Steamed Pork Patty w/ Chinese Sausage & Shitake Mushrooms 臘腸冬菇蒸肉餅

This is a great example of what I call "homecooking."  When you cook at home, you cook with love and compassion. The lack of expensive china, pretentiously small portion sizes, and insatiable food critics create a sense of peace in the kitchen.  As peaceful as a kitchen can be that is. Home cooked meals don't have to be 5 Star presentations, but they CAN be utterly delicious. So let's look beneath this patty's humble exterior and uncover the bold flavors our ingredients have to offer.

LET'S COOK!

Ingredients

1lb ground pork
2 whole pc Chinese Sausage (sliced)
4 medium/large shiitake mushroom( soften and sliced)
1 green onion(chopped)
2 dry chili pepper( crushed)

The sausage can be purchased at almost any Chinese market. You can purchase the pork and shitake at your local market (HEB carries it).

If you lack dried chilis like so, crushed red pepper can make a substitution (but the flavors of the spice will change a little).

Seasoning for Pork Patty

1/2 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs Maggi sauce
1/4 tbs chicken bouillon
1/2 tbs sesame
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1/2 tbs cornstarch
1/4 tbs sugar

Starting to see a trend here? A lot of Chinese cooking uses the same ingredients to achieve different sauces and flavors. But let's save that for another discussion....

Directions

Cut your pieces at a 45 degree angle. This will make your pieces look longer and more appropriate to the dish.

Moistening the shitakes before cutting them is highly recommended.  I have also cooked them dry before (but that involved a dish with lots of sauce which then rehydrated the mushrooms).  Remove the stems of the shitakes as well- they are hard to chew.

In a big bowl mix the ground pork with all the seasonings listed above, chili pepper, and 2/3 of the green onion( save 1/3 for later use)

Use all the seasoning ingredients listed above.  Then using your hands (washed of course), evenly mix up the meat with the ingredients.

Place the seasoned pork patty on a large dinner plate (10 inches or so), use a spoon to even up the meat. You can poke it a few times (so the meat will cook faster). This will prevent large lumps of meat which can take much longer to cook.

Spread it out as evening as possible.  This will help the cooking process be quick and even throughout.

Now, place the sliced shitake mushroom on top of the patty (similar in the fashion you would garnish a pizza) and then the Chinese sausage over the mushrooms. Finally, sprinkle the rest of the green onion. Set this aside for now.

Meat pizza.lol

First mushrooms, then sausage, and then finally the green onions.

Steaming the patty...

There are a couple different approaches to the steaming process.  In this sense, we mean a literal steam and not 'boiling' it in water. If you possess a steamer (of any kind that usually places on top of a skillet, wok, or large saute pan) then you are in good shape.  I actually have a rack that fits perfectly in my pot that fits the plate with the patty in it.  So while we are here, let's recap on how to get steaming...

In big steamer/pot, fill the pan about half way and bring the water to a rolling boil. Then place your steaming vessel, plate and finally lid on top.  **The water shouldn't be touching or submerging the food.  The idea is to let it boil underneath and let the heat evenly distribute (like a nice hot steam sauna). The cooking time will be about 25 minutes. Use a thermometer to check (if you have it) if the temperature reaches 165 degrees.

**Another thing to watch for, keep an eye on your water. Sometimes stove tops are unpredictable but most times they work in our favor. I've walked away plenty of times to come back to my pot COMPLETELY empty of water.  The stove had burned it all off! Bad things could happen (besides your food being completely uncooked). You don't want to overcheck it, but at the least listen for that boiling water...

And that's about it! Be careful of the hot plate! It's been steaming for 25 minutes! Before diving in, let it rest for a few minutes so that the meat can reconstitute itself.  It'll be less messy and easier to eat this way. You'll also notice that all the marinade and pork 'juice' have created a nice little sauce beneath it.  The meat will still be nice and moist without it (if you don't care to eat it with it). I recommend trying it with the sauce for the sake of flavor. It's gooood.

The charm of this dish is that it's a dish meant to be shared; similar to a pizza.  Everyone will gather around the dinner table with their chopsticks and rice bowls in hand picking away at this delicious meat patty.

If you haven't tried Chinese Sausage before, you are missing out.  It sweet and savory, moist yet firm, and it compliments the flavors of shitake mushroom so well, it's like they were meant to always be together. I highly recommend taking a trip to your local (or not so local) Chinese Market and get some of this sausage. But be careful, it's addicting.....

AND remember what I said in the last post? About when main dishes that are primarily meat usually get a nice fresh side of steamed vegetables or greens? This is the perfect opportunity to do so! Chinese cooking is all about balance (yin and yang). So when you pull that meat off of the steamer, turn that heat back on and steam some baby bok choy, napa cabbage, sliced carrots etc etc.  Eat some vegetables, they're good for yah. ;)

Thanks for reading! I have more to share with you coming early next week! Leave me a comment here or on facebook with any questions or just to say hello!

Coming up next- "Crispy Prawn with Candy Walnut in Sweet Creamy Sauce" （生汁合桃蝦）

Happy cooking, God bless, and see you next week!

~Hoby
Psalm 18:30
"God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection."