Under Pressure: Sweet Sour Spareribs

Under pressure to prepare meals in a hurry. . .a few weeks ago, NN, the mommy of D2's best friend, asked me if I own and use a pressure cooker.  She was interested in buying one to help expedite meal preparation.  As soccer season kicks into high gear for her, time in the kitchen takes a back seat to time at the soccer fields.  And with two kids in soccer, she is really pressed for time.

I did not grow up in a home which used a pressure cooker.  In fact, I don't think my parents ever owned a pressure cooker.  Kikukat Mom would rave about crazy & brave UJames, who would use a pressure cooker to cook sweet potato and laulau.  I remember my homeroom teacher in high school telling a story of how she cooked beef stew in the pressure cooker, and how the stew ended up on the ceiling of her kitchen.  It was probably stories like that which prevented my parents (from the same generation) from wanting to even attempt to use a pressure cooker.

Unlike my parents, Mr. Dependable's mom owned a pressure cooker.  It was never used (she said she bought it at a party), but she still had one.  She gave it to me to try.  I gave it a shot.  My food did not end up on the ceiling.  The pot did not explode.  The spareribs turned out tender and flavorful.  I was sold!  I eventually bought a large pressure cooker, which has come in handy for all sorts of things. . .AND has a safety mechanism which prevents the pressure cooker from being opened until the pressure dissipates to a non-explosive level.

A few months ago, I posted a recipe for pig feet soup, a traditional Okinawan recipe.  When Mr. Dependable broke his jaw, the first thing he requested after the wires came off was pig feet soup.  Thanks to the large Fagor (and the fat separator), I was able to make it in time for dinner that day.  In recent years, The Help successfully  lobbied for a pot of beef stew as a no-fuss meal at informal family gatherings.  I've obliged him and attained hero status with UJames, who always has second helpings (I've been told my beef stew tastes like the one served at Cafe 100).

I circled back last week, and NN informed me she loves her new pressure cooker!  She asked me for some recipes, and the first recipe at the top of my list was sweet sour spareribs!  Actually, it was pig feet soup, but I didn't think NN would eat pig feet soup, so I gave her my recipe for sweet sour spareribs.  I knew it was a good choice when she said, "yummmmm".

 click on recipe title for printable recipe

Sweet Sour Spareribs

     2 lbs spareribs
     4 cloves garlic
     1/3 c shoyu
     6 tbsp sugar
     1/4 c rice vinegar
     1/2 tsp salt
     1 tbsp oil
     1 tbsp cornstarch
     1 can pineapple chunks, drained

Combine shoyu, sugar, vinegar and salt. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat spareribs and 1 c water. Boil then simmer for 20 minutes (longer if chunks are large). Drain spareribs. In a clean pan, heat oil. Add garlic and spareribs. Fry for a few minutes. Add shoyu mixture. Cook on low for 25 minutes. Combine cornstarch and a little water. Add to spareribs and stir until sauce thickens.  Garnish with pineapple chunks. 
Pressure cooker method: Combine spareribs and 1 c water. Heat til boiling. Cover and bring up to high pressure. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure decrease naturally. Drain spareribs, discarding broth. Clean and dry pressure cooker. Add oil to pressure cooker. Add garlic and spareribs. Fry for a few minutes. Add shoyu mixture. Heat til boiling. Cover and bring up to high pressure. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure decrease naturally. Combine cornstarch and a little water. Add to spareribs. Heat and stir until sauce thickens.  Garnish with pineapple chunks.
If you like lots of sauce, double the sauce ingredients.

East Meets West Fruit Salad

In less than a week, I will have house guests.  My cousin LA is coming to town!  She and her boyfriend SN will be here for his friend's wedding.  We are excited because this is the first time we are meeting SN.  LA's parents will also be in town to celebrate her dad's birthday.  Even though he no longer resides in Hilo, UM often comes here to celebrate with his siblings.

LA and SN will be staying with me (UM stays with Kikukat Mom).  I am entering panic mode because my house is very messy at the moment.  I will need to do some blitz cleaning on Friday afternoon/evening since they arrive on Saturday.  I hope SN isn't allergic to cats or mess.  He went to a private school, so maybe he might be scared off by the kitty hair and clutter.  LA is tough so I'm not worried about her.  She survived NYC during the 9/11 attacks.  A little kitty hair won't bother her!

