I’m one of those cooks who looks at cookbooks to get an inspiration, but who never FOLLOWS a recipe — haven’t since I was 10. Gran cooked measuring by ‘handfuls’ and ‘pinches’ and so do I. So, generally, did Mom. But—I can convert.
I cook by smell. I start something like meat cooking, think of what might taste good tonight and add a bit. THen if I think it needs more, I take a whiff of what’s cooking alternated with bottles of spices and add what smells good and tasty with whatever’s going. [The trick is to smell with your mouth open: that lets your whole taste-smell sense operate.]
Or I cook by generalities: I know there are two items in Chinese Five Spice that I can easily live without (anise and licorice root) but I like the general smell. So I look at the label and find out what’s in it and make my own on the fly: I don’t own anise or licorice root…
well, I was hungry for Chinese pork. The red-edged sort, with Chinese mustard. But the allowable serving of that doth not a meal make, and rice is right off our diet because of carb content. So what’s a veggie that goes well with pork? Cabbage.
The recipe, as it evolved—1 medium cabbage sliced thin; a 1/8 cup of olive oil to prevent a burn; 1/4 cup of water to steam with; lidded pan. To this add a teaspoon each of [powdered]: cinnamon, clove, allspice, Chinese ginger; red chili flake [the sort you shake onto pizza]—-and cook until done. It will be hot and bitter. Now! Stir in 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1/2 cup Splenda, and stir; serve beside half a dozen slices of Chinese pork bbq, with sesame seeds and Chinese mustard.
The cabbage tastes like cinnamon and cloves and is quite sweet, a lot like a dessert; the pork, well, either you like it or not. And you can cut back on the hot in this recipe if you’re careful of hot: the cinnamon, chili, and the ginger are all heat-sources.
Anyway, it’s quite tasty, ranked as a do-again in this household.
Ha-ha! Char siu pork! You could also sliver the pork thinly and stir-fry it in alongside the cabbage; a little of the pork fat will render out and keep the cabbage from sticking. Or maybe instead of olive oil, add a tb. of toasted sesame seed oil.
Now I’m all hungry, and lunch isn’t coming up for an hour. I want roast duck (is there a *drool* icon?)
Serve with thin crepes as “mushu pork”. Yum. 😉
Could I please get the spice proportions for your mandarin orange chicken you mentioned on Facebook? I tried it but the cinnamon ended up overpowering the flavor. I still liked it, getting a hint of what it was “really” supposed to taste like; my wife, not so much. (I was actually considering trying it again with just nutmeg & cloves in the syrup, but my wife is reluctant to try it unless I have a someone-else-tested recipe.)
Yep. Teaspoon each spice for quite a lot of oranges. And I would add Splenda or brown sugar to that one. We had the same problem and your wife isn’t alone, so I’m going to try it again—apologies to those that met the bitter side of it. Let me rework that one.