Vietnamese Pork & Pineapple Curry
Including pastured meat in curries is a great way to make it stretch a long way, plus it’s a great way to avoid overcooking naturally lean meat. (Like humans, animals that are allowed to exercise are far more lean than those who spend their lives confined to enclosures that are barely big enough to contain their bodies.) And using coconut milk as the base for this curry adds richness even as it keeps the pork from becoming tough. Added bonus: unlike dairy milk, coconut milk doesn’t curdle when heated, so this curry can happily simmer away for as long as it takes for the veggies to soften.
A note to those who may not have used fish sauce before: yes, it is highly aromatic, but that overwhelming scent disappears as it cooks into the curry, leaving only a deep umami undercurrent of flavor that you’d miss if it weren’t there. Still skeptical? Worcestershire sauce is based on anchovies; so is Caesar salad dressing. You already like fish sauce! It’s all the more at home in Southeastern Asian dishes like this one.
Vietnamese Pork & Pineapple Curry
Makes 6 to 8 servings; feel free to cut it in half if you’d like.
1 lb. ground pork, preferably from pastured hogs
1 Spanish onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
15 oz. whole coconut milk
1/2 tsp. to 1 full tsp. red curry paste, depending on how hot you like your curry
3 T. natural peanut butter
2 T. fish sauce
Large spoonful of diced mild green chiles
1 cup chopped pineapple, either fresh or frozen
1 small eggplant, unpeeled and ends trimmed, cubed
1 medium sweet potato, unpeeled and ends trimmed, cubed
Fresh cilantro leaves, optional
Cooked brown, red, or purple rice for serving with the curry, optional
In a large, deep skillet over medium-low heat, sauté the pork with the onion and garlic for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the pork, or until the pork is mostly cooked through and the onions and garlic are soft and fragrant. Stir in the remaining ingredients except for the cilantro. If the veggies aren’t fully submerged, add just enough water to submerge them.
Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes, reducing the heat to low if the simmer threatens to become a boil. Uncover the curry and let cook another 10 to 15 minutes or until the veggies have reached their desired tenderness. If you like, during the last minute or so, stir the cilantro into the curry, or if you prefer, omit it entirely or use it as garnish. You might also want to sample the curry at this point and see if you’d like to stir in more curry paste.
Serve the curry on its own or atop cooked whole-grain rice. Leftover curry can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for 2 months.
Enjoy!
Continue reading about Savory, Flavorful Curry: The Ultimate One-Skillet Meal
Wild Halibut with Lime-Ginger Sauce
Fish sauce is a time-honored ingredient that’s huge in Asia and almost unknown in the US … although unbeknownst to them, Americans do relish anchovies in staples like Worcestershire sauce and Caesar salad dressing. Those include salted anchovies, though, rather than the fermented anchovies used in Thai- and Vietnamese-style fish sauce. (Or ancient-Roman-style garum.) Either way, the salted/fermented fish provides a deep umami backdrop to everything from sauces to stir-frys.
Fair warning: unlike Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce is quite aromatic — if you’re not used to it, you might assume it’s gone bad. But if the sauce hasn’t exceeded its expiration date and has been stored in a cool, dark cupboard, it’s good to go. First-time cooks may simply wish to use a bit less fish sauce than what might be called for in a Southeast Asian recipe. Also, keep in mind that the aroma dissipates as the fish sauce cooks, transforming it from an overpowering ingredient to an integral ingredient that creates a nuanced sauce when paired with bright, acidic ingredients like lime juice and rice wine vinegar. For this sauce, I added garlic, ginger, and tamari to round out the balance of flavors.
Wild Halibut with Lime-Ginger Sauce
Makes 4 servings (the sauce is about 1/3 cup).
For the sauce:
Juice of 2 limes
1 T. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. fish sauce
2 tsp. gluten-free tamari (or use regular soy sauce if you’re not making a gluten-free dish)
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
For the halibut:
Coconut oil for cooking
1 1/2 lbs. wild Alaskan halibut, rinsed with cold water and patted dry
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish
To make the sauce, place all ingredients in a small pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking occasionally. Set aside.
In a large skillet, melt a generous spoonful of coconut oil. Add the fish with the skin side facing up. (You may need to cut the halibut into smaller filets to fit into your pan.) Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the halibut is opaque halfway up. Using a large spatula — or two spatulas, if you like — flip each filet over.
Re-cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Continue to cook for another 3 minutes or until the fish is opaque all the way through and the thickest filet flakes cleanly in the middle when you gently insert a fork and twist it. If you want to remove the skin before serving the fish, transfer the filets to a clean plate, turn upside down, and work the edge of knife underneath the skin. Peel away and discard.
Serve the filets with a drizzle of sauce and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Leftover halibut can be refrigerated for a day.
Enjoy!
