The Year of the Tiger: But I thought I would use Pork

To celebrate the Chinese New Year celebration which began on Saturday I thought it would be fun to delve into some dishes that are from this very ancient culture.

The first is Wonton Soup one of my favorites and the second is Pork Lo Mein.
Now to make these I must confess that I cut my pork loin in half the night I made cherry filled pork loin. And this is the half from that prior roasting. I always think it's smart to think ahead and prepare things ahead of time if you have an opportunity. The pork loin I had bought was about 3lbs, so I cut the 2lbs needed for the cherry filled loin and prepared it as needed and this llb section I just roasted along side of it just slightly seasoned with salt and pepper.

So this dish is going to be simple and quick fix for me, but even if you do have to roast the pork loin it will only take about 20-30 minutes and after that about 30 minutes from start to finish in making these two scrumptious dishes.

Now the other very exciting thing about this dish that in replacement of the traditional Lo Mein noodle, I am using Shirataki noodles. A new super food of 2010 which you might have heard about. People such as Rachel Ray and Curtis Stone sing the noodles praises and with only 20 calories (and some with none!) who wouldn't be happy to eat such a low calorie noodle which basically is made of tofu and fiber.

This noodle can be used in replacement of any sort of pasta as well. So check it out and test it and let me know what you think!

Shopping List:

1) 1 lb. pork loin

2) Wonton wrappers (about 20)

3) Shirataki noodles (depending on size of packaging you might need one or two)

4) Oyster sauce

5) Sliced carrots

6) Green onions

7) Chicken or Beef Broth (16oz at least)

8) Sesame oil

9) Soy sauce

10) Dry Sherry (or you can use Worcestershire sauce)

11) Garlic

Optional:

Crunchy Noodles

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To begin:
Roast a llb. pork loin for about 20-30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Shred all of the pork. You will need about 2 cups for the wontons and 2 cups for the lo mein.

For the Wonton Soup:

Start a pot of water for boiling.

In a food processor (if you don't have one use a VERY sharp knife and finely mince the following the solid items and then in a bowl mix in the liquids) place 2 cups pork, 1-2 stalks green onion. 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, two dashes of sesame oil, dash of pepper, 1 tablespoon dry sherry.

You will need a little bowl of water for the next step.

To create a wonton, moisten all the edges of the wonton wrapper, place a spoonful of the mixture in the middle. Fold the wonton wrapper over the mixture and press edges together, then moisten the ends of the wonton wrapper and press the two ends together so that they overlap (it should look like an old school nurses hat). If this way is getting too tricky for you the easier way is to place the mixture in the middle then pull up the sides and pinch all of them together (like a money bag)

Finish all. Then place them in the boiling water, make sure to have a big enough pot that they are not majorly crowding each other because the way to tell they are done is they will float to the surface and you don't want them sticking to each other. It will take about 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from water when they are done with a spoon and place on a plate.

Now in a second pot bring about 4-5 cups chicken or beef broth to a boil, place the wontons in and let the liquid come back to a steady boil. Turn off heat and chop 4-5 green onions place in soup along with another dash of sesame oil. Place some crunchy noodles on top if you like!


For the Pork Lo Mein:

For the shirataki noodles, drain and rinse them in the sink, then quickly boil them for 2-3 minutes in water. Drain and then lay them out to dry.

While they are drying in a pan (with high walled sides) on medium heat place 3 tablespoons sesame oil, add two-three minced cloves of garlic along with about 2 cups of your sliced carrots. Stir ingredients together for about 30 seconds so the carrots really soak up the sesame oil.

Then to this add 3/4 cups broth (I do 1/4 cup beef and 1/2 cup chicken, but it is up to you. You can do all chicken or all beef broth), 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon sherry.

Add 2 cups sliced/shredded pork and let the mixture come to a simmer. Once simmering lower the heat some, but let it continue to simmer for about 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, turn off heat, place noodles into the mixture, chop 4-5 green onion and add then mix until all noodles are covered and mixed with the other ingredients.



I hope you enjoy this meal and even though we used pork (instead of tiger, which I doubt would be good anyway) because of the low calories of the noodles I know you will be feeling fierce like a tiger!