive oil
• Some salt
• Some white pepper powder
• Some chili sauce or fresh red chilies (optional)

How?

Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a wok and switch to medium high heat. Once warmed up, break in 3 eggs and sear. We are aiming for sunny side up with semi-runny yolk in the center, also slightly browned and crunchy edge for the egg white. 

Once ready, scoop out the cooked eggs and set aside for later use.

Destem, peel, and slice the luffa gourd to chunks. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Destem and section the scallion.

Still using the same wok, add more oil if needed. Add in the scallion sections and use medium heat to sear the scallion till slightly charred. Add in garlic and shrimp skin. Continue to sear a bit longer but not burning the garlic bits.

Pick out the scallion here if desired. This is just for a smoother bite for the final noodles. If you don't mind having some charred scallion texture then just keep it there.

Add the luffa and give it a quick stir-fry. Add in chicken meatballs and cook for another 30 seconds or so. I was lucky and found an online vendor that sells all-natural no-additives meatballs, and frankly speaking it was surprisingly delicious too. Didn't expect that from such "clean" product. 

Pour in 500 grams of chicken stock. Bring the entire thing to a boil then lower the heat to keep it at a light bubbling stage. Taste and adjust the flavor with salt if needed. I added 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt here. Continue to cook for 3 more minutes.

Add the dry packaging thin noodles directly to the stock. The reason why we use packaged noodles instead of fresh noodles is due to its lowered flour content clinging onto the noodles. If using fresh noodles, it'll be too much flour and the soup will be too gooey in the end.

So the pre-packaged dry noodles is just about right. The way we cook the noodles with the stock instead of using another pot of water can slightly thicken the soup without turning it into a dense mess.

Continue to cook till the noodles are ready and reaches your desired texture. Taste and season with more salt if needed. But do sprinkle some white pepper powder and mix till evenly blended for that extra hidden aroma.

Scoop to serving bowls. Top each serving with one sunny side up egg. Also add some chili sauce or fresh red chili rings if preferred.

The soup was super flavorful, it was like umami-packed but yet refreshing in a way. I also love the slightly thickened stock clinging onto every noodles in the end, so delicious.

By the way, the luffa gourd variety I used was more of a ball-shaped instead of the longer cylindrical-shaped. It's called fruit luffa gourd in Taiwan 水果絲瓜, which is sweeter than the longer kind. Use this variety if you can find it.

Extended reading:

• Chinese braised noodles with vegetables and pork 青菜豬肉煨麵

Seared Pork in Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Once a while I do have a bottle of Thai sweet chili sauce in the fridge. Usually used as a dipping sauce for fried spring rolls or grilled meat, but this time why not add a ton of it to the actual cooking process?

Ok fine, the trust is that I was just looking for ways to finish off the Thai sweet chili sauce bottle. But it has to be a delicious way.

Seared pork in Thai sweet chili sauce - 

Ingredients?

• 470 grams pork tenderloin
• 6 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons potato starch 太白粉
• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch 地瓜粉
• 1 1/2 tablespoons green lemon or lime juice
• 1 small bundle Chinese basil or Thai basil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 red chili (optional)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

How?

Slice the pork to medium size chunks and marinate with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel and grate the garlic. Save a few whole basil leaves and chop the remaining.

Have a bowl or a plate with some depth filled with equal amount of potato starch and tapioca starch, I used 2 tablespoons each. Mix till evenly blended.

Dip the pork chunks in the starch mixture. Make sure all sides have been coated, then shake-off excess starch and set aside for later use.

Premix the sauce by combining 6 tablespoons of Thai sweet chili sauce, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice, 1 grated garlic, and chopped basil. I used about 1/3 cup loosely packed chopped basil here.

Have a pan or wok ready, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil and switch to medium high heat. Once the oil gets hot, add in the pork and sear till golden brown and almost fully cooked-through.

Lower down to medium heat, wait for about 30 seconds then pour in the premixed sauce. Quickly coat the pork with the sauce all around and make sure the meat is fully cooked-through here.

Plate and garnish with whole basil leaves we saved earlier. I also added chopped red chili rings for a color pop. 

It's very hard to mess up this dish because we've got a great helper here - Thai sweet chili sauce. So basically the flavor is checked, all you need to be careful about is the pork searing part.

But even if you can't get some crispiness to the pork coating, I assure you this is still a pretty good rice-killing dish. A bit sweet, a bit tangy, and very flavorful. 

And I'm also glad that I get to use up all the remaining Thai sweet chili sauce in the bottle. Time to get a new one for stock.

Quick and Easy Banana Pancakes

Making pancakes is one of the best ways to utilize ripe bananas, don't you agree?

Banana pancakes - 

Ingredients (about 6 pieces)?

Dry:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet:

• 1 large or 1.5 regular size ripe banana (about 3/4 cup mashed)
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup milk

Others:

• Some avocado oil or unsalted butter
• Some honey or maple syrup
• Some fresh fruits (optional)

How?

Have a big bowl ready and sift in all the ingredients listed under the "dry" section.

Have an even bigger bowl ready, peel and mash the ripe banana there. We will need about 3/4 cup mashed banana in the end. 

Break one egg to a separate bowl and beat it, then pour into the ripe banana bowl. Also pour in 3/4 cup of milk. Whisk the whole thing till evenly blended.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches. Make sure it's evenly blended before dumping in the second batch. Mix till blended again.

Have a non-stick pan ready. Wipe some avocado oil or add two tablespoons of unsalted butter. Switch to medium heat and wait till warm or the butter melts.

Pour in equal amount of batter every time, and try not to let the batter touch one another. I used a ladle for even measurement. Slowly heat up the batter, it'll start to puff up a little bit and the color will turn golden brown on the bottom.

Then carefully flip the pancakes and continue to sear the other side. You can add more avocado oil or butter if needed. The whole thing will take about 1.5 or 2 minutes for each side.

Repeat till you finish all the batter. This recipe yields about 6 medium sized pancakes for me.

To serve the pancakes, have some fresh fruits on top, here I used banana slices and blueberries. Also drizzle some honey or maple syrup. I personally prefer maple syrup, somehow the aroma works better with avocado oil.

For sure the pancakes will smell and taste better if using butter, but I was opting for a less common option here. 

On a side note, for lactose-intolerant people, you can easily find lactose-free milk for the pancake batter, and just use avocado oil for the cooking part. That way you get to enjoy such brunch/snack meal without much worries.