We went to TTDI Wet Market one day and
bought tons of pork meats in different parts. In Malaysia, we can’t buy pork
normally in many places; they are placed in segregated sections where Muslims
wouldn’t touch them. Sometimes they are sold with alcohols because they are
both forbidden by Muslims. Or in the case of TTDI Wet Market, pork vendors have
shops in one section amidst a parking lot at the market.
So, our tiny freezer is filled with many
forms of pork now, so today I decided to make an easy dinner with pork. The
quickest is Ginger Pork, so I immediately made a marinated sauce and dumped pork
belly slices.
*** Ginger Pork marinated sauce as follows:
2 tbs. of soy sauce
1 tbs. of Mirin (sweet Sake)
1 head of fresh ginger (finely grated)
This is for two portions, so if you need to
cook more, you do calculation and make a sauce accordingly.
In this sauce, marinate pork slices for 20
minutes or so. And if you like, you can chop up some vegetables to stir-fry
together with marinated pork. Today, I had some mushrooms and an onion, so I
prepared them as pork was marinated.
When it’s ready, heat a frying pan or wok,
pour about 1teaspoon of cooking oil, then first, I would cook the vegs for a
couple of minutes. Take them out.
In the same skillet, if necessary, put more
oil, and start cooking marinated meat. When cooked about 80% done, then add sautéed
vegetables and if there is some marinated sauce left, you can add a little and
cook until the meat is cooked completely.
It goes well with a bowl of rice. For the
health purpose, I like to add brown rice or different grains with white rice.
It tastes even better in my opinion, though it depends on one’s palate.
For side dishes, I made two things:
stir-fried bean sprouts and Japanese-style mini potatoes.
By scrubbing new potatoes, the skin would
come off easily. I left some skins on. I cooked these mini potatoes in boiling
water with Mirin and a little brown sugar until inside was soft. Then I added
some soy sauce and cooked further until the water was reduced almost none. Finally
I dropped a slice of unsalted butter to give a shine to potatoes.
This is a treat to my husband who loves potatoes. Being a French chef for such a long time, he is always curious about food, so he can eat almost all Japanese food except sweet adzuki beans.
New potatoes are always luscious and tender. Even though I don't always pick potatoes as my favorite, I tend to pick these tiny new potatoes.
Also, I stir-fried chopped garlic with
slices of red chili, followed by chopped Malaysian ferns (eatable) and fresh
bean sprouts. I seasoned them with salt, pepper and Chinese bean paste.
Voila, done!
Day-to-day Japanese food eaten at home tend to be a bit brownish color because we use soy sauce extensively. Even a small amount turns everything to brown. But soy sauce gives wonders to meals, I think.
Itadaki-masu (Bon Appétit)!
