baby rambutan

from Vietnam, to Morocco, in my dreams.
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i saw many versions of this in the blogs that i regularly visit and it sure made my mouth water at the mere thought: pork belly! kim chee!

so on a day when my appetite seemed to be blah and in need of invigorating, and i couldn’t think of what to cook, this dish came to mind, a very simple dish with explosive flavors. just make sure you have a cold drink nearby.

cut pork belly into two inch strips. season with salt and pepper.

heat a flat bottomed skillet and add vegetable oil. brown the pork belly all over and set aside on a paper towel lined platter. skim off excess fat then add crushed garlic and scallions. add pork belly pieces, kim chee, a splash each of sesame oil and rice wine. i also added about a tablespoon of fermented fish paste (bagoong isda or padek). add enough water to cover, put on the lid, and let simmer until pork is tender.

pour over a huge mound of hot white rice and garnish with more kim chee, if you dare.

i was always skulking around in our kitchen, lifting lids and sniffing pots even as a very small child. the cook-of-the-moment (my mom was a very meticulous employer, so we had quite a succession of cook-nanny-helpers) was always shooing me away. i almost always found a little pot of mysterious stews, my mom’s personal stash of pinakbet, dinengdeng, bulanglang, which was not served with our dinner–just for her. i think it was because she knew we wouldn’t eat it but she had to have some.
now i have my own secret pot: those dishes i know the husband and kids won’t want but i must have. this is one of them…

pork with black pepper, garlic, and fish sauce,a Cambodian recipe which i learned from tv’s Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith, back in the days when i had the firstborn son. and had to sit a lot while nursing him…
this is a very spicy and hearty fishy dish. add more or less peppers as you wish. (sometimes i add sliced fresh green long sili right before removing from heat.)

crush 3 large cloves of garlic with 1/2 tbsp. of peppercorns. saute in hot peanut oil. add 3/4 lb. pork butt, cut into cubes and about 1/3 cup of smashed cilantro roots or stems. stir fry until pork is browned. add 4 or more, according to taste, dried red chilies. add 2-3 tbsps. of Vietnamese fish sauce and turn down heat to simmer. cook until pork is tender, adding 1/4 cup of water at a time if it dries out too quickly. serve with sprigs of cilantro and a squeeze of lime. and hot jasmine rice.

…and i will offer the kittens a bite now and then so it won’t have to be my secret pot anymore (husband doesn’t eat cilantro!).

My Lola called it “sunok,” and she felt it very often during her stay in upstate New York.
It is the feeling of a tired palate, when applied to appetites, when one feels no gumption to test a new recipe for the same old tired ingredients, when one’s tastebuds are hankering for new adventures. Lola also used to say “nakakasuya,” suya meaning almost nauseating, sickening, when she referred to dishes rich in cream or spice.
So this dish came to be, an offshoot of a dish husband and I used to have in a favorite Chinese restaurant, sizzling platter of squid in shrimp sauce. I bought a bottle of “fine shrimp sauce” and found a recipe for pork which I’ve since revised and tweaked through the years. Guaranteed to spark a dull lull in your tastebuds, when you need a tasty hit of something sharp and strong. (This is not for the timid.)
First you need to find these cross-cut pork spareribs, which are sold in long thin pieces or chopped up. They are often served in tiny bowls at dimsum, steamed in black bean sauce. I like them with shrimp sauce.

Marinate in rice wine and black pepper, at least half an hour.

Add thinly sliced red or green hot peppers, 1 big knob of ginger, sliced, half a head of garlic, crushed. Grind black peppercorns and sprinkle sea salt over the meat. Add 1 stalk of green onions, julienned, green and white parts. Mix in well, 1 (or more, according to taste) tbsp. of Chinese shrimp sauce (Lee Kum Kee or Koon Chun) and 1 tsp. of rice wine, and set over steamer. (Have on hand boiling water in a separate pot to add to the steamer as necessary). Steam until pork is tender and almost falling off the bone, about 1 hour and 15 minutes or more. Add boiling water as necessary.

(Light a scented candle now.) Serve over hot steamed rice. Guaranteed to drive “sunok” blues away.