Recipe: Vietnamese Caramelized Broiled pork

There is an amazing Vietnamese place just a few blocks away from B and I. We tend to go there more often than I'd like to admit because it's cheap, (semi-) healthy, and 2 blocks away. However, it's always cheaper and healthier to make food at home, so I've been meaning to try this for a while.

This recipe was adapted from Epicurious. Instead of grilling, we broiled the meat. I think either method would be great.


Ingredients:


Meat: 

6 (1/4-inch-thick) boneless pork loin chops
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots (about 2)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt

Dressing:

1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup warm water
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp dried chili flakes
2 tbsp lime juice

Veggies:

Carrot, shredded
Bean sprouts
Cucumber, shredded
Head lettuce, chopped
Green onion, chopped

Other:

Crushed peanuts
Vermicelli noodles

Preparation:

1) Prepare veggies, set aside.

2) Prepare dressing, set aside.

3) Pound chops with flat side of a meat pounder until less than 1/8 inch thick. Make several small 1/4-inch-deep slits around edge of each chop to prevent curling, then halve chops lengthwise and transfer to a bowl.

4) Cook sugar in a dry saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until sugar is melted into a golden caramel. Add shallots, lime juice, fish sauce, and salt (caramel will harden) and cook, stirring constantly, until caramel is dissolved and shallots are softened, about 2 minutes. Note: Do NOT overcook - sugar will turn to 'candy' quickly! 

5) Pour sauce over pork and toss until well coated.

6) Place pork on broiler pan. Pour remaining sauce over pork and place under broiler. Cook for about 5-7 minutes per side, or until dark brown and edges are crispy.

7) While pork is cooking. Boil water for vermicelli noodles - do not add noodles yet!

7) Remove pork from oven and slice into strips.

8) Place vermicelli noodles in boiling water, stir with fork to loosen, drain.

9) Arrange veggies, noodles and pork on plate. Sprinkle with peanuts, drizzle with dressing, and serve!

 Results: I was nervous at how it would turn out, but I have to say it was pretty good for a first attempt! The recipe was great, I just need to perfect the method. When melting sugar, there's a fine line between syrup and rock hard candy!  B really liked it, but pointed out the spring rolls were missing. ;) I was really impressed and thought it was almost, if not AS good as the dish we get at the restaurant. Although it's a bit of work, I loved this recipe and I think it will become one of my staples.

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History of Gastronomy

Two great nutrition videos in a row! Love this one as well. In its short glory, it highlights the unfortunate path we humans have taken, trading in our close relationship to growing and producing our own food, for convenience. Well, it really speaks for itself.

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Bad nutrition advice - don't let it happen to you

Funny but true. Bad nutrition advice is out there - make sure you're seeing a Registered Dietitian so this doesn't happen to you:




Thanks to RD Doug Cook for sharing on Twitter (@DougCookRD).

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Recipe: Cream of Potato Soup

It's been a while since I posted a recipe, but it has been dipping into the minus 20's here lately, and nothing is more inviting in this weather than a hot bowl of hearty soup. Making homemade soup is one of my favourite things to do in the winter. Homemade soups are (generally) healthier, easy to make, and perfect for freezing for nights when you don't feel like cooking. The slow cooker is perfect for this recipe.

Ingredients:

3 Bay leaves
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
6 cups (2 1/2 lbs) potatoes, cubed (You can peel the potatoes if you like, or leave them unpeeled depending which type of potato you use. I used baby red potatoes, and left them unpeeled.)
6 green onions, chopped
3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup half and half cream
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup sour cream, light
3 tbsp minced fresh parsley

Directions:

Heat oil in pan. Sauté celery, onion and garlic until soft, but not coloured. Add to slow cooker.
Add potatoes, salt, green onions, broth, pepper, bay leaves and vinegar to pot. Mix well.

Once soup is hot, stir in cream. Let cook in slow cooker for about 5 hours.

Remove bay leaves from soup. Remove soup from slow cooker in batches, and blend in blender until smooth. Put soup back in pot, and whisk in sour cream.  Serve sprinkled with parsley or green onion.

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Can you lose weight eating nothing but junk?

This article came across my desk, or rather, my twitter today. Professor Haub, human nutrition professor at Kansas State University, lost 27 lbs over 10 weeks on a steady diet of Twinkies, chips, and Oreos.  Many a diet guru have long been claiming that the simple equation: more Calories out than Calories in = weight loss, is well, too simple. Haub disagrees, and set out to prove to his students that pure Calorie counting is what matters when it comes to weight loss and dieting, not the nutritional value of foods.

For 10 weeks, Haub consumed nothing but junk food, a daily multivitamin, and a few vegetables each day. He cut out meat, whole grains, and fruit, and added no extra exercise. The result: 27 lbs lost, body fat percentage down more than 8%, and cholesterol and triglyceride levels had improved. How?

This is an interesting experiment, but really shouldn't be news. After all, this is the premise that millions of Weight Watchers clients use each day. The Weight Watchers points system doesn't care if you spend your points on veggies or cheesecake, as long as you don't go over your points. And this system works! (Whether or not those clients gain the weight back is another story).

There are a lot of good things to take away from this experiment. Haub points out that he always ate a healthy diet before, but he ate too much, reminding us that eating too much of a good thing isn't being healthy either. This experiment also demonstrates that eating less is now (and will always be) an effective way to lose weight, and you don't need to completely deprive yourself to lose a few pounds.

But is Calories in vs. Calories out the only thing that matters in weight loss? Not likely. Mr. Haub's Calorie intake for weight maintenance should be about 2600. He lost this weight by cutting Calories, pure and simple. He ate 1800 Calories of junk per day. But perhaps he could've lost the same amount of weight eating 2100 Calories of healthy food? Meaning, maybe if you make better choices, you can get away with more. Mr. Haub had a lot of weight to lose, but would this diet have worked as well if done by someone else with only 5 or 10 lbs to lose? Those questions have not been answered by this experiment. Professor Haub is only one man, and the human body is a complex machine, so let's not treat this experiment as gospel.

What the diet consists of also has a big impact on overall satisfaction. Sure, a diet of desserts might sound enticing, but it is certainly less filling. After all, a diet of only 1800 Calories is 12 Twinkies, but about 23 (!) apples.

His cholesterol and triglycerides improved - does that mean Twinkies are good for your cholesterol levels?! No! The beneficial effects of losing the weight far outweigh (pardon the pun) the negative effects of the added sugar and fat in the diet. The cholesterol and triglyceride levels were improved by the weight loss itself.

What are the long term effects of a diet like this? Not good. We can measure cholesterol and pant size today, but we can't measure today the effect a diet low in fruits and veggies will have down the road, such as the development of diseases such as cancer.

If you take away anything, please remember this:


There is so much more to food than Calories, so many reasons to eat healthy aside from weight loss, and endless reasons to stay away from Franken-Foods like Twinkies!


Thanks to Rob for sending me the article.

Photo from Professor Haub's Facebook page.

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