Our Himalayan-themed Holidays: Phaksha Paa

Well, we just got done with another Holiday season and another cooking adventure. Hubby and I usually take advantage of the holidays to enjoy time together and experiment on cooking.

This year, since we enjoyed a great trip to the Himalayas over the spring, we decided on a Bhutanese themed holiday. Our Thanksgiving menu was composed of dishes from Bhutan and India with influences from Nepal.

Since its Thanksgiving, I did want to add an American flair to some of the dishes. So, I decided to add some traditional Thanksgiving ingredients to these Himalayan dishes. I added butternut squash to the Kewa Dashi, a potato and cheese stew. I also wanted to find a turkey drumette or leg for the tandoori, but good luck with that around Thanksgiving. I ended up with homemade Tandoori Chicken... another first for me.

 

The only one close to the original is the recipe below: Phaksha Paa or Spicy Pork Stew. It’s actually the reason that I am starting with this one since the flavors are pretty good. The other dishes were good, but still in progress. The one ingredient that I had trouble with is dried pork. Since neither my Hubby nor I tasted Bhutanese dried pork in our travels, I’m not sure what it tastes like. Reason is (nfortunately or fortunately) I am primarily vegetarian when we travel, due to health reasons.

The only substitute to dried pork that I can think of is good ole jerky. With gourmet jerky now available, I have many options for meat. I can even can use tofu jerky. However, I decided to stick to pork jerky which I thought would be very appropriate. Also, since jerky can be considered native to the American continent, I think this would be a good American touch (Although I think it originated from the Quechans in South America where my other favorite cuisine comes from).

The Bhutanese are also known for using a lot of chilis in their cooking. I read that chilis are considered a spice and a vegetable. I have seen our driver have chilis and rice for lunch and he was enjoying it. If it were me, my tongue would be on fire at first bite.

Because I did not know what would best match Bhutanese chili, I used three different chilis on each dish for variety. For the pork stew, I opted for fresh serrano peppers. For the other dishes, I used the lovely Merken Spice (from Chile) for the Cheesy Potatoes to give it that smoky spicy feel and cayenne for the Tandoori Chicken.

Since Bhutan had the advantage of having an abundance of farms and the availability of fresh vegetables, I also used a lot of vegetables in my pork stew. I figured that this would be appropriate and could double as our veggie dish as well.

Lastly, I took advantage of fresh meat we get here. I realized that in Bhutan, they may not the same quality of meat like here in the US. Bhutan is a Buddhist country so they do not kill their meat, and meat is usually shipped from India or Nepal probably. Such distance would require good storage and possibly freezing and preservation. Perhaps that is why dried pork is a delicacy in Bhutan.

Here's the first installment. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Phaksha Paa (Bhutani Pork with Radish and Bok Choy)

Based on recipe from http://ediblyasian.info/recipes/phaksha-pa
Recipe documented by Susanne Waugh from conversations with the Queen mother and the royal chef.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless pork shoulder, cubed 1” by 1”
• 2 cups of chicken broth or water
• 4 T unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
• 1 medium onion (about 4 ounces), peeled and diced
• 1 medium daikon or white radish (about 3 1/2 ounces), peeled, sliced into disks.
• 1 1/2 serrano peppers, seeded and sliced
• 3 heads bok choy (about 3 pounds total), stems removed and leaves cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 6 ounces pork jerky, julliened (I used Krave)
• Fresh ginger, peeled and minced (or crushed in a pestle and mortar)
• 1 large fresh pepper, seeded and cut into julienne strips (original recipe called for green pepper, I selected red for color)

Directions

1. Season the pork with salt and pepper.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Brown the pork cubes. Set aside.
3. Sweat the onion, serrano pepper, and daikon.
4. Add pork, onions, serrano peppers and daikon in the slow cooker. Add chicken broth and simmer over low heat until the pork is just tender.
5. Add the red peppers and bok choy (You can add the peppers first, then the bok choy).
6. Add the ginger and dried pork to the stew and simmer over low heat until heated through, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Verdict

I love this dish. The flavors are excellent. I turned the spice level down a couple of notches, so my husband can enjoy the dish. He did say that I can turn it up a little bit (maybe add one more serrano or keep some of the seeds).

