Wednesday 29 September 2010

Pork and Mushroom Onigri




The Goods*:

2 0.5 lb center-cut boneless pork chops
1 handful shitake mushrooms
1 handful crimini mushrooms
4 green onions
1 garlic clove
6 sheets nori (dried seaweed paper)
1.5 cups sushi rice
2 tsp rice wine vinegar

Marinade
1 small bunch fresh cilantro
4 cloves garlic
1/2" piece fresh ginger
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ponzu sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp peanut oil**
2 green onions

Start by placing the garlic cloves and cilantro (trimmed of large stems) in a food processor. Blend until the garlic and cilantro is very finely chopped. Add the soy sauce, ponzu sauce, and vinegar. Blend once more. Grate the ginger over the mixture. Finally, while blending, slowly spoon in the oil. Slice the white portion of the green onions into fine ringlets. Slice the pork as thinly as possible, while trying to keep an even thickness between pieces. Place the pork, green onions, and food processor liquid into a plastic bag and refrigerate for two hours.

Cook the rice with the rice wine vinegar.

Slice the mushrooms into quarters or eighths, depending on the size. Add a generous amount of your favorite fat (I used some rendered duck fat from Savenor's. Anything should work; but I'd avoid the easy-burning fats like EVOO) to a wok and set to high heat. When the fat is hot, add the mushrooms. After the mushrooms have softened, dump the meat and marinade into the wok. Stir fry until the meat is cooked, about 4-5 minutes.

Assemble packages (think seaweed burritos***) with the nori sheets, rice, and meat/mushroom mixture. Serve immediately.


*Yeah, I haven't been able to post in a while. I spent a large chunk of the summer on sojourn (read: short-term slave labor junket) in China for work. China, for those not aware, assiduously sensors the internet, locking sites such as Blogger (and Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, etc.) behind their "Great Firewall".

**For those preferring a bit more heat, a lightly-infused-with-chili peanut oil can be used here.

***Onigiri is a favorite from the Japanese market in Porter square that closed a year or two ago. It looks like this. In retrospect, I'd recommend chilling the rice and meat before assembly, as the seaweed seems to get tougher when warm.

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