Vietnamese Pork with Green Beans, Sprouts & Cilantro
Southeastern Asian dishes manage to be all things at once: savory and sweet, tart and smooth, soft and assertive. Vietnamese, Thai, and neighboring countries offer an enchanting blend of incredibly savory ingredients like tamari and fish sauce paired with fresh, sharp ingredients like lime juice and fresh herbs. (Basil, mint, and cilantro are classic Southeast Asian herbs.) Traditionally, the garnishes are offered on the side, or you can toss them directly into the pork and green beans as I opted to do.
Along with classic ingredients, this dish also includes peanut butter for a creamy undertone and pomegranate molasses for a sweet/tart note. Any one of the flavors could be overriding out of of proportion, but when used judiciously, they blend into addictive harmony. The base sauce could be used for any kind of meat or seafood you’d like — shrimp, chicken, or beef would be equally welcome — and likewise, you could include whatever veggies you have on hand. Or toss the sauce with freshly cooked pasta. Striking varieties made with black rice are all the more alluring.
Note: if you’re unfamiliar with fish sauce, the scent of it may throw you off. My advice? Don’t sniff it — just use it. It’s incredibly savory (talk about umami!) and would be missed if it weren’t there. We all like Caesar dressing, right? That’s because of the anchovies, which are very similar to fish sauce. And I bet you like Worcestershire sauce! Anchovies/fish sauce strike again.
Vietnamese Pork with Green Beans, Sprouts & Cilantro
Makes 4 servings.
For the sauce:
1 T. tamari (be sure it’s gluten-free if you’re making a gluten-free dish; otherwise, you can use standard soy sauce)
1 T. fish sauce
1 T. peanut butter (the ingredient list should read “peanuts” or “peanuts, salt”)
1 T. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. pomegranate molasses OR tamarind paste*
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips OR 2 tsp. dried basil
For the pork:
1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed
3/4 lb. ground pork, preferably from pastured hogs
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large carrots, grated or shredded
1 medium radish, grated or shredded (daikon is a great option)
Double handful of sprouts
Chopped cilantro (anywhere from a few leaves to quite a large handful if you’re a big cilantro fan like me)
To make the sauce, combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and stir well to combine. The lime juice and vinegar will prevent the fresh basil from blackening.
To make the pork, fill a medium pot halfway with water and bring to a boil. Add the beans and cook for 3 minutes or until they’ve reached their desired tenderness. Drain well.
Melt a generous knob of coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pork and garlic and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often to break up the pork, or until the garlic is fragrant and the pork is turning golden brown. Add the remaining ingredients and the drained beans. Stir in the sauce and let cook for another 3 minutes to marry the flavors. Serve immediately. If you like, have bowls of grated carrot and radish on the table as garnishes, or offer your guests additional sprouts and/or cilantro.
Enjoy!
* Pomegranate molasses is typically used in Middle Eastern cuisine, but it makes a great substitution for tamarind paste and is often easier to find. Or look for tamarind paste in Asian stores or in the Asian section of well-stocked grocery stores.
Savory Pineapple Stir-Fry
As already mentioned in my previous post, I love pineapples. (When I was attending a Spanish-language school in Costa Rica, our chosen names were a combination of our favorite fruit + our favorite color. That made me Piña Violeta, or “purple pineapple.”) Most of the time, I cut up a fresh pineapple and eat it; sometimes I throw it into the blender with some coconut milk and bananas. This pineapple around, though, I decided to include it in a stir-fry loosely based on Vietnamese and Thai flavors. While I enjoyed the resulting savory mélange with pasta, it would also pair beautifully with brown rice, chicken, or pork. The tamarind is optional, but lends the dish a tangy/sweet flavor reminiscent of lemongrass. (I find that it’s easier to get my hands on fresh and plump tamarinds than fresh and zingy lemongrass.)
Savory Pineapple Stir-Fry
Serves 2 as is, or 4 with the addition of pasta, rice, chicken, or pork.
1 T. unrefined coconut or peanut oil
2 carrots, slivered
1/2 a yellow squash OR 1/2 a zucchini, slivered
4 oz. button mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, cut into thin rounds
Flesh of 1 fresh tamarind OR 1 T. tamarind paste (optional)
1 head of broccoli, florets only, simmered for 5 minutes and drained
1/4 of a fresh pineapple, chopped
1-2 T. tamari or soy sauce (if you’d like to make this dish gluten-free, use wheat-free tamari)
1 tsp. fish sauce
4-6 leaves mint, cut into ribbons
Juice of 1 lime
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add carrot and yellow squash and cook for about 3 minutes to soften them, then add mushrooms and tamarind and stir. Let cook for another 5 minutes or until the mushrooms have shrunk to about half their original size. Stir in cooked broccoli, chopped pineapple, tamari sauce, and fish sauce. (If you like your dishes salty, use the 2 full T. of tamari.) Let cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently, to allow flavors to marry.
