食無肉, 人瘦 Hannibal or Delectable?

Swapping the new year’s resolution with a bucket list has become my mission possible 2022.  What exactly does a bucket list mean?  Is she or he the person you always want to court but for XYZ reasons, you walk away with a woeful heart of what ifs?  When facing psychological threats(any thinking outside my comfort zone counts as one!), I tend to take it like Dr. Lecter would, settling old scores…. ta-da.

浮生若夢, 疫病戰亂遷徙, 外在世界翻轉, 時感無常且無力.  人到中年去日苦多, 自我期許每年立定志趣目標, 如黑暗混亂中的小小明燈:  去年讀書寫作, 今年精進廚藝, 來年或者重拾球拍, 因為高中網球課被當遺憾, 還有學奏樂器, 義大利文...

等小V上大學住校, LK要領養一對喜馬拉雅胖貓!!! 年年小目標若都能達成, 終老離世那天, 此生無憾矣.   

2021 was about reading and writing(my 1st children’s book Lettuce Get in Trouble will officially launch in May!). I deemed 2022 to be the year of culinary exploration and I am determined to learn cooking my favorite delicacies.  

File No. 1:  Catch Me If You Can - minced beef cabbage rolls.  I rekindled my passion with the decade old Le Creuset dutch oven.  Prepping the cabbage leaves and wrapping the meaty parcels required patience yet knowing handsome reward awaited.  It was warm, unctuous and with a great balance of different textures. 

這陣子乍暖還寒, 冷颼颼居多, 總想吃熱呼呼油滋滋佳餚.  起而行, 週末上市場挑時蔬肉品, 一頭栽入廚房, 隨著Van Morrison抒情嗓音響起, 雙刀並用, 每星期皆有新作.  鑄鐵鍋煎炒燉烤燜, 萬用單鍋料理, 倒也變化無窮.  高麗菜牛肉捲, 難度不高, 但需些許耐心汆燙菜葉削梗, 絞肉包捲, 豐腴肉汁和甜脆高麗菜封存高溫燉烤, 開鍋清香襲人.

File No. 2:  The Three Little Pigs - pork many ways!  When I saw that Good Eggs carries Iberico pork belly and pork rind, I knew I must dust off my kill suit and head to the kitchen.  Patience could not do it all… one needs sharp knives and the skills of top surgeon.

某日見Good Eggs竟有伊比利五花肉和豬皮, 立馬訂購, 起灶紅燒!  滷肉滷蛋催飯餸, LK健康因素不宜多食米穀, 菜葉包肉成青蔬刈包, 佐梅汁淺漬小黃瓜胡蘿蔔, 張口大咬, 五花肉糯, 醃瓜酸脆, 風味雅緻, 另類窮則變, 變則通.

My all protein style pork belly buns.  It would be a nice sharing dish for the whole family to enjoy over juicy gossips.

With the porky gloriousness, something sharp with acidity is needed to cut it through.  Light pickling came to the rescue.  I for one could never have enough of pickles as it goes with everything.

豬皮的前奏功夫則十分繁複, 汆燙濯洗除腥去油, 分批冷凍以應各式食譜.  紅燒豬皮滑嫩嚼感佳, 等於生酮麵條, 滷汁冷藏凝肉凍, 爽口前菜即成.  至過癮是低溫烤豬皮, 香酥脆欲罷不能, 非市售袋裝炸豬皮寡淡口味可比.

Braised pork rind was a nostalgic Taiwanese eat that we could put a fashionable spin on it as the KETO noodles.  Reserved and cooked the marinade then the abundant collagen will turn it into delicious terrine once chilled.

家廚食材平凡, 食譜隨手拈來, 奢華於投入的時間和心思.  金桔泡菜, Meyer lemon蜜餞, 鹹酥豬皮... 舉頭望Netflix, 低頭思故鄉也.

Boundless recipes for the pork rind and one of my favorite was the crackling.  I slow baked stripes in low temperature and the resulting chicharron?  OINK!!!

So dear readers, there you have it.  Kumquat and cabbage pickles, pork rind scratchings and candied Meyer lemon peels… three Michelin stars was never about haute cuisine, it was a state of mind :)