While the lovebirds (LA & SN) will be busy with the wedding on Saturday (provided SN gets over the initial shock of my house mess), the rest of the family will likely get together.  I hope there will be no opportunity for UL to cook on a hibachi.  I also hope there will be no opportunity for AS to get plastered in a restaurant and display offensive behavior.  Shame!

Since I am often asked to make some kind of dessert for family gatherings, I'm anticipating this coming weekend will be no different.  In expectation for warmer weather, I was hoping to make this fruit salad.  Unfortunately, we seem to be entering into another ice age rather than spring.  I love Guy Hagi (local weather bunny for the soon-to-be-geriatric set. . .sorry, Guy), but he seems to always be delivering bad news about the weather.  Well, even if I end up making a warm fruit cobbler, my heart will be pining away for a cool, fruity dessert.

I love this creamy fruit salad.  I think its a variation of halo-halo, a filipino dessert.  The creaminess comes from cream cheese and condensed milk.  You may vary the fruits and sweets.   It makes a whole lot, which is why its good to serve at a gathering (versus trying to eat the whole thing yourself).  Coconut gel, pineapple gel, kaong (sugar palm nut), and macapuno, can be found in the Asian section of most supermarkets (or at the Chinese store).  They are sold in shelf-stable jars.  If possible, try to look for white/plain kaong.  Some stores carry kaong which has been dyed a horrific magenta color (see picture at right. . .the kaong is visible between the mandarin orange segment and the kiwi).  If you use that, be warned that eventually, the entire salad will take on a pink tinge.

If you like canned fruit cocktail, you may also use it.  I go to great lengths to avoid canned fruit cocktail because canned pears and grapes (other than fermented liquid) give me the willies.  I cannot stand those little hard granules in pears, and grapes are kinda close to the Devil's condiment on my list of foods to avoid.  I have tried and tried to like grapes, but I just cannot.  I think it has something to do with the area where the grape is attached to the stems and the disgusting seeds.  Plus it takes so dang long to peel them; the skin doesn't come off nicely...it breaks up into bits and gets all over.  I've gone through a ton of napkins just to get the skin off my fingernails.  What?  You say you don't peel grapes?  You've got to be kidding me!  Euwwwww.  Don't even get me started on jaboticaba.

Now that I've totally grossed myself out with the grape description, I need to pull myself back together.  I've got too much to do before Saturday.  I can't afford to lose my focus.  The Ds need to get cracking with their rooms.  The more they clean, the less I will need to do on Friday evening.  The purr-mobile is a total mess, but I can't clean that until Friday, when I'm done using it for work.  The hallway bathroom also needs to be tidied.  There are enough hair care products on the counter to open our very own Fantastic Sam's!

LA is one of my favorite cousins. . .I will not be the reason for SN running away.  We've got other family members who have the potential for making that happen without even trying!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

East Meets West Fruit Salad

     1 block cream cheese, softened
     1 can condensed milk
     1 jar coconut gel, drained
     1 jar pineapple gel, drained
     1 jar kaong, drained
     2 cans mandarin oranges, drained
     1 jar macapuno
     1 cantaloupe
     1 kiwi
     2 c blueberries
     1 lb strawberries
     1 mango, if available

Beat cream cheese and condensed milk.  Add diced fruits and sweets.  Chill until ready to serve.

It was a busy week in Hilo. . .Merrie Monarch Festival time.  This year was the 50th anniversary of the festival, and Hilo was crawling with tons of people.  Traffic everywhere was crazy.  The Help reported seeing people holding up traffic at an intersection while trying to look at a map.  While I made it a point to stay out of the downtown area, I did manage to sneak a plate of Hawaiian food (okay, okay, the Hawaiian food stand is located outside of the downtown area).

The most popular (this is just my opinion. . .don't wanna offend anyone) Hawaiian food venue during the festival can be found on the main highway (Kanoelehua Avenue) and is operated by Ka Uhane Hemolele O Ka Malamalama.  The entire Keawekane ohana and friends are always hard at work preparing tons of plates.  I have tried all kinds of stuff (pastele, butterfish luau, laulau), but my gold standard is the kalua pig plate (Hawaiian style).  Hawaiian style plates come with lomilomi salmon, chicken long rice, white rice, and haupia.  Local style plates come with white rice and macaroni salad.  Gotta pay extra for the poi (worth it!).  I like how they chop all the lomilomi salmon ingredients really small because I hate getting a mouthful of onion.  And there are pieces of salt salmon in the lomi...these days, many places seem to forget that part.  By the time this post hits the internet, the festival will be a fond memory and the food stand by HPM will be dismantled, but don't despair.  During non-festival times, the Hawaiian food truck can be found parked at Hilo bayfront. 

In the salt mines. . .The High Commander did it again!  She bought me and a whole bunch of other people lunch in an impromptu show of appreciation for our work.  She handed a Benjamin to my coworker and asked her to take orders and go to get the orders.  Wow!  Generosity is a character trait which impresses me, and its easy to look up to and respect a leader who has traits we value.  The work drives me mental, but when you have a leader you respect, you know that the road, though bumpy, is going to lead you somewhere you want to be.  And maybe that should have been reason enough to listen to her when she told me the fish mcbites I ordered was nothing special.


The tangent to this story. . . my coworker and I were just gushing about how the High Commander has the grace to show aloha and appreciation for hard work.  Upon hearing us, one of the lieutenants mentioned nice things she and the other lieutenants do for the foot soldiers they supervise, and then she us asked what our boss does for us to show appreciation for all that we do.  I would've loved to capture the look on her face (and upload the pic to this blog) when my coworker and I answered in unison, "nothing".  The lieutenant was totally floored.  Yup. . .no aloha spoken at my office.

Flexible Fruity Nutty Bars

I'm feeling a little melancholy today.  D1 left for Japan this morning with the Key Club, and D2 is still under the weather with a lingering virus (low fever, listless, grouchy).  I'm still stuck at an assessment workshop.  With 45 minutes for lunch, we pretty much have no choice but to eat lunch at Sky Garden.  I like the Chinese food at Sky Garden, but lunch gets a little tiresome day after day.  Sky Garden offers a buffet lunch also, but the price is steep, and 45 minutes would not allow me nearly enough time to consume my share.  With the vacation looming, I'm going to make a pan of these bars to help lift my spirits.

This is one of those recipes which began as an innocent date bar recipe but has morphed into many other things.  Lets start at the beginning.  When I was pregnant with D2, my ob-gyn visits entailed a detour to Jilly's, a snack shop on the ground floor of the medical building.  Without fail, I'd buy a 2-pack of date bars.  The bars had a buttery shortbread crust and a heavy, cakey, nutty, sweet topping.  I know I didn't taste dates, but it didn't matter because it was good, satisfied my sweet tooth, and sent me down the path towards gestational diabetes.  Imua!

Mom would often buy fresh dates from Costco and tell me to make date bars.  I was happy to oblige, but eventually the dates disappeared.  Left only with a partial tin of glaceed apricots from Williams-Sonoma, I decided to take a risk and experiment with them by replacing the dates with glaceed apricots.  The result was fabulous.  This led me to try other fruits:  dried mango, dried apricots (not the expensive glaceed type), dried peaches.  All were good.  Then I tried substituting macadamia nuts for pecans (I don't eat walnuts).  All good again.

But now I had an even bigger problem on my hands.  The 7"x11" pan I was using provided hardly enough bars to take anywhere.  It barely fed me!  I knew I had to somehow develop a recipe that could be made in a 9"x13" pan, which would definitely be enough for me to eat my fill AND take some to an event.  The crust was easy, but I had to do some tinkering with the brown sugar amount before I got the filling right.  The first few results were sickingly sweet, but I think its perfect now.

Some great fruit-nut combinations are:  apricot-pecan, mango-macadamia, dates-pecan, peach/pineapple-pecan.  The pics on this blog happen to be peach/pineapple-pecan.  Those are tried and true, but feel free to experiment with your own combos.  As a caution to anyone who makes this . . . be prepared to give out the recipe.  Everytime I've taken this somewhere (work potluck) or served it at home (Colleen & Flo), someone ALWAYS asks for the recipe.

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Flexible Fruity Nutty Bars

Crust:  1 c butter

           1/2 c sugar

           2 c flour

Mix butter, sugar and flour until crumbly.  Press evenly into a 9 x 13" pan.  Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.  While crust is baking, make filling.

Filling:  2/3 c flour

            1 tsp baking powder

            1/2 tsp salt

            4 eggs

            1 1/2 c brown sugar

            1 c chopped dried fruit

            2 tsp vanilla

            1 c chopped nuts

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  Beat eggs and add brown sugar and dried fruit.  Add flour mixture, vanilla, and nuts.  Spread evenly over hot crust.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into squares or bars.  When completely cool, dust generously with powdered sugar and remove cut pieces from pan.

