Sunday, July 27, 2014

Asian Rice and Pork Dish with Fried Zucchini and Blackberry Lemonade

I am not much of a cook. But lately I've been making these Asian style dishes with rice and pork. They are very easy to make, so I thought I would share them here.


First we make the rice. I usually boil two cups of water and one cup of rice, adding about half  a stick of butter to the water and a little seasoned salt with turmeric for flavor. When the water is boiling, I also throw in one egg yolk. If you have ever looked at how rice is prepared for Asian dishes, you may have noticed that rice isn't all that's going into the pot. The secret to making nutritious rice  dishes is adding a lot of fat to the carbs. After bringing the water to a boil. I lower the heat so the rice can simmer. It takes about fifteen minutes for most of the water to be absorbed into the rice.


Now for the pork part. I use either butter or lard to grease a skillet and I cut the pork into little pieces. In this case, I also had a nice, fresh zucchini from the garden of my friend Kathy, so I fried the zucchini first, then I added the pork.After things get very hot in the pan, I add some teriyaki sauce.


Once the rice was ready, I put it into the bowls first, then added the pork and fried zucchini.


Sometimes adding chop sticks makes the dish look more authentic.


But not everybody likes to use chopsticks, so providing a spoon is also a good idea.


Blackberries for dessert are nice.


Blackberries are in season here now, so picking a bunch is not a problem.


But if you don't have a very big harvest, you can just put a few blackberries into each person's lemonade for a special treat.


9 comments:

  1. That looks good, but I don't eat pork. Right now due to my dental situation, I am rather confined to soups and soft foods.

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  2. Hi, Pam. You could probably substitute diced chicken or beef for the pork. The rice itself should be easy enough to eat even without a good set of teeth. Thanks for giving me the idea for putting the blackberries in our lemonade.

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  3. Are the rice dishes nostalgic for days in Taiwan? I ate some rice recently, and I have had a bit of a dental situation with a recent root canal. I think if the dish is soft and the rice is cooked well it is not too bad.

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  4. Yes, Julia, to some extent it is nostalgia for Taiwan. But the dish is my own invention, and it is not strictly speaking either Taiwanese or Chinese cuisine as there are Japanese elements mixed in.

    Many of my friends seem to be having dental issues these days. The rice is very soft and so is the zucchini, once cooked. If you cut the meat into very small pieces before frying, it should not be a problem at all.

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    1. I had the root canal last week, but I am bouncing back. One thing that is helping me a lot with my teeth issues and getting my teeth into better shape is simply flossing and brushing several times a day. My dentist even told me I have become more diligent about it than he has. Whereas I will not be eating hard foods like peanuts because I just do not want to go there, I have cut down on the amount of pain in my teeth tremendously. Also, many of us learned how to brush a certain way as kids, and I have since learned I was doing it way to aggressively. My new interest is dental blogs and taking the advice of my dentist, I have since improved my technique.

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    2. I am glad everything is going back to normal for you after the root canal, Julia. Flossing certainly does help. I also think it helps to eat fewer things that leave a sugary residue in the mouth. Of course, that includes candy and other sweets, but may also include fruit and other starchy foods that convert to sugar very easily.

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  5. True, sugar intake can be a bad situation for teeth. I do not regret cutting bread consumption for these reasons.

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  6. Thank you for the details on how you made your Asian dish, Aya! That looks very yummy! I've never used turmeric in my rice, or even that much butter, but I want to try it now. The absence of turmeric is probably why my rices lacks that Asian flavor! :-)
    And adding blackberries to lemonade - what a delightful treat! I'll try that too!

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    1. Thanks, Kathy. Let me know how your rice turns out, And thanks for the zucchini, cucumbers and peppers your brought us. We are enjoying them!

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