Meal : Tomato Brussels, Turnip Greens Salad, Pork and Leek, Double Pepper Chicken

This weekend, we got some hakurei turnip greens at the local farmer's market and some leeks and hot pepper at the co-op grocery. The challenge was to make 4 dishes before the rice finished and clear out some leftovers.

Massaged Hakurei Turnip Greens Salad

Cut off the turnips, peeled them, and popped them into a small pot of a little boiling water. Covered it and set the heat to low. Put another small pot of oil on another burner. Washed the tender turnip greens and shook them dry. Placed them in a bowl and salted them to draw out water. Squeezed some water out, then cut them into little pieces and returned them to bowl. Added Zhenjiang vinegar. Then, slowly poured hot oil around the greens. They sizzled. Mixed them up. Done.

Brussels and Tomato

Already had a bowl of heirloom grape tomatoes cooked in oil (flavor already concentrated). Cut Brussels sprouts in half, then tossed them into hot pan of oil to sear and stir fry. A few minutes later, added the cooked tomatoes and stirred. Covered the lid and let it cook until Brussels were ready. 

Meanwhile, cut the chicken and pork into slices for the next dishes. Salted them and set aside for stir fries.

Pork And Leek

Washed a leek (white parts only), sliced it small, and set aside. Tossed the pork slices into hot pan of oil to sear it sear then stir fried. Took pork out about 2/3 way ready. Tossed leeks into pan and stir fried it in the pan drippings. When somewhat soft, returned the pork to the pan. Made a little space in the center to add soy sauces and rice wine to caramelize a little. Stirred everything together. Done.

Rinsed but didn't wash the pan. Wiped it dry with paper towel and returned it to the heat with oil for next dish.

Double pepper chicken

Grabbed the Salted Chopped Jalapeños from earlier. Minced garlic, sliced some ginger, chopped lots of scallions. Sliced the Devils Tongue pepper very thin. Tossed everything into the hot pan and stir fried until fragrant. Added chicken slices and stir fried. Everything is in a sparse monolayer. No boiling allowed. Toward end, added dark soy sauce. All is done.

Also, took out those turnips. They were nice and soft but still firm at this point. Sweet, too.

Thoughts

The salad was crisp, refreshing, and flavorful. My father in law uses young turnip greens from his garden, so this approximates it. We've tried using old turnip greens from the supermarket but it was wasn't crisp or refreshing, but actually very bitter - better for being boiled off with bacon. I might try this with radish greens in the future though.

The tomato Brussels was basically Brussels in a homemade tomato sauce. There was no need to add any salt because the tomatoes already had it. Brussels don't taste great when overlooked or even recooked. They also inherently have a slight sulfury taste. But the tomatoes give you a little bit of leeway in cooking time, complement the strong taste with some sour, and reduce the funk of the Brussels. Probably because of the acid content.

The meat stir fries were simple and made   the usual ways. 

Devils Tongue pepper turned out to not be as spicy as I thought it would be. Maybe it was the piece I picked. The flavor also reminded me of something more Southwestern. Next time, I'll probably use long hot green pepper again. Also, I'll use a larger scoop of the chopped Jalapeños.