Ginger Poached Pineapple

This is a recipe I adapted from the Thai magazine Food Stylist.  It’s from the pastry chef, Shannon Moeran, at The Metropolitan Hotel.  The recipe calls for smaller and younger pineapples that I can’t find anywhere.  I used the smallest one I found instead.  And the result is still decadent.  Thanks chef!

I love the way how pineapples are peeled in Thailand.  The tough green peel is thinly removed, leaving the eyes intact.  Then the eyes are removed in slanted slits, resulting in a lovely spiral of a fruit gem.

I remember the first time seeing how pineapple was peeled on American TV and was shocked.  The skin was thickly cut to remove all the eyes.  So much of the fruit wasted!  I found out later other Southeast Asian countries do the same spiral thing and pretty much elsewhere good pineapple is wasted.  Which then made me wonder how difficult is it to “spiral remove” the eyes?

Not much at all!

Ok, mine didn’t turn out perfect like what the street vendors can do but, hey, they have more practice than I do.  But it was great fun and a lot easier than I thought.

The recipe stuffs the pineapple with dry mango, tamarind and pineapple cooked until jam-like.  I stuffed mine simply with candied Chinese dates but I am thinking dried persimmons would be a better choice.  I didn’t like the tough skins of the dates.  I also adjusted the amount of sugar and water used.  The original recipe calls for “600 grams of water to 250 grams sugar to 4 baby pineapples.”  It doesn’t say how many grams those pineapples are but 250 grams is about 1 cup of sugar………..yea, I really had no idea how to figure out.  Ha. Ha. Ha.  In the end, I decided to use 3 cups sugar to 8 cups water.  Just enough to cover my non-baby-but-not-big pineapple.  I topped it off with a vanilla bean since the chef serves his with vanilla ice cream.  I am serving this as it is.  Haven’t invested in an ice cream machine, yet………….

I used my Staub for this dish because it requires two hours of baking in the oven.  I am also planning to make this again as a topping for shaved ice to be served with cold, cold, cold plum sake……….yummy!

Adapted from Food Stylist.  Recipe by Chef Shannon Moeran

1 small pineapple (mine is about 500 grams)

1 medium knob of ginger

3 cups sugar

1 vanilla bean

5 candied Chinese dates

8 cups of water

1. Peel the tough green skin of the pineapple thinly.  The pineapple is actually an interesting fruit.  The eyes grow in slanted rows all around the fruit.  Make slanted slits on the top and bottom of the eyes to remove.  This can be done individually but I find that if the eyes are removed in multiples, it makes for a prettier spiral.  Trim away the bits and pieces of the tough skin as needed.

2. Core the pineapple.  This is just about the only difficult part for me as it doesn’t work with my apple corer.  I had to use a small fruit knife to cut it all around.  Stuff it with Chinese dates and set aside.

3. Make the ginger syrup by adding the ginger and sugar to boiling water.  Slit and scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean. Add to the syrup.  Infuse for 5 minutes. Remove from stove.

4. Put the pineapple into the syrup.  Make sure there is enough water to cover the fruit.  Top with a lid and bake in the oven for 2 hours at 120 Celsius.  The pineapple should be soft but maintains its shape.

5. Remove the pineapple and reduce the poaching liquid to a caramel consistency.  Slice the pineapple into 2 cm thick pieces or leave it whole to be cut at the serving table.  Pour caramel over pineapple.

6.  Alternatively, the fruit can also be served with the dried persimmon cooked in the poaching liquid until a thick sauce-like consistency.

Vegetable Stew

One of the most versatile dishes in this world is the Thai-Chinese Jab Chai (จับฉ่าย) or vegetable stew or soup.  I personally think this is the perfect dish to cook after Chinese New Year.  A great way to use up all the pork, chicken, duck and whatnot that played such a vital part in the celebration.  I mean, honestly, what else does one do with 9 whole chicken, 9 whole ducks, or 9 large slabs of pork belly????  Yes, a lot is given away but I like to reserve a few to make jab chai – that hodgepodge of vegetables and meat boiled together until all are soft and brown.

Jap chai is commonly found in Chinese Congee places.  It’s never on the menu of fancy Chinese or Thai places.  In fact, I have been told it’s Teochiew in origin and was created by putting all leftovers in a large pot and let simmer together until all the flavors merge into one large hearty soup. Then again, there are purists who claim jab chai must include Chinese Mustard.  I have to agree with this.  It’s the mustard greens that gives jab chai its special light bitter taste. In fact this humble stew has had it’s fair share of facelifts in the past years.  It used to be just mustard greens and pork belly.  Then there is the more elaborate version with dried shiitake, cabbage, and daikon.  Today I see jab chai made with carrots, purple cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach……..but no mustard greens.  That to me is just plain veggie stew.  No mustard green, not jab chai.

Many households have their own versions.  Some add betel leaves and fermented soy beans.  Others add tofu.  My parent-in-law’s maid adds in cilantro roots, whole black peppers and galangal.  I like chewing on the black peppers and feeling them pop in the mouth.  But the galangal is a whole different story.  It doesn’t do much for the stew except gave it a very faint citrusy smell that I just don’t think works for this dish. As for the meat, I find the more various kinds added the more flavorful the broth.

At my mom’s place, jab chai is simply made by frying a few cloves of garlic, slices of pork belly are then added and fried lightly, the radish and bitter melon are added in with enough water to cover, then mustard greens are placed on top, a few tablespoons of soy sauce is added and everthing is left to simmer until soft.  (At this point the pot may look like it’s about to burst but in a few minutes the mustards wilt and shrink.)  What makes my house’s jab chai different from others, and I have yet to see it elsewhere, is the addition of lookchin or meatballs (the springy Asian type).  And we always made it with bitter melon and a few chili.  It’s one of my favortie versions.

Lately, I have been making a different version that merges my mom’s with my parent-in-law’s.  I made it with fresh beancurd sheets, meatballs, all the veggies chez Mom, cilantro roots, garlic, whole peppers, and schechwan peppers.  The first and last are my own additions. I like the texture of beancurd sheets and the szechwan peppers give the dish an extra kick.  This is probably the best thing about jab chai.  You don’t need a recipe.  It’s one of those add-whatever-and-as-much-as-you-like dishes (as long as mustard greens are included). Plus you get to use up all those neglected things in the fridge.  Including the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving.