Eating From the Ground Up

salty pork

by

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Hot, hot, hot.

The summer has taken over. Not the lazy, unschooling, natural parenting kind of summer  you might expect of me, but instead the driving  to theater camp, the too-many backyard parties, the over and over up till 11 until the girls break down in tears mid afternoon and say, “I’m just so tired. I’m just not up for this!” (Still the next morning we ask if it was worth it and the answer is always Yes.)

We have much less scribbled on the calendar in August. That month will be slow and lazy, another time altogether.

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In the moments when I have delivered the girls to their various summer destinations, I sit with a large jar of iced coffee sweating on my desk and I tried to hammer out more book, which, between you and me,  is not really humming along, but rather sprinting and sputtering, sprinting and sputtering.

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I think I’m breaking the rules by telling you this. I think I’m supposed to tell you at every step of the game how inspired and excited I am about each recipe, and about everything I have to share. But right now, in the dead heat of summer, I think we all know that there is nothing better than something fresh and unmarred by some silly recipe with an over-descriptive title. There is nothing better than snap peas, or cucumbers with a little salt, or the very first July tomatoes with an overzealous grind of pepper. The world does not need another book to tell them how to eat or cook, least of all from me. But still, I’m writing one, trying, this week, to get into the curvy poetry of caramelized onions and braised stews and all the things I’m sure hope I”ll be hungry for in November. But that really will be another time altogether.

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Tonight, Joey got home with a little wrapped gift of pork tenderloin I had requested.  I harnessed all the heat in the kitchen and channeled it into the wok, where it smoked and sputtered and sizzled its way to dinner. Sadie ran outside and picked raspberries because she was so hungry, and I watched her, she, suddenly tall and willowy, curving into the bushes to search for berries. I’d picked so many this morning for popsicles, but it seemed there were plenty that ripened since. She swatted the mosquitos away and ate her way through the bush. I stood on the porch pretending to do something else, and just for that moment, the tiny, green tomatoes on the spindly plants on the porch seemed to hold all the promise of just about everything.

I imagine that will be August, another time altogether.

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This has been the dish I’ve been wanting every day. It’s summer cooking when you want something other than cold orzo and basil, or, in our lesser moments, popcorn. (No shame. I have no shame about the popcorn nights.)

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My friend, Isabella, shared this recipe with me. We were on a plane together, and she said, “Did I ever tell you how my mother wrote a Vietnamese cookbook?”

You think you know someone. And then they go and surprise you with something like that. It turns out her mother, Julia, wrote the book with her friend Mai, and the book never quite made it to print. Judging from this recipe, it’s our deep loss. But at least we have salty pork to get us through the hot hot summer. A book that does that–well, I guess there is one more book the world needs.

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Salty Pork

(Thit Heo Ram Man)

adapted, with gratitude, from a recipe by Julia Califano and Mai Donohue

Serves 4-6

2 tablespoons peanut oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2 small cucumbers, sliced thin

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

pinch red pepper flakes

pinch salt

1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, sliced thin (between 1/4 and 1/2 inch)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup fish sauce

handfuls of fresh mint, basil, and parsley (or, shudder… cilantro)

½ cup peanuts, toasted and roughly chopped

1 lime, cut into wedges

White rice, for serving

1. Preheat a wok or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil and heat until it shimmers and spits. Add the garlic and onion and cook until golden brown.

2. Meanwhile, combine the cucumbers, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

3. Add the pork and sugar to the wok and cook, stirring often, until the meat is brown and has absorbed all the juices in the pan, about 15 minutes. Scrape the pan as you stir. Turn off the heat, add the fish sauce, and stir until the sauce is mostly absorbed by the meat. Add the black pepper stir to combine.

4. Transfer the cucumber slices to a serving plate. Top with the pork, then the herbs, and finally the peanuts. Garnish with lime wedges and serve with rice.

 

 

 

Comments

  4. Sounds wonderful and with lots of flavor! My pregnancy has sucked away my desire for meat – so to want to make this recipe is a beautiful surprise that my husband will thank you for :). Take care and enjoy all the good things of such a busy month!

