Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (69 page)
SERVES 6 AS AN APPETIZER OR 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
We prefer natural pork in this recipe. If using enhanced pork, skip the marinating in step 2 and reduce the amount of fish sauce to 2 tablespoons, adding it all in step 5. Don’t skip the toasted rice; it’s integral to the texture and flavor of the dish. Any style of white rice can be used. Toasted rice powder (
kao kua)
can also be found in many Asian markets; substitute 1 tablespoon rice powder for the white rice. This dish can be served with sticky rice and steamed vegetables as an entrée. To save time, prepare the other ingredients while the pork is in the freezer.
1 | (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks |
2¹⁄ | tablespoons fish sauce |
1 | tablespoon white rice |
¹⁄ | cup low-sodium chicken broth |
2 | shallots, peeled and sliced into thin rings |
3 | tablespoons lime juice (2 limes) |
3 | tablespoons roughly chopped fresh mint |
3 | tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro |
2 | teaspoons sugar |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes |
1 | head Bibb lettuce (8 ounces), leaves separated |
1.
Place pork on large plate in single layer. Freeze meat until firm and starting to harden around edges but still pliable, 15 to 20 minutes.
2.
Place half of meat in food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped,
5 to 6 pulses. Transfer ground meat to medium bowl and repeat with remaining chunks. Stir 1 tablespoon fish sauce into ground meat, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3.
Toast rice in small skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool 5 minutes. Grind rice with spice grinder, mini food processor, or mortar and pestle until it resembles fine meal, 10 to 30 seconds (you should have about 1 tablespoon rice powder).
4.
Bring broth to simmer in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook, stirring frequently, until about half of pork is no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon rice powder over pork and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until remaining pork is no longer pink, 1 to 1¹⁄
2
minutes longer. Transfer pork to large bowl and let cool 10 minutes.
5.
Add remaining 1¹⁄
2
tablespoons fish sauce, remaining 2 teaspoons rice powder, shallots, lime juice, mint, cilantro, sugar, and pepper flakes to pork and toss to combine. Serve with lettuce leaves, spooning meat into leaves at table.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Our typical high-heat stir-fry technique, which works well with chicken, beef and pork, doesn’t fly with quick-cooking shrimp. We would need to modify it if we wanted to produce plump, juicy, well-seasoned shrimp in a balanced, flavorful sauce. We started out cooking the vegetables over high heat, then removed them and turned the heat down before adding the aromatics and shrimp (which we marinated in oil, salt, and garlic for better flavor and texture). Once the shrimp were cooked through in the sauce, we returned the vegetables to the pan. For our sauce, the heavily soy-based brews we turn to for meat stir-fries were a poor match with the shrimp. Sweeter or spicier sauces flavored with garlic and chiles were better suited, and they reduced to a consistency that tightly adhered to the shellfish.
SERVES 4
Serve with
SIMPLE WHITE RICE
.
SAUCE
3 | tablespoons sugar |
3 | tablespoons white vinegar |
1 | tablespoon Asian chili-garlic sauce |
1 | tablespoon dry sherry or Chinese rice cooking wine |
1 | tablespoon ketchup |
2 | teaspoons toasted sesame oil |
2 | teaspoons cornstarch |
1 | teaspoon soy sauce |
SHRIMP STIR-FRY
1 | pound extra-large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), peeled, deveined, and tails removed |
3 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
1 | tablespoon grated fresh ginger |
2 | garlic cloves, 1 minced, 1 sliced thin |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
1 | large shallot, sliced thin |
8 | ounces snow peas or sugar snap peas, stems and strings removed |
1 | red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ³⁄ |
1. FOR THE SAUCE:
Whisk all ingredients together in small bowl and set aside.
2. FOR THE STIR-FRY:
Combine shrimp with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, ginger, minced garlic, and salt in medium bowl. Let shrimp marinate at room temperature 30 minutes.
3.
Combine sliced garlic with shallot in small bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add snow peas and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to brown, 1¹⁄
2
to 2 minutes. Transfer vegetables to medium bowl.
4.
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over high heat until just smoking. Add shallot mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until just beginning to brown, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp are light pink on both sides, 1 to 1¹⁄
2
minutes. Stir sauce to recombine and add to skillet; return to high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and shrimp are cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Return vegetables to skillet, toss to combine, and serve.
