 |
| Wrapped and ready for lunch |
You know you are getting comfortable with a cooking style when you feel free to experiment a little, rather than slavishly follow the book. Going through the grocery store this weekend, I remembered I needed about a pound of pork for Gingery Seared Pork (shoga yaki), but I forgot that the recipe called for a solid piece of pork loin, or shoulder, and I got ground pork instead. And while I was at it, I changed the recipe slightly, adding a touch of rice vinegar and a couple drops of sesame oil.
 |
| Ginger seared pork - with a few tweaks of my own |
It's not a pretty recipe (at least not when made with ground pork) but it is definitely tasty.
And since I had all this seasoned ground pork, why not try hand-pressed rice (
omusubi)? I saw them at the
Japan Festival a month ago, and I thought "they're just filled rice balls, how hard can it be?"
 |
| rice balls, ready to be filled |
Harder than you think. Rice doesn't want to mold around things, and it doesn't stick to what you want it to stick to. I have a feeling that's why you can buy molds to make these. I wanted to make the popular triangle shape, but roundish blob was more my speed. Even my nori (dried seaweed decorating the outside) tore and didn't want to stay put.
 |
| filled with pork and some cucumber, for crunch |
They are not the prettiest omusubi in the world, but they taste pretty good, and that's all that matters, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment