Buta Zen Mai - Pork with Fern Shoots

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02

Title: Buta Zen Mai - Pork with Fern Shoots
Categories: Japanese, Pork
Yield: 6 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. Add sugar, shoyu, gourmet powder and cook for 3
minutes.

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

4. 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.

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