Friday 19 February
All that was left of our
Valentine's Day veal breast was the end knob, as much fat as meat, sitting in a
small lake of its own jellied juices. It
was far too special to make a hash of, so Barbara thought she'd turn it
into a Chinese-style dish, using baby (Shanghai) bok choy.
While she sliced the meat into
thin slivers, each with its layer of fat, and diced any pure fat separately,
Holt quartered the bok choy lengthwise, and minced equal parts of fresh ginger
and garlic.
We heated the wok to medium-high,
added oil, then ginger and garlic and bok choy and a pinch of kosher salt, one
after the other, with only a quick stir between. We stir-fried until the leaves were dark and
the stems lustrous, then added the jellied veal juice and a drizzle of water,
lowered the heat, covered, and simmered until the bok choy were tender. Removed those to a covered bowl, scraped the
wok clean, and reheated.
Instead of adding oil to the hot
wok as usual, we tossed in the veal fat cubes, and then the meat slices,
stir-frying until the fat browned and sizzled. Then we returned the bok choy to the wok, scraping the brown fond off the bottom with its juices. We made a hot spot in the center of
the wok, stir-fried a tablespoon of oyster sauce, and mixed it in
thoroughly.
With a final drizzle of
sesame oil, it tasted as if our veal breast had been Chinese all along.
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