  5. I’ve slipped into meals derived from meals derived from previous meals because I cannot bring myself to turn on the oven. This looks delicious though. Lovely to even think about eating:)

  6. Growing up, we had popcorn for supper a lot of Sunday nights for years! Dad made it on the stovetop in a copper pan which I have now. It still makes the best popcorn ever. ; ) When my daughter was growing up I made popcorn for supper on occasion too… still do for that matter… and you’re right – no apologies.

    • It’s a whole grain, right? And if I add a bit of nutritional yeast on top, then there’s even something with “nutritional” in the title for dinner.

  7. I only have popcorn for supper when my husband works late. I hide the evidence, too.
    Have been braving the heat in order to cook. Silly me wanted to bake bread without checking the weather report. Ended up making my first loaves of whole wheat break (from your book of course!) on the hottest day so far this year. Totally worth it! You have turned me into a bread goddess! Thanks!

    • Having just pulled a few loaves out of the oven myself, I can sympathize! When last I checked, it was 97 outside, and it’s definitely hotter inside now. But now I have bread 🙂 Here’s to sweaty bread goddesses!

  9. Printing, printing, printing. Someone JUST told me to “eat a cucumber every day” after we discussed my summer swelling issues. I have edema all year long, but it gets worse in the sweaty seasons. In answer to the question, “doesn’t salt make it worse?” I must always say: no. Just the heat.

    So yay, can’t wait to try this recipe!
    Thanks for thinking of us. 😉

  11. book? another BOOK? where oh when oh where did i miss THAT announcement?! oh, hallelujah and happy hour, hoot! sputter and sprint away, my dear.

    in the meantime, bring on the salty pork, nom nom nom….

    • Oh, I’m sputtering away for sure, with just the tiniest bit of sprinting. And someday, yes, there will be another book! Thank you for cheering me on. In helps more than I can ever express.

  12. Summer is funny that way. Sometimes I want it to be lazy, for the kids, and instead they’re bored and squabbly. Today I want to bring them to a pool, but we live in Northern California and it’s cold and foggy here, so no pool. Most of all I just want them to think, “Ah, summer…” I want it to be different from the school year, whether by being more fun or more relaxing. So today… I think we’ll make peach popsicles, cold or no cold. Anyway, great post, and I’ll be making this pork soon. Thank you for giving my morning such a lovely boost and bit of inspiration!

    • Well put, Emma? It’s a season of expectations for sure. And I think no matter what we do, they’ll still think Ah, Summer- because it just is that way, fog or no fog, or in my case, heatwave or not. Here, it’s so hot, we can’t even really go outside this week. We have a river that we walk to to swim, but back up its a 15 minute hill, and we’d melt before we even got half way. So for us, this week, summer is inside, half naked, wet washcloths on our necks, and yes, peach popsicles. We have that in common.

      • Ah, to walk to a river–lovely. I made the pork a few days ago–had to text a photo to my husband on his way home from work. The kids agreed it looked “like something from a restaurant.” They wouldn’t touch it, of course (sigh), but my husband I gobbled it up. And we’re still feasting on peach popsicles!

  13. Great peach popsicle recipe for you! Take 5 or 6 softball-sized peaches, I froze them last summer in a Ziploc bag, defrosted them, pulled away the skin and pit (very easily, I should add), pureed them with my stick blender and mixed with 1 cup of simple sugar. Pour into molds and wait five hours for the best, prettiest pops of the year. Good luck.

    • Thank you, Anna! I actually just found a hidden stash of frozen peaches in the freezer, so this is perfect for me, too.

  17. I made this for dinner last night and it was fantastic! So flavorful. I wanted more veggies, so I added two diced zucchinin there at the end.

    I love your first book and your blog. Can’t wait for your second book!

  19. Thank you for this dish. I’m so lucky to have first tasted it made by you! It’s now become a staple and we’re trying not to make it too much so we don’t burn out on it because we’re pretty obsessed. Love it!

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