One thing I do pride myself on is my ability to be a resourceful cook. I love scavenging, saving money, being thrifty, and dressing like a hobo. I would love nothing more than for someone to take me foraging for food in a forest.. or to teach me how to dress a deer, roadkill or game--to be able to utilize everything from the various cuts of meat, to the bones and tendons and offals.. OOOOH! i do relish the thought.
though that will not probably happen in the near future (to Pan's relief and my dismay), one thing I am licensed to do is forage around our kitchen looking for things to put together for a meal. Since Pan is away, I was tasked this afternoon with preparing lunch for one. I think it's close to insanity to try preparing asian communal meals-- you know the 3 dishes 1 soup and rice-- every day for one person, so I try to avoid that and eat simply when he's not around. One thing I found in our freezer was some cheap sausage meat we bought in bulk in Sam's Club. Should not have bought it. No offense to sausage lovers (of every kind), we utilize sausage in various means, from cooking pastas to stir frying with potato and kale (dead good, btw, if you caramelize the onions good) and the like, but home-made is waaay better than store bought, especially when it's cheap industrial crap sold in bulk. No fault of Sam's Club, which we dearly love; I can only blame our piggish appetites and greed for purchasing it.
So.. for lunch today, I found some leftover rice in our fridge (a common sight), half an anaheim pepper leftover from a penang assam laksa dish I made for friends yesterday, (notes to come another time) and said bulk sausages languishing in our freezer for over 4 months. Gross.
So what did I do? I popped the sausages in the toaster oven for 10 minutes, on low first to defrost then then broiled them on foil, chopped the pepper up, mixed it with some rice, and popped it in the microwave for a minute twenty. After which i sliced the sausage up and mixed it into my rice.
Mmmmm.. That be some yummy shit, said my mouth after 2 bites of hot steaming rice, rich, juicy sausage and fresh, mild pepper. Then, it became a struggle to finish the dish. The greasiness of the sausage, the oldness of the meat.. Too much. I wrapped up lunch (ate it all, of course, no waste) and had to remedy the situation with a fresh orange ¡pronto! at the sink. You know when you have to rush and get some fresh fruit into your system, it means that you just had a very greasy, unhealthy lunch. It's kinda like throwing up in the sink, but instead of letting food out, you put more food in. Yep.
That fateful dish spurred me on to document this soup, which I know
It's very rare for Cantonese to cook with pumpkin; in fact, I don't think I've ever seen my mom deal with this gourd-like squash. I found this soup online and tweaked it, especially the cooking times, and I've been making it repeatedly (to Pan's dismay; he hates eating the same food over and over again). Please try it, it's fantastic.
Kabocha, Pork and Dried Scallop Soup
Dead simple soup; I've memorized the ingredients, and here is Michelle Lee to walk you through the steps!
" Hi folks! You need 3 classes of ingredients:
1) your dried ingredients, which today will comprise of dried scallops, North and South Almonds (nam hung, buck hung), and a dried octopus.
2) Pork; I like meaty pork bones. They are cheap, and very flavorful. Take care to blanch them in boiling water though, to get rid of excess grease and blood. (I boiled them for a good 5 minutes with lots of water)
3) Your kabocha pumpkin. Find one that is heavy for its size, and with a dark green rind. The rind is edible, so wash it clean before preparing it.
That's it! Season with salt and sugar at the end if you must, but I have never found the need to do so, since the ingredients provide all the savory-ness and sweetness necessary.
Method; quick, simple-like.
Blanched, cleaned pork bones, dried ingredients, cold water, bring to rapid boil.
Lower heat to a simmer, simmer away for 1.5-2hours.
The stock should turn cloudy, and your whole house will smell soooooo yummy. It's the dried seafood at work.
Add the cut up kabocha pumpkin (seeds and strings removed), and return to simmer for 20 minutes tops. The pumpkin should be firm at the center, and fully cooked. Remove unsightly octopus that has already served its purpose. Season with salt and sugar if necessary. Serve up!
I say twenty minutes because the kabocha will have a tendency to dissolve into the soup, turning it into a halloween-orange liquid. Some people like it, others (Pan) don't. I think it's nice when there is a slight tinge in the broth, but any more than that and it's like eating a pureed pumpkin soup, which this is not. One thing I do do (not doo doo.. whatever) is slice off the pointy tips that tend to dissolve ultra quickly into the soup, since the surface area exposed to hot liquid is very high, hence rate of dissolution is very high. Should I draw a graph to explain this? Do I have to? Please say no.
'But
what about the proportions?' Do I hear you say? Indeed. I think a ratio of
# of servings
|
Water (litres)
|
Dried Scallop (pieces)
|
North Almonds
(heaped tsp)
|
South Almonds
(heaped tsp)
|
Dried octopus
(piece)
|
Meaty Pork Bones (oz)
|
Kabocha (oz)
|
2
|
1
|
6
|
1
|
1
|
0.5
|
8
|
6
|
4
|
2
|
12
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
16
|
12
|
6
|
3
|
18
|
3
|
3
|
1.5
|
24
|
18
|
8
|
4
|
24
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
32
|
24
|
is
a good approximation. Approximation I say, because I'm not very sure. I mean,
the size of your dried scallop or the quality is probably different from mine.
How meaty your pork bones are different from mine. What if you decide to use
ribs? Some like to add lots of those fried almond anyway, other don't. Fuck. Isn't
this post useless? Heck, just try it anyway!
As you can see, the kabocha I bought weighed in at a staggering 1lb 13 ounces. I did not use all (I followed the guide above); I cut myself a nice wedge and steamed it for a snack. "
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