The author of the recipe, Susanne Waugh, was right. The addition of the pork jerky gave this dish an addicting sweetness. I even topped it with more jerky for texture. 

This dish is also easy enough to prepare that we can add it to our weekly rotation, especially when the slow cooker is used. I think this one will find its way into our menus this year. Yum!

Misua Soup with Meatballs, California style

Blogger’s Note: Apologies for the long absence. I’ve been meaning to write this for a while now but my intermediate hula classes, some travel, and life was taking up most of my time. However, I am determined… yes, determined to write my soup post before the weather become warmer. So here goes…

I finally found a blog-worthy recipe and had time to write! Hooray! It was about time since the weather is getting warmer and I still want to write about soup. I feel that my year needs a soup post or two.

I was finally able to make a successful Maddification of one of my favorite soups. I actually saved this one for last because I thought this would be the easiest (and I obviously overestimated my cooking abilities). I really should have started with this.

I found a really good base in PinoyCookingRecipes.com for Misua Soup with Meatballs. Misua are very delicate wheat noodles used in the Philippines mostly for soup. You can find these in Asian grocery stores. There really is no good substitute for misua in our regular grocery stores, unless you find one with an extensive Asian section. You may be able to substitute pho noodles, but its not quite the same.

The soup contains pork-based meatballs and noodles: fairly straight forward. However, part of my goals was to make misua soup healthier. The base recipe has very little veggies and of course, I wanted to add nice veggies in it. The misua that my grandmother used to make usually has patola but I could not find it here in California (in spite of the huge Filipino community). I could not even find it in the Filipino store. Also, when I lookup what patola is, the translation is zucchini. I don’t think that is correct… the consistency is not the same. Even though it’s back in season, I refuse to add zucchini. I feel that it is a cop out.

Because of my dilemma, I decided to healtify the meatballs instead. Mushrooms were the most obvious choice to add because since they have a consistency similar to meat. It's filled with Vitamin D and we can always use more of that. I chose some nice portabella mushrooms to add to the pork.

Looking at the fridge, I was inspired to add kale. It would give the meatballs an additional nutritional boost and texture. It would not be made in California without kale, right?

The last unintended upgrade was to use shallots instead of onions. We thought we had onions, but did not find it. By using shallots, we have more antioxidants. iron and potassium. They also have a milder flavor than onions.

Here’s what I have. As always, let me know what you think.

Misua soup with Meatballs, California-style

Based on Misua Soup With Meatballs in PinoyCookingRecipes.com

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 3/4 lb of ground pork
• About 1 cup of kale, minced
• 1/4 cup portabella mushrooms, minced
• 1/4 cup scallions, minced
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper to taste
• flour for dredging
• cooking oil for frying 

Noodles, broth and garnish:

• 3 cups of water
• 100 grams misua noodles (Half the package)
• 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• green onions, sliced for garnish

Directions: 

1. Combine pork, kale and mushrooms, and 1/8 cup of the shallots and eggs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Shape into 2" balls and roll in flour.
3. Fry until brown. Set aside the meatballs. 
4. Remove excess oil from the pan. Leave at least 1 Tbsp of cooking oil.
5. Saute garlic and remaining onion. 
6. Add the water and let it boil.
7. Add the fried meatballs, fish sauce and misua noodles.
8. Cook for until noodles are soft (about 5 minutes). 
9. Serve hot and garnish with green onions, and enjoy! 

Verdict

I really love this soup. Even with the Maddifications, the original flavor, I think, was not really sacrificed. It still reminded me of the misua soup that my grandmother made. The fact that it is healthier is a big bonus! Maybe I can add zucchini next time… in the meatballs.

The green onions also added a good layer of flavor. But perhaps because of my exposure to Vietnamese soups, I added some lime and yes, Sriracha. That took it up another notch!

One tip though: Because misua is extremely delicate, I would suggest only cooking the noodles that you will be enjoying. When stored, the noodles do not maintain the same consistency and can be a bit (ahem) unappetizing. I think this explains why my grandma kept the broth and meatballs in the refrigerator... and why some of the meatballs disappeared (Hey, I also had several cousins living with us).

Hope you try this and enjoy.

P.S. I did the meaty part of the writing in the Philippines while I was visiting my Dad. I had more time then, because we spent a lot of time just hanging out at home. Perhaps, I was inspired... even though I was just writing on my smart phone.