“Amerasian” Cuisine – StopLight Pepper Steak

Well, It had to happen.. The loyal fan club has started kvetching that I am introducing too many new foods, too many new ideas, too many new tastes. Seems they like boring.. (To me boring is only good in a combat zone…)

Ah, well, here is a tried and true Asian specialty that even my fan club can make and enjoy. And just to make sure I don’t stretch any brain cells amongst my readers, I’ll use a recipe that is truly an American’s vision of Chinese food… (Also StopLight peppers are Red, Yellow and Green bell peppers, not a pepper that grows at a stop light…)

Wikipedia says:

Pepper steak also called green pepper steak) is a stir-fried Chinese American dish consisting of sliced beef steak (often flank, sirloin, or round) cooked with sliced green and/or red bell peppers and other seasonings such as soy sauce and ginger, and usually thickened with cornstarch. Sliced onions and bean sprouts are also frequent additions to the recipe. Evidence for the dish’s existence in the United States dates from at least 1948.

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Meatless Monday – Vegetable Korma (Navratan Korma)

As spoken prior:

Like it or not, summer is drawing to a close, and while we still have all kinds of fresh veggies from our gardens, I can feel the breeze turning from warm and inviting to cool and chilling. Time to start thinking about autumn and winter dishes, and of those, one of the simplest and quickest is the curry.

But it is 90 today and I have a garden full of veggies to use, perhaps a curry that takes little tending, (time over the open stove), and will deliver the full taste experience of the veggies.

Korma (sometimes spelled kormaa, qorma, kavurma, khorma, or kurma) is a dish originating in Central Asia or Western Asia which can be made with yoghurt, cream, nut and seed pastes or coconut milk; it is usually considered a type of curry.

Korma is a characteristic Persian-Indian dish which has its roots in the Mughlai cuisine of modern-day India. Korma is defined as a dish where meat or vegetables are braised with water, stock, and yogurt or cream.

Very popular in Indian restaurants in the United Kingdom, where a korma usually refers not to a particular cooking technique but to a curry with a thick, cream-based sauce or gravy. The korma popularized in UK curry houses is invariably mildly spicy.

Background

Korma or kormaa, or qorma, or khorma, or kurma, (etc, etc, etc) is a mild, pale, creamy, vegetarian or non-vegetarian curry dish originating in South Asia, made with yoghurt, cream, nut and seed pastes or coconut milk. Rooted in the Mughlai cuisine of modern-day Pakistan and North India, it is a characteristically creamy and silky Persian-Indian dish and can be traced back to the 16th century Mughal incursions into present-day Pakistan, Bangladesh and the North-Western parts of India. It is popular a lot in the UK and can be found in most Indian / South Asian restaurants.

The flavor is based on a mixture of spices, including ground coriander and cumin, combined with yoghurt or coconut milk nuts can be used but not in great quantities. Korma is generally a mild curry with either chicken, beef or lamb and only a few vegetables, such as onion and potato, but can be made as a vegetables only dish.

There are wide regional variations of korma and other mild curry recipes. Chili is nearly always used, but the precise method of preparation results in widely different flavors.

Overview

1. Build Sauce
2. Prep Veggies
3. Cook Veggies in Sauce
4. Serve over rice

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Curry Powder

Like it or not, summer is drawing to a close, and while we still have all kinds of fresh veggies from our gardens, I can feel the breeze turning from warm and inviting to cool and chilling. Time to start thinking about autumn and winter dishes, and of those, one of the simplest and quickest is the curry.

Similar to “Amerasian” food, “Yoshoku” and the like, curry really is a cross cultural dish, that borrows from a base Indian tradition, but is modified to fit the British expectation of Indian food.

The word “Khari” from which “curry” is derived, comes from Southern India and refers to a sauce of any kind. “Curry powder” was developed by the British, who wished to take the taste of Indian food home, without having to utilize fresh spices. As a result “curry powder” in the Western world has a fairly standardized taste, but there are literally millions of curry flavors in India.