SERVES 4
Note that this recipe is spicy and not for the timid. If you can find a Chinese long pepper, use it in place of the jalapeño. Broad bean chili paste is also referred to as chili bean sauce or horse bean chili paste. If you can’t find it, increase the amount of Asian chili-garlic sauce by 1 teaspoon. Sichuan peppercorns, available at Asian markets and some supermarkets, have purplish-red husks and shiny black seeds; it is preferable to buy them with the seeds removed, as it’s the husk that provides the aromatic, gently floral fragrance (and the notable numbing effect on the tongue). Serve with
SIMPLE WHITE RICE
.
SAUCE
2 | tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese rice cooking wine |
1 | tablespoon broad bean chili paste |
1 | tablespoon Asian chili-garlic sauce |
1 | tablespoon white vinegar or Chinese black vinegar |
2 | teaspoons soy sauce |
2 | teaspoons chili oil or toasted sesame oil |
1 | teaspoon sugar |
1 | teaspoon cornstarch |
¹⁄ | teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and ground (optional) |
SHRIMP STIR-FRY
1 | pound extra-large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), peeled, deveined, and tails removed |
3 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
2 | garlic cloves, 1 minced, 1 sliced thin |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
¹⁄ | cup dry-roasted peanuts |
1 | jalapeño chile, stemmed, halved, seeded, and sliced thin on bias |
1 | small zucchini, cut into ³⁄ |
1 | red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ³⁄ |
¹⁄ | cup fresh cilantro leaves |
1. FOR THE SAUCE:
Whisk all ingredients together in small bowl and set aside.
2. FOR THE STIR-FRY:
Combine shrimp with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, minced garlic, and salt in medium bowl. Let shrimp marinate at room temperature 30 minutes.
3.
Combine sliced garlic, peanuts, and jalapeño in small bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add zucchini and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until zucchini is tender and well browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer vegetables to medium bowl.
4.
Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and heat until just smoking. Add peanut mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until just beginning to brown, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp are light pink on both sides, 1 to 1¹⁄
2
minutes. Stir sauce to recombine and add to skillet. Return to high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and shrimp are cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Return vegetables to skillet, add cilantro, toss to combine, and serve.
SERVES 4
Serve with
SIMPLE WHITE RICE
.
SAUCE
2 | tablespoons soy sauce |
2 | tablespoons oyster sauce |
2 | tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese rice cooking wine |
2 | tablespoons sugar |
1 | tablespoon toasted sesame oil |
1 | tablespoon white vinegar |
2 | teaspoons cornstarch |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes
|
SHRIMP STIR-FRY
1 | pound extra-large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), peeled, deveined, and tails removed |
3 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
6 | garlic cloves, 1 minced, 5 sliced thin |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
6 | large scallions, whites sliced thin and greens cut into 1-inch pieces |
¹⁄ | cup cashews |
12 | ounces eggplant, cut into ³⁄ |
1. FOR THE SAUCE:
Whisk all ingredients together in small bowl and set aside.
2. FOR THE STIR-FRY:
Combine shrimp with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, minced garlic, and salt in medium bowl. Let shrimp marinate at room temperature 30 minutes.
3.
Combine sliced garlic with scallion whites and cashews in small bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add eggplant and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, 3 to 6 minutes. Add scallion greens and continue to cook until scallion greens begin to brown and eggplant is fully tender, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer vegetables to medium bowl.
4.
Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and heat until just smoking. Add scallion whites mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until just beginning to brown, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp are light pink on both sides, 1 to 1¹⁄
2
minutes. Stir sauce to recombine and add to skillet. Return to high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and shrimp are cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Return vegetables to skillet, toss to combine, and serve.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Kung pao is meant to have a fiery personality, but many restaurant versions are dismal, featuring tiny, tough shrimp drenched in a quart of pale, greasy, bland sauce. For a classic Sichuan stir-fry of large, tender shrimp, peanuts that were an ingredient not just a garnish, and an assertive, well-balanced brown sauce, we stir-fried marinated shrimp for just a few seconds, then added the peanuts and small whole red chiles. The chiles gave our dish some fire, and toasting the peanuts deepened their flavor. Finding other vegetables to be superfluous, we added only diced red pepper for sweetness and scallions for a little bite. For a potently flavored sauce, we used a mixture of chicken broth, black rice vinegar (it lent a fruity, salty complexity), sesame oil, oyster sauce, and hoisin sauce. Adding a little cornstarch thickened the sauce to just the right syrupy consistency.