Food

[pecunium]

I'm stuffed.

I am better, still not in the peak of health but not only has my appetite returned, I am once again of a mind to cook.

Tonight I took some of the aforementioned pork tenderloin and marinated it in minced ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce and rice vinegar.

A can of water chestnuts (and why is it one never encounters fresh water chestnuts?), soaked (for about an hour and a half) in rice vinegar.

Firm tofu, soaked in soy sauce, a dash of fish sauce, powdered cumin and a dash of balsamic (I needed a bit more of both the cumin and the balsamic).

Sliced some bok choi, and some zuccini, long strands of cilantro and some sprouted mung beans.

The pot liquor was thickened with corn starch to give the whole a glossy finish.

These were done as a stir fry, and served over soba.

On the side I made some broccoli, which was dressed with oyster sauce. Also I made some green beans (the market didn't have any long beans) dressed with oyster sauce; thinned with soy, and tossed with crumbled cashews.

There were also shao-mai.

Comments

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

That's something I need to research -- fresh water chestnuts appear occasionally at my favorite Chinese SuperMarket, but I've not been able to figure out a storage method that keeps them from spoiling quickly, so I restrict purchase to just enough for the next few days. What puzzles me is that they appear to be a dormant-phase corm -- the kind of thing one would expect to survive for several months. And I haven't been able to sprout any, either, in maybe a dozen attempts (featuring various conditions) over the years. At any rate, fresh ones seem to be highly seasonal, and canned ones (usually peeled) are more convenient and taste almost as good (or are almost as interesting in texture).

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

They are a swampy plant. The edible portion is a corm of some sort (I think they are rhizomes, like ginger (which I am having a devil of time getting to sprout/maintain). I've read descriptions of them being harvested.

It may be the difference between the fresh and the canned is not great enough to make it worth the effort.

TK