Curry powder was largely popularized after the last world war, when immigrants from South East Asia flooded to the UK to help rebuild the economy, however, even at this stage, the Curry Powder was not ‘standard’ as each household had its own special blend.

The late 60s and early 70s saw a rapid increase of Indian food consumption by the UK populace, this also led to the rapid increase of ‘Indian’ (which, in fact, are almost mainly owned by Bangladeshis) restaurants, as such, the tradition of keeping an own special blend of curry powder simply became uneconomical, and the standard Curry Powder was born.

Indian cooks have ready access to a broad range of fresh spices, from which they are able to make their own mixtures. Indeed, most Indian cooks will have their own specific mixtures for different recipes. These are often passed down from mothers to daughters.

Most recipes and producers of curry powder usually include coriander, turmeric, cumin, and fenugreek in their blends. Depending on the recipe, additional ingredients such as ginger, garlic, fennel seed, clove, mustard seed, green cardamom, black cardamom, nutmeg, red pepper, cinnamon and black pepper may also be added.

It is also the name given to a different mixture of spices that include curry leaves, which is used in South and East Indian cuisine.
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“Amerasian” Cuisine – Katsuretsu sōsu

Spoken previously:

However served katsu is most commonly eaten with a type of thick Japanese Worcestershire sauce called tonkatsu sauce (tonkatsu sōsu) or simply sōsu (“sauce”), and often with a bit of spicy yellow karashi (Japanese mustard) and perhaps a slice of lemon.

This is a fine example of yoshoku food. “Western food” but transformed for a Japanese palette, and is served with such fusion dishes as fried pork or chicken cutlet (katsuretsu), potato and beef croquette (korokke), cutlet sandwiches ( sando), fried shrimp (ebifurai), and fried oysters (kakifuai).

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“Amerasian” Cuisine – Katsuretsu

Japanese “Amerasian” food, “Yoshoku”, or western food are European / American dishes that have been imported to Japan and retrofitted to match local tastes.

To quote the New York Times 03/26/2008:

Today yoshoku is thoroughly Japanese. It is a staple of television cooking shows and mainstream magazines. The lines outside venerable upscale yoshoku restaurants here in Tokyo are as long as ever, mostly with older Japanese for whom yoshoku provided a first taste of a Western world they had not seen. Yoshoku restaurants are also a requisite of the trendiest new shopping districts, like Midtown and Roppongi Hills, where they cater to younger Japanese whose mothers made the food at home.

Yoshoku was born during Japan’s Meiji Restoration, the period that followed this isolationist country’s forced opening by America’s so-called Black Ships in 1854. Japanese were dispatched to Europe and America to learn about Western laws, weapons and industry. They also brought back the cuisine. Shocked to discover how much shorter they were than Westerners, Japanese determined that they would catch up not only economically and militarily but also physically, by eating their food.

The really funny part is these dishes are now making their way back to the U.S. as Japanese dishes, in specific “katsuretsu” or simply “kastu” which stand for cutlet, which can be Chicken katsu, Menchi Katsu or a minced meat cutlet, Hamu Katsu or a minced ham cutlet, Gyu Katsu or a beef cutlet, and of course Tonkatsu, or pork cutlet.

Katsu can be served in a myriad of ways, as a sandwich filling (katsu sando) or served on Japanese curry (katsu karē). It is sometimes served with egg on a big bowl of rice as katsudon—an informal one-bowl lunchtime dish, other variations on tonkatsu may be made by sandwiching an ingredient like cheese or shiso leaf between the meat.

However served katsu is most commonly eaten with a type of thick Japanese Worcestershire sauce called tonkatsu sauce (tonkatsu sōsu) or simply sōsu (“sauce”), and often with a bit of spicy yellow karashi (Japanese mustard) and perhaps a slice of lemon.

