Napa-Wrapped Pork

I am so lucky I get to see Kayoko everyday, so I can laugh at her for already blowing half her budget for the $100/2weeks. For lunch I brought leftovers from last night’s dinner and shared them with her — since she is starving this week and all. It’s a fun and easy recipe, and I highly recommend it. You can see it as either a variation on stuffed cabbage or, as Irwin aptly put it, an Atkins’ version of dumplings.

What you need:
1.) Fresh Ground Pork (I suppose you can do this with beef or turkey, too. For veggie recipe, I’d make a firm crumbled tofu – sliced shiitake – cellophane noodle – carrot mix)
2.) Chopped scallions
3.) Freshly grated ginger
4.) An egg (* optional rich coagulant — def necessary for the veggie recipe)
5.) Sesame oil
6.) Napa Cabbage (aka 白菜)

– First, stick the pork in a bowl, throw in the scallions, ginger, egg and a little bit of sesame oil and mash it up with your hands until everything’s all mixed up. You could use a spatula too, I suppose, but using your hands gives you the satisfying feeling that you’re manipulating the food, and plus it achieves an even texture.

– Salt and ground pepper as you wish. Then, take the washed napa leaves and cut them into 2 inch sections, and make little sandwiches of the pork mixture between them.

– Third, stick all the sandwiches vertically in a pot with a lid, and put over medium flame. No water necessary — the water from the napa steam/cooks the pork. Cook for about I dunno, 20 minutes?

– Check up on it now and then. (I don’t have measurements, nor precise times, just feel it out, it’s impossible to go wrong, even if it all falls apart.) Remaining soup after cooking should be saved for use in other soups/stews/broths.

Serve to your loved ones with rice — and ponzu sauce, ideally — and have a happy day.

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\ (^o * )/ aya