Beans and ham hocks is one of the simplest recipes that I know, but is it also one of the recipes that I can most describe as comfort food. It’s also considered “soul food”. When I eat this, it invokes memories of childhood and home. This recipe originates from a time of extreme poverty in the South and is often eaten with sautéed greens to the side (which is wonderful, by the way and not pictured above). My family has eaten it for many generations. I’ve heard stories of my great-grandfather eating it while working on the railroad. I find it amazing and slightly ironic that this recipe requires a handful of ingredients and yet is both delicious and incredibly healthy. While I don’t want to get into the politics of eating healthy, this is a great example of a food that is filling, flavorful, and full of nutrients while being inexpensive to make and requiring little cooking ability.

An aspect of this dish that some might find odd is the “soggy bread” but believe me that it is tasty!

Bean and Ham Hocks with Sautéed Greens

2 – Smoked ham hocks (recipe below or can be bought in most stores)

2 cups – Dried pinto beans

1 bunch – Kale (or other greens will do as well)

1 Tbsp – Olive oil or rendered pork fat

white vinegar

kosher salt

1 – Crusty baguette

butter

 

Rinse beans in cold water. Add hocks and beans to a crock pot, along with enough water to cover it all. Cook all day (about 8 hours) or until the beans are soft and cooked and the hocks are falling apart. Remove the hocks from the beans and pick the meat from the bones, skin, and connective tissue. Shred the meat and return it to the beans. Taste for salt. Most smoked hocks will have enough salt to have adequately salted the beans, if not then add to taste.

Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat (I prefer a cast iron skillet). Rinse and chop the kale into 1/2 inch strips. Add the olive oil or pork fat to the skillet. Once the oil starts to smoke, add the greens, tossing quickly for about 10 seconds. Remove from heat and sprinkle with vinegar and salt to taste. Cover the pan and let sit for 1 minute (they will continue cooking).

To serve, ladle portions into bowls and add vinegar to taste (about 1/2 tsp.). Slice and butter the baguette. Tear pieces of the buttered bread into each bowl (which will sop up much of the broth). Serve with greens to the side.

Smoked Ham Hocks

1/4 cup – sugar

1/4 cup – kosher salt

2 – Raw ham hocks

 

Combine the sugar and salt to make a simple curing rub. Pack the hocks in a plastic bag with the rub and refrigerate overnight. The next day, rinse the hocks and pat dry. Smoke on 160 degree heat with hickory smoke for 3 hours. Let cool.

This is a fun and simple recipe that I enjoy making on a weekday night. This Japanese curry is done with a Taiwanese slant which is the way that I eat it when I’m in Taipei. I think it is a great fusion of two styles that makes for a rich and satisfying comfort food. To add a real international touch to the dish, I use Vietnamese yellow curry paste rather than the powder stuff that’s sitting stale in most people’s spice cabinets.

I use Mae Ploy’s Yellow Curry Paste

It’s great stuff. It is fresh tasting and gives a body and richness to the dish. If you can’t find it in your local asian store or at Whole Foods, just add yellow curry powder to taste.

Japanese Yellow Curry with Pork

2 cups – White rice

2 lbs – port cutlets

1 Tbsp – Five spice powder

Salt, pepper

1 cup – All-purpose flour

4 Tbsp – Corn starch (or tapioca starch), divided

1 cup – light oil for frying

3 – carrots, peeled and diced coarsely

2 – potatoes, peeled and diced coarsely

1 clove – fresh garlic, minced

1 tsp – fresh minced ginger

1 Tbsp – Yellow curry paste (or more to taste)

2 cups – chicken broth

4 – eggs, beaten, mixed with 3 Tbsp of water, and divided

toasted sesame seeds

 

Cook the rice

Rinse the rice well, in cold water and then add it to a rice cooker with 5 cups of water. Cook until done. Fluff with a rice paddle and let rest on warm in the cooker.

Pork cutlets

While the rice is cooking prepare the pork and the curry sauce. For the pork, trim any excess fat from the cutlets and then pound them until they are very thin, about 1/4 inch thick (halve as necessary). Salt and pepper generously. Mix the five spice, flour, and 2 Tbsp of starch on a plate. Add 1/4th of the egg and water mixture to a small bowl. Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Dip each cutlet into the flour mixture, then egg, then flour again. Deep fry the cutlets until browned and very crispy, turning once. Let cool on a wire rack.

Curry Sauce

Heat a large wok on medium heat until smoking, add some peanut or light oil (about 1 Tbsp) then the garlic, ginger, carrots, and potatoes. Fry for 5-8 minutes, stirring often, until the carrots and potatoes have begun to soften slightly. Do not brown. Add the broth and curry paste and bring to a low simmer. Lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are softened and fully cooked. Mix the remaining 2 Tbsp. of starch with a 1/4 cup of cold water, stir well, and add to the curry broth, stirring well. Bring to a simmer until the sauce thickens into a thin gravy. Salt and add more curry to taste.

Plating

In a smaller wok or fry pan, heat to medium heat, add oil, and pour a small amount of the thin egg mixture in. Turn the sides of the wok so that the egg coats the inside in a consistent thin layer. It should cook thin, like a crepe. Salt to taste. Turn once if necessary.  Once the egg “omelet” is completed, take a serving of rice and shape it into a semi-sphere or almond shape. This is best done by lightly pressing it into a bowl. Pop the rice out of the bowl and onto a plate. Wrap the rice gently in the omelet so that it looks like a rice mount coated in a thin layer of egg. Repeat for each plate.

Slice the pork cutlets into 1 inch thick slices and serve a generous serving on each plate. Add the curry sauce on the plate as well and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.