Similar cuisine with an ingredient other than pork, beef or chicken is called furai (fry）not katsu (cutlet), ebi-furai (fried prawn)

Do note: I’ve used pork here, but as noted beef or chicken may also be used in a very similar manner.

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Slow Cooked Pepper Steak

After mastering yet another vendor proficiency test, (one could say I am now buzz word compliant), I decided to chuck the rest of the afternoon and go visiting clients.

Sitting in an office high overlooking a major intersection, and chatting with a client as he reviewed my missives posted here, a slow cooked pepper steak produced by his wife, was mentioned. As he went on to describe the mouth watering lusciousness of the meat, the contrasting colors of the stop-light peppers and the richness of the gravy produced I knew I HAD TO HAVE that recipe.

Also remembering that I had made the lady of said clients house a gift of a 18″ Bad Wolf special chef’s knife, I decided that my usual brash tactics might not work, and that a bit of kitchen research would be the better part of valor…

The real key here is low and slow cooking in a moist environment….

Collagen, the predominant protein in connective tissue, is quite tough to chew, and is found in abundance in tougher cuts of meat. At 150 degrees it starts to melt and become gelatin-like as the temperature climbs. At 150 the muscle tissue will have tightened fully and the bonds between individual protein molecules become stronger and tighter. These bonds become so tight they drive water from the meat back into the braising liquid!

IF REMOVED AT THIS POINT, THE ROAST WILL BECOME TOUGH AND DRY.

Once the internal temperature of the meat reaches 170 degrees, a second process begins as melted collagen makes meat seem tender and moist. Further heated, the collagen in the muscle will break down progressively into soft gelatin as the tightened muscle tissue strands continue to separate.

Because collagen won’t melt completely until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 200 degrees, the meat must be cooked to this temperature and held there for an hour to take full advantage of this phenomenon.

The meat fibers will swell to take on the liquid surrounding them, and with the collagen will turn to gelatin, so that the meat becomes a wonderious tender, moist, taste treat seasoned with all the goodness of the various peppers, onions and garlic that have simmered with it.

Do note:

I’ve not used high priced sirloin, or tenderloin, but have used chuck steak which is quite economical that produces glorious flavor and a worthy texture when cooked properly. And properly is low and slow.

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Curry in a Hurry

I am SOOO sure, everyone uses that line. But that still does not alleviate the fact this is soo true for this dish.

It’s actually a pleasant day, but I am tied up inside working on a data center make over… So it is a long, busy day for me, and that means very little time to layout a meal. With a bit of help from my friends the enzymes, and a bit of luck, I can still have a true rogue chef meal in a very short while.

I’ll start by marinating some chicken breast in buttermilk with a tsb of prepared curry powder, (yes, I know, but I did say “in a hurry”…), and I’ll let that sit in the fridge while I tear up raised floor, and try to trace network cables…. After I am worn out from bashing about the data center, I’ll prepare the meal…

My faithless Indian guide says …

Curry is a generic description used throughout European culture to describe a general variety of side dishes, best known in South Asian cuisines, especially Indian cuisine. The word curry is an anglicized version of the Tamil word kari which is usually understood to mean “gravy” or “sauce” rather than “spices”. In most South Indian cuisines, a curry is considered a side-dish, which can be eaten along with a main dish like rice or bread.

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Stir Fry, The final word…

Once again the loyal fan club has noted that I have not properly discussed a term or technique called for in one of my posts..

Previously Spoken:

I have some very nice Japanese Eggplants, and I have Basil, I have hot peppers, I have garlic, sounds like a quick stir fry. Now Since I HAD planned to grill some chicken, I’ll chop up a breast or so and add that in. One might leave the chicken out and use soy sauce to replace the ubiquitous fish sauce, and have a quite delicious vegan meal…

It would seem that members of the club are having issues with their stir fry. Outside of the fact that this does take practice and thought and above all the patience to “Fry, Fry, and Fry again…”.

In all seriousness, there are some very basic things to be mastered before one can wok and roll …
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