Doesn't TaZte Like Chicken

Location: My tiny kitchen

Congee is a common item served in my family. Traditionally, Chinese people have congee for breakfast but my family likes congee so much that we would have it for lunch, dinner or even as a snack. This is a congee recipe that my mom has always made and my family has always enjoyed. The recipe is very simple but it tastes quite delicious.

Usually, pork is minced when it is put into congee. In this recipe, the pork is cooked ahead of time as a whole piece and then cooked again with the congee. After the long period of cooking, the pork because very tender and it falls apart on its own.

Chinese people usually eat congee with Chinese donuts. Unlike regular donuts, Chinese donuts are long pieces of crispy fried dough that taste slightly salty. I didn’t have any Chinese donut and as I scanned my pantry, I saw a tub of fried onion sitting on the shelve. The fried onion turned out to be a great compliment to the congee. I should consider bringing my own bottle of fried onion the next time I have congee at a wonton noodle house.

This recipe serves 4 people and you will need:
- A piece of pork tenderloin that’s about 4 inches long
- 1/3 cup of Japanese rice

1. Put the rice in a bowl and fill the bowl with water. Soak the rice in the fridge overnight or at least 12 hours.
2. Rub 1 tbsp of salt on the pork tenderloin. Let the pork to be marinated in the salt overnight or at least 12 hours.
3. Put the pork into a quart pan. Fill the pan with water covering 3 inches higher than the top of the pork. Bring the water to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer for 2 hours.
4. Take the pork out of the quart pan. Add more water into the pan so that you have 7 cups of liquid in total. Bring the liquid to a boil. Add the rice and pork into the liquid and bring it down to a shimmer.
5. Cook for one hour or until the congee has been thicken to a consistency that you like. The longer you cook the congee, the thicker it will get.
6. Using a wooden spatula, gently break the pork apart. The pork will shred apart very easily.
7. To server, sprinkle with fried onion and chopped green onion or chives.

Location: My tiny kitchen

While strolling through the meat section at a local grocery store this weekend, a nicely packaged piece of pork tenderloin caught my attention. ET was walking right beside me and when he saw me checking out the pork, he complained like a kid and said, “I don’t like pork tenderloins. They are always tough and chewy. I had some at a bistro in Paris and even the French couldn’t make it taste good”. Already lost in my thoughts of good pork tenderloin recipes, I was too busy to acknowledge him. Continue ignoring him, I realized the tenderloin was on sale for buy one get one free. Fantastic! I know I can use the discount to convince ET for buying the pork ET might be picky with his pork, but he rarely refuses a good deal.

On our drive home, I remembered a pork tenderloin recipe that I read about earlier from the Fine Cooking magazine. I had wanted to try that recipe and now is the perfect chance. ET is right; pork tenderloin is a lean piece of meat and therefore it could be dry and tough. To make the meat tender, I modify the recipe slightly by quickly pounding the pork before marinating it. The pounding turned out to be a good step – the pork wasn’t tough and ET devoured ten pieces in no time.

This recipe serves two people who really like pork, or 4 people if served as an appetizer.

You will need:
- 20 pieces of pork tenderloin, sliced 1/4 inch thick each
- 1 cup of Japanese bread crumb (Panko is the brand that I used)
- Oil for frying

For marinate you will need:
- 1 tbsp of grain mustard
- 2 tbsp of onion powder
- 1 tsp of kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper

1. Using the back of the knife, chop each pork slice. Turn the slice by 90 degrees, and chop the slice again.
2. Add the marinate to the pork. Fridge for a few hours up to overnight.

3. Drench each pork slice in bread crumbs. Gently dust off any excess.
4. Heat oil in a quart pan. Make sure the oil is not higher than 1/2 the height of the pan. When the oil reaches 350 F, put in a few pork slices. I always clip a thermometer by the side of the pan. The thermometer tells me exactly how hot the oil is and by adjusting the heat, I’m able to fry at the optimal temperature.
5. Fry the pork slices for 1.5 minute. Place the pork on paper towel and let it cool.

6. To serve, put a dollop of plain yogurt and a bit of Dijon mustard on each slice.

Writing this recipe reminds me of a pork tenderloin roast that my friend prepared one time he invited us over for dinner. His pork roast was juicy and tender. It was the best-tasting pork tenderloin I had. This recipe cannot beat his but it’s a quick fix for my pork tenderloin craving for now