Remove from heat and stir in mint leaves and lime juice. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. If desired, toss with pasta, rice, cooked chicken, or cooked pork. (This is a great way to use up leftover cooked meat!) An additional sprig of mint and a wedge of lime would be nice garnishes.
Enjoy!
Vietnamese Noodles with Savoy Cabbage
Cabbages aren’t exactly the hottest item on the vegetable menu: they don’t have the slim elegance of a green bean or the curvy voluptuousness of an eggplant. From Sauerkraut to Asian cabbage-parcel soups, however, they do feature prominently in most world cuisines. (To achieve the latter, stuff a leaf, tie it off with chives, and simmer in the broth for about 20 minutes to make sure the bundles are cooked through. The stuffing can be any combination of minced veggies, aromatics, seasonings, and/or ground meat.)
While some cabbages are hearty — some might say “sturdy” or even “tough” — other types of cabbage are a bit more mild and lend themselves to a quick sautée. The Savoy cabbage I opted to use in this recipe was tender enough to be sliced into strips and cooked with the sauce. (It would have been a good candidate for stuffing, too.) That mildness and slight crunch made it the perfect match for the pungency of Vietnamese seasonings and the full-flavored, grass-fed pork.
Vietnamese Noodles with Savoy Cabbage
2 servings noodles (soba or brown rice noodles work particularly well with this dish, and as long as the soba noodles are 100% buckwheat — always read the ingredient label! — both are gluten-free options)
1 T. butter, ghee, or coconut oil
1 medium onion, diced
About 1″-long piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced (or 1 tsp. ground dried ginger)
3 cloves garlic, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 lb. ground pork, preferably from pastured pigs
About 5-6 leaves of Savoy cabbage, sliced
1 T. nuoc mam (fish sauce)
1 T. soy or tamari sauce
1 T. pomegranate molasses OR 1 T. tamarind paste (both have a tangy, sour, citrusy flavor that goes a little way towards mimicking the lemongrass flavor typically found in Asian dishes)
2 T. lime juice
1/4 cup loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro
Prepare noodles according to package directions.*
While they’re simmering, in a medium-sized pan, sautée onions and ginger in butter over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until onion is nearly translucent and both onion and ginger have softened. Turn down heat to medium-low, add garlic, and sautée for another 2 minutes, stirring often. Stir in pork and cabbage and raise heat back up to medium. (When you’re using grass-fed meats, they’ll cook more quickly at a lower temperature — if you rachet up the heat to scorching, you’ll dry out your dinner!)
Break up the pork, making sure that the aromatics and cabbage are evenly dispersed throughout the meat, and cook for another 3 minutes. Stir in fish sauce, soy sauce, and pomegranate/tamarind, standing back a little when you first add the sauces so that the quickly-rising steam won’t burn you. Stir well to combine and continue to simmer for another 3-4 minutes. If the liquid evaporates too quickly, add enough of the lime juice to deglaze the pan and keep just a little bit of simmering sauce at the bottom of it.
Just before you remove the pan from the heat, add the (rest of) the lime juice and the chopped cilantro to the pork mixture. Stir in well, let simmer for another 30 seconds, and remove the pan from the heat. (Citrus juices are very vulnerable to heat, so if you cook the juice for long, you’ll lose most of the flavor.)
Stir in cooked and drained noodles, putting the entire pot back on the stove briefly if the noodles need a bit of reheating. Serve steaming hot.
Enjoy!
* You may want to toss a bit of extra-virgin olive oil into the cooked and drained noodles while they stand so that they don’t stick together.
Salmon, Peas & Sprouts in a Spring Roll
You may have encountered spring roll wrappers at a Vietnamese restaurant–they’re usually listed under “Appetizers” and are served with a filling of rice and raw veggies. (The pliable, somewhat-sticky wrappers contrast nicely with the crunchy interior.) Though we don’t generally encounter them outside of this setting, there’s no reason why you can’t use them for a variety of applications; Asia’s answer to the tortilla provides the home cook with plenty of opportunities for wraps and rolls.
In this version, I stacked leftover salmon, snap peas, and bean sprouts along the center of the wrappers and then folded over the edges. (The snap peas were steamed in lightly-boiling water for 5 minutes and then drained.) My dipping sauce was a quick mix of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Talk about a fast and exotic lunch!
If you’ve never used rice wrappers before, though, a warning: timing is everything. Initially, they’re dry and stiff–you have to soak them in a shallow pan/plate of cold water to soften the fibers. If you leave them in the water for too long, they’ll begin to disentegrate; if you don’t give them enough time to soak, you won’t be able to fold them. (Also, never heat them! Egg roll wrappers are the ones that are filled and then deep-fried–their rice cousins are much more delicate.) I would advise soaking the wrapper for about 30 seconds and then testing by dint of lifting it out of the water. If it’s still too stiff, let it soak for another 30 seconds and then test again. Repeat as needed.
Enjoy your creations!
