Roasted (stewed) Pork

One of my favorite recipes is my mom's Chinese roasted pork. It's actually stewed, but we always call it roasted, so that's what I'm sticking with! It's delicious, yummy, scrumptuous - I mean, wow! My friend just requested the recipe and after writing it up for her in an email I thought... wait a minute, maybe someone else will want it, too! So, here it is in my own recipe sharing style, which is pretty darn loose.

Roasted Pork
bunch or pork parts (best are fatty or with bones - also cheap!) cut into bite sized pieces
ginger (nice sized piece) - you can just give it a whack to crush and release juices
star anise (3-4 pieces)
cinnamon (1-2 sticks)
green onion (1-2 cut into thumb sized lengths) - optional
soy sauce - to about 1/3 level of meat
water - to about 1/2 level of meat

Cook low heat for at least half an hour, but can go as long as you want. Add water if the liquid goes down. If you can make and then eat later, it's good because you get yummier meat AND can scrape the fat off after it cools after first cooking. Lots of fat from slow cooking and fatty pork.

Also very good: hard boiled eggs. Best if cooked twice (as in cook with first day, then warm up again with second day and eat - yum)

Can use any kind of meat. Chicken also good. Lamb delicious.

Save the liquid (freezes well) when you're done and use it to start your next batch. It will be infused with all the flavors from the meat you cooked the first time and therefore be even yummier.

Underappreciated Vegetables

OK, let´s talk about kale. Until recently, all I knew about kale was that it´s unbelievably healthy and fairly tough. I mean tough in the "tough to chew" sense of the word. Kale is basically a good-for-you leafy green with a terrible reputation. In Holland, it's used mainly (only?) to make stampot. Stampot is a classic Dutch winter dish that is made by boiling potatoes, kale, and onions until everything is soft enough to mash. It's served with smoked sausage and gravy. Foreigners in the Netherlands are a bit obsessed with it because it's so... well, Dutch. It's cheap, filling, and not exactly a gastronomic delight. As a result of its popularity, though, washed, cut kale is in all the grocery stores in great quantity and low prices all winter long.

For the past four years, I've walked by the kale. For the past four years, I have been missing out. Thanks to a tip from mom (best cook ever), kale has become a favorite in our house. It's delicious, easy, and quick thanks to the double Dutch staples of pre-cut smoked bacon cubes and kale. I cook up this stir-fry recipe to accompany Chinese food and anything else. You can leave out the ginger if you want a more western flavor. I'll add in some amounts on the recipe, but my habit is to guess and toss and adjust as necessary. You can't really go wrong. Cooking the bacon over low heat first helps render out most of the fat, eliminating the need for any additional fat when you cook your vegetables. If you end up with too much, this vegetable stores and reheats well.

Kale Stir-fry
serves 4

300g kale
1/2 tsp ginger
1 clove garlic
100g bacon
salt

Cut the bacon into cubes or, if you're using strips, 1cm wide pieces. Cook them over low heat while you prepare the vegetables. Wash and slice the kale into thin pieces, removing the hard ribs. Cut the ginger in slivers and crush the garlic. When the bacon is starting to brown, add the ginger and garlic. Stir for a minute. Add kale. Allow to cook down, stirring occasionally for about 3-5 minutes. It will take on a rich green color. Toss in a wee bit of salt to taste (this will depend on how salty your bacon is). Serve hot and enjoy!

All credit for this little recipe and my love of good vegetables goes to Mom.

Breastfeeding and nationality

I had a most interesting exchange with a fellow customer while breastfeeding my son at a Target in Durham, North Carolina. I was sitting in the cafeteria area and this woman spoke to me as she exited the store with her cart full of purchases.

Customer: There are places in the restroom where you can do that, you know. There are a lot of kids running around here and they might get the wrong idea.

Me: Well, then this is a nice way for them to learn.

Customer: You must not be an American citizen, because if you were, you would know better. (walks away)

I'm supposed to feed my child in a bathroom? Is she going to eat in the bathroom? In the land of cup holders, doesn't it make sense that babies should be able to drink in public, too? And another thing, what kind of wrong idea are kids going to get if they see a woman breastfeeding? Might they learn that babies can be nourished by their mother's milk? Shocking. As for the American citizen part, it's just crazy. It suggests that all American citizens subscribe to one set of values. This is the same mentality that leads to an integration course of the Dutch variety. In this instance, it also gave me plenty of fodder for jokes. For instance, "I'm an American, but my son is half-dutch. That must be the part of him that decided to get hungry in public."

Prior to leaving for my holiday visit in the US, I worried about receiving negative comments about breastfeeding in public. This exchange happened a couple days before we left and the day after my husband mentioned that my worrying seemed to have been unfounded. What a disappointment. On the other hand, it has convinced me that I'm going to keep on doing what I do. Breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world. If anyone sees the lady from the Target, thank her for me. She helped me realize how important breastfeeding is to me and has given me a story to share at dinner parties for years to come.