Ginger Pork & Steamed Rice
Yes. This is a food journal. So the other day I tried my hand at making some bento-style food. I didn't have an actual bento box, but that didn't stop me. So allow me to walk you through some Ginger Pork I made. It was a recipe in a bento box cookbook I checked out from the library (books ftw). I started off with some boneless pork ribs. I suppose I would have preferred tenderloin, as it lends itself well to medallions, but this was more readily accessible. Plus, tenderloin probably would have required more effort to cut asymmetrically.  Thinly sliced pork. Make sure to wash your hands kids, especially with pork and chicken. Next, I grated some fresh ginger for the marinade. Note: A little ginger goes a long way. When buying actual ginger root, grocery stores probably would let you snap off what you need (like buying bananas, you don't have to get the whole bunch). Also, don't store ginger root in a plastic bag. That holds in moisture, which can lead to mold. Try storing it in a small paper bag.  Comically tiny grater. Not so comically to clean. I combined the grated ginger with soy sauce for the marinade (and maybe some sake and other stuff, I can't remember). I've since returned to the library.  Marinade....mmm. I marinated the pork for about 30 minutes, mixing and turned every so often. The color of the soy sauce and the pork made it look pretty delicious.  Why does raw food look so good? During the marinating time, I prepared my rice. I rinsed it until the water ran clear. You don't necessarily have to do so, but I wanted the rice to be a little less starchy in order to better absorb the flavor of the meat. If this was regular non-Asian style white rice, I probably wouldn't have rinsed it.  This particular rice was simply medium grain rice. I didn't have any jasmine or Japanese rice. I'm lucky enough to have a rice cooker. If you eat a lot of rice or would like to eat more Asian food, I would highly recommend buying one. Seriously, these things are life savers. Just set it and forget it. This rice took about half an hour itself, so I didn't need to rush the pork.  1 cup of rice & 1.5 cups of water. More than enough for 2 servings. When the pork was done marinating, I threw everything in a medium sized pan and cooked it for about 10-15 minutes. I used a non-stick pan because the pork soaked up most of the liquid and I didn't want anything to burn.  Calphalon bitches!!  Donezo. The pork didn't take that long at all, given that it was thinly sliced. So I had to wait a bit for the rice. But when it came out? Man, did it look tasty. Perfectly cooked rice is pretty awesome. Easily the sexiest grain (sorry oats).  I wonder if my iPhone warranty covers rice steam.  Fucking. Magical. So I took a couple spoonfuls of pork, a heaping scoop of rice, and sat down to enjoy. I don't own any chopsticks, but luckily I had an unused pair left over from some Mongolian beef take out.  nom And the verdict is........okay. It wasn't mouthgasms, but it was good. A little too gingery. My marinade either contained too much ginger or I should have used more pork. Perhaps the other ratios of the marinade were off. But, I liked it. I'd mess around with it again. When it comes to cooking, sometimes you just need to try stuff and see how it turns out. It really is a mix of measured science and artistic trial/error. |
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