Tag: pork
Tasso Ham
Tasso Ham
Tasso ham is a Louisiana specialty. Instead of using a pork leg, pork shoulder is cured, dry rubbed with what is pretty much andouille sausage seasoning, and smoked. The result is a spicy, fatty, ham shoulder that is used in numerous cajun recipes such as jambalaya, gumbo, etouffee, beans and rice, and many more.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 5 lbs boneless pork shoulder cut into 1” thick steaks
- 8 oz sea salt
- 4 oz sugar
- 2 tbsp pink curing salt
- 1/4 cup white pepper
- 1/4 cup cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp marjoram
- 2 tbsp allspice
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp thyme
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
Instructions
- Mix together the salt, sugar, and curing salt.
- Dredge each of the pork steaks in the curing mixture.
- Place the pork steaks on a baking pan. Wrap in foil and let cure in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
- After 4 hours, rinse off the cure on each of the pork steaks. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Mix together the white pepper, cayenne, thyme, garlic powder, allspice, and marjoram.
- Season both sides of the pork steaks.
- Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees. Place the pork steaks into the smoker. Smoke for 2 hours until the internal temp reaches 150 degrees.
- Let the tasso cool completely before use.
Watercress Wonton Soup
Watercress Wonton Soup
Watercress is one of the most nutrient-dense leafy greens out there. It is a popular ingredient in many dumpling and wonton recipes, where watercress is dominant, not the meat in the filling. The watercress wontons in this soup are so unbelievably flavorful, you’ll will want to make this a part of your standard diet.
Ingredients
Watercress Wontons
- 8 oz watercress washed; chopped in a food processor
- 6 oz ground pork
- 2 garlic cloves grated
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- wonton wrappers
Soup Stock
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 3 green onions chopped
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- chili oil optional
Instructions
- Mix together all of the filling ingredients.
- Place a tsp of the filling in the bottom center of a square wonton wrapper. Fold the bottom up half way.
- Squeeze out any air and fold up the wonton like so.
- Take each of the sides and fold underneath to the center, pinching together to seal.
- Use up all of the filling until it is used up. I yielded 45 wontons. Anything that you don’t intend to immediately use, freeze in a single layer on a sheet pan, then store in a freezer bag.
- Place the wontons in a steamer. Steam for 5-6 minutes.
- Place 8 steamed wontons in the bottom of a soup bowl.
- In a small pot, bring all of the soup stock ingredients to a boil.
Kow Piek Sen (Chicken Soup with Pork Meatballs, Quail Eggs, and Rice Macaroni)
Kow Piek Sen (Chicken Soup with Pork Meatballs, Quail Eggs, and Rice Macaroni)
Kow piek sen is a great example of Laotian comfort food. This is more than just a chicken soup, my friends. Inside of the large pot I made contains pork meatballs, quail eggs, and rice macaroni with a ton of green onions and cilantro; and a ton of chicken. The soup is garnished with more green onions and cilantro, plus fried garlic. I kinda wish I made a double batch.There are a few approaches you can take when making this soup. You can use either a whole chicken or chicken pieces. I had a few bone-in chicken breasts and backs in my freezer. Do not use boneless chicken. The bones in the chicken are creating the stock. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove from the pot and pull off the meat. Place the rest of the ingredients into the pot along with the chicken. The pork meatballs are specifically Asian style. You can find them in the freezer section of every Asian market.You can find rice macaroni at just about every grocery grocery store nowadays. If you are feeding a group of people and not planning to have leftovers, you can place the dry macaroni into the pot once the chicken has been removed. Cook the macaroni until it is tender before adding the rest of the ingredients in. If you are like me and planning to have leftovers for a couple of meals, prepare the macaroni separately. Place the macaroni in the bottom of a bowl and ladle the soup over. If you don’t do this and leave the macaroni in the pot of soup for leftovers, they become mush and will ruin the soup.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 lbs whole chicken or chicken pieces
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 stalk lemongrass smashed; tied in a knot
- 10 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- 12 oz pork meatball sliced in half
- 1 can quail eggs
- 4 green onions
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 2 tsp chili oil
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 cups dry rice macaroni prepared according to package directions
Garnish
- green onions chopped
- cilantro chopped
- fried garlic
Instructions
- Place the chicken, onions, lemongrass, and salt in a pot with 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked completely through.
- Remove the lemongrass and chicken from the pot. Let the chicken cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones and chop.
- Place the chopped chicken into the pot along with the pork meatballs, quail eggs, green onion, cilantro, fish sauce, soy sauce, chili oil, and sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Season with salt to taste.
Assembly
- Place 3/4 cup of the cooked rice macaroni in the bottom of a large soup bowl.
- Ladle the soup over the rice macaroni. Garnish with green onions, cilantro, and fried garlic.
