The Rural Voice, 2019-01, Page 39When I published my
cookbook in 2010, I
thought those 400 recipes
were the best of the best from 50
years of working with food and I
would never find enough new recipes
to fill another book. Yet I found that I
could hardly wait to be able to try
something new after the couple of
years testing and retesting those
favourites! It was not long before I
had some great new recipes to add to
my repertoire and I have shared a few
over the past two years with you.
There are some that are just new
ways of looking at familiar
ingredients and there are some that
have introduced new ingredients and
seasonings to my kitchen. Along
with the changing seasons, reaching
out to new cultures and traditions
keeps our cuisine fresh and vital.
Rice with Pork and Bamboo
I have my Japanese daughter-in-
law, Satomi, to thank for bringing
new flavours from Japan to our
home, although I do adapt them to
my own familiar habits and tastes.
One of the first dishes she made for
us was Rice with Pork and Bamboo
and it was an instant hit. She made it
with the bamboo shoot preserved in
brine, where the calcium deposits
had to be washed away and the
bamboo sliced. They still bring me
this bamboo from the city sometimes
but when I do not have that I have
found the canned bamboo, found
locally, works very well in its place
and coincidentally is much less work!
The original recipe does not
include any mushrooms or onions,
but I am of the opinion the more
vegetables the better! It is nice
served with some edamame or peas
to brighten the plate.
When we visited Japan to meet
her family she arranged for us to
walk to the neighbours bush to dig
fresh bamboo shoots that are
abundant in spring, then we had them
grilled at their family barbeque, along
with shiitake mushrooms grown in
their own backyard.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Japanese or sushi rice
1 1/2 cups water
8 oz mushrooms, sliced or whatever
you have (optional)
1 tsp butter
1 cup thinly sliced pork shoulder or 6
slices of bacon, shoulder bacon is
nice
1 Tbsp oil (you do not need oil if
you use bacon)
1 cup onion, chopped (optional)
1 can (199ml) bamboo shoots or 1/2
pkg (16 oz) fresh bamboo in brine,
drained
3 Tbsp soy sauce, I use
JapaneseTamari
1 Tbsp sake or white wine
2 Tbsp mirin*
1 Tbsp sugar
Directions:
Wash rice until water runs clear
and cook according to package
directions or in a rice cooker if you
have one.
Cook mushrooms in butter if you
are using them and set aside.
In same pan, fry pork in oil or
bacon until it is nearly done then add
bamboo and onions if desired and stir
fry for several minutes longer.
Mix soy sauce, sake, mirin and
January 2019 35
Recipes by Anne Mann
New year, new flavour sensations
Experimenting with new flavours such as salmon and shrimp meat balls (top)
introduces new foods such as bamboo (above, left) seen here peeled and roasted.
Bamboo is incorporated into the rice with pork and bamboo recipe that also
worked well with canned bamboo.