Buta Zen Mai (Pork with Fern Shoots)

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Title: Buta Zen Mai (Pork with Fern Shoots)
Categories: Japanese, Pork, Ceideburg 2
Yield: 1 servings

1 1/2 lb Lean pork-sliced thin
1 lb Zen Mai (fern shoots) cut
-into 1 1/2" lengths
3 ts Sugar
2 Tb. shoyu
1/2 ts Gourmet powder
2 Tb. oil

1. Put oil in heated skillet. Add pork and cook for 2 minutes.

2. ea Add sugar, shoyu, gourmet powder and cook for 3 minutes.

3. ea Soak and drain Zen Mai. Add to mixture and cook until most of
the liquid is absorbed.

4. ea Remove and serve.

From "Sukiyaki, the Art of Japanese Cooking and Hospitality", by
Fumiko. Edited and copyrighted by Scotty Guletz. Hawaii and Pacific
Books. No date given.

This is an interesting little book (booklet, really) that must have
come out just after WW II. It was written by a Japanese lady living
in Hawaii and tends to emphasize how genteel and hospitable the
Japanese culture is++probably a good idea considering the historical
context of the book.

The recipes are all pretty basic but look good and call for real
Japanese ingredients that I'm sure were either scarce or unavailable
on the Mainland at the time. Shoyu is, of course, soy sauce. I
can't believe that "gourmet powder" could be anything but MSG.
Though it doesn't call for "fiddleheads" by name, I can't imagine
what else "fern shoots" could be.

Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; July 19 1992

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