Joe & daughter Joy. Thats the little angel tearing bread for stuffing in my header design, all grown up and beautiful.

Chinese Cooking

Joe Conlon 12/29/2009

Probably my favorite cuisine to both cookand eat is Chinese. My dad turned me on to Chinese food when I was a boy in Indianapolis andhe would take us to the Jong Me restaurant on special occasions. In the early 1970’s, when I was stationed on Okinawa without my family, I was very lonely and very bored. I signed up to take a course in Chinese cooking that was run by the Japanese wife of one of the officers on the base. She taught from her own little paper bound cookbook that she had written, and I loved her course and learned all the techniques I still use today. I still have that little cookbook and it is still my favorite for Chinese cooking although I have added my own little touches over the years to most of the recipes I use.

Sweet and Sour Pork

The best you’re likely to get anywhere. Master this dish and you’re sure to impress your guests with your culinary skills. It tastes better than any restaurant version you’re likely to have had, and the colors are beautiful together. It takes a long time to do the preparation for it, but the cooking itself goes really fast.You can make the meat and the sauce ahead of time and the meat will freeze well so when you make it, you can make extra and freeze what you don’t use for later. This is one of the recipes I learned in my Chinese Cooking class in Japan and it’s one of my family’s favorites. AND the one my little brother and Rattle Them Pots And Pans host used to wow his future in-laws with. It works equally well for chicken or beef.

Meat: 1 pound lean pork loin or chop cut into 1″ cubes

Marinade:1 Tablespoon creme sherry

1 clove garlic mashed

2 Tablespoon Kikoman soy sauce

½ teaspoon Accent (MSG)

1 Teaspoon fresh ginger root minced

Mix the above well and soak the meat 2-3 hours or overnight.

The Batter

2 egg yolks or 1 egg

4 Tablespoons cornstarch

Mix well. Add additional cornstarch if necessary to achieve a stiff batter. Drain the meat and combine with the batter. Roll in additional cornstarch to coat it well. Deep fry the meat in peanut oil at 375 to 420 degrees F. Until it’s crisp and golden brown. Only takes a few minutes. Turn out onto paper towel to drain and save for later. (You can do this part ahead of time and store in the frig or freezer. You can also do the same technique with chicken or shrimp.) Because of my wife and son’s egg allergy, the way I now do this step is to eliminate the eggs altogether and just roll the meat, still wet from the marinade, in dry cornstarch and then fry as usual. If you don’t have the egg allergy problem, do it the original way.

The Sweet and Sour Sauce

6 Tablespoons sugar

½ cup unsweetened pineapple juice

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

3 Tablespoons ketchup

1 Tablespoon creme sherry

½ cup water

3 Tablespoons white vinegar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Combine the sugar, soy sauce, wine, vinegar, pineapple juice and ketchup and bring to aboil. Mix the cornstarch and water together and pour into the boiling ingredients and stir overlow heat until thick. Set aside for later. (This step can be done ahead of time too and stored inthe refrigerator. This sauce is good for dipping Egg Rolls etc. too.)

The Vegetable Mixture

6 Tablespoons peanut oil

1 medium onion cut into chunks

½ cup carrots cut on diagonal ( I usually use the little baby carrots whole)

1 can bamboo shoots, and/or 1 can whole water chestnuts (both optional)

1 green pepper cut into bite size chunks

1 red pepper cut into bite size chunks

1 can pineapple chunks (in unsweetened juice) Or better yet, fresh pineapple cut in chunks

1 tomato cut into bite size chunks

Place the oil into hot wok or large fry pan and heat to about 420 degrees F. Add the veggies inthis order: Onions and carrots (which take a little longer to cook) and stir well for about aminute. Add the bamboo shoots and peppers and stir fry. Addthe pineapple and tomato and stir. Add the sauce and blendinto veggies. Add the meat, combine well until all is warmedthrough. You want the veggies to stay crisp, so this entire steptakes less than five minutes. Serve with rice. Serves 4-6people and you can easily double the recipe if needed.

The No Fail Rice

Use 2 to 1 ratio for liquid to rice.

1 cup rice

2 cups chicken stock

½ teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon butter

Combine ingredients in pot and bring to a boil. Stir,cover the pot and turn down the heat to low. Cook 18-20minutes covered. Fluff with a fork. Serves four.

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