Frog Eye Salad

I am dedicating this post, Frog Eye Salad, to my amphibious brethren out there . . . those of you who, by sheer bum luck, tend to get caught in slippery situations beyond your control.  If this sounds like you or if you know someone who has webbed feet and can jump many times his/her body length, read on . . .

We are knee-deep in what is likely the soggiest summer in Hilo in the past 15 years.  I counted more days of rain than sun, which supports Hilo's infamy as being the wettest city in the United States.  I am so glad to have retired from league tennis, as I'd likely spend more time squeegee-ing the court than actually playing.  Bejeweled Blitz is a much better pastime!

I've come to the conclusion that I am a magnet for wet places, no matter how much I keep saying I don't like rain.  My four years in Seattle were miserably damp.  I'm likely the only person who has attempted to escape the Hilo rain, only to be drenched by a sudden downpour in the parking lot of the Kona Costco.  In another botched attempt to circumvent rain, I ran off to the Hapuna Prince and was treated to an amazing show that night: thunder, lightning, torrential rain.

acini di pepe

One of the silly traditions of league tennis in Hilo is the camaraderie-building potluck after each match, which often forces one to display acts of sportsmanship long after an opponent has humiliated you on the court.  Having played league tennis on Oahu for several years, I can safely say this practice does NOT happen there.  Lest I sound like an ingrate, it is because of these silly gatherings that I became acquainted with frog eye salad.  Someone on my team brought it as a potluck contribution.  It was absolutely delicious, but inimitable, as there was no market in Hilo which carried the "frog eyes", acini di pepe pasta.

That was way back in the early years of the 21st century, and Hilo today is much different place from what it was 10 years ago.  We have a new Safeway that has an olive bar, and that same Safeway also carries acini di pepe pasta!  Ribbit ribbit. . .

 click on recipe title for printable recipe

Frog Eye Salad

     1 c acini di pepe pasta

     water

     2 cans mandarin oranges

     1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple

     1 c sugar

     1/2 tsp salt

     2 eggs, well beaten

     3 tbsp flour

     8 oz. Cool Whip, thawed

     4 c miniature marshmallows

     1 c maraschino cherries, drained (optional)

Bring water to a boil and cook acini di pepe pasta for 9 minutes.  Drain.  Drain mandarin oranges and pineapple, reserving 1 1/2 c of juice.  Refrigerate mandarin oranges and pineapple.  In a medium saucepan, combine juice with sugar, salt, eggs, and flour.  Cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, until thick.  Remove from heat.  Add drained pasta to sauce and mix gently.  Place in a large, covered bowl, and refrigerate overnight.  Add drained fruit, Cool Whip, and miniature marshmallows to acini di pepe mixture.  Combine gently and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Yesterday's post was limited (due to time) to the slideshow of Uncle John's "27th" birthday party. I was told that Korean tradition is to reverse the digits of the guest of honor when they reach a certain age. Only time will tell if I'm lucky enough to have my birthday candle digits reversed.

There was a ton of food yesterday, with Uncle Hanok, Aunty Suyogi, and Uncle Hal,  doing the majority of the cooking. I wonder what Aunty Suyogi would think of my Chap Chae. I will need to make it for her one of these days. It was apparent, even to my forgetful tastebuds, that her Chap Chae was not as sweet as mine.

My contribution to the party was a pineapple upside down cake that almost didn't exist. Knowing Koreans aren't big on dessert, I knew I needed to bring some kind of dessert. After 15 minutes of pondering, I narrowed it down to chocolate cream cheese cupcakes or madeleines. Both are good eaten the day its made (unlike most cakes), and I knew I had ingredients on hand.

I was leaning towards the chocolate cream cheese cupcakes, which some people call black bottom cupcakes. The version I make uses devils food cake mix, cream cheese and some chocolate chips. Aaaaah, thats what I didn't consider . . . I only had butterscotch chips in the pantry. The Help volunteered to get some, but I declined the offer. I actually had just made devil's food cupcakes for D1 to take to a sleepover at a friend's house less than a week ago.

Before I could get off my butt to get down the madeleine molds, I caught sight of a lone can of pineapple rings in the pantry. Thats when it hit me! Pineapple upside down cake would be the dessert I would carry to the party.  Uncle John loves pineapple upside down cake!  Well, Uncle John loves dessert.

With the exception of chiffon/sponge cakes, I seldom make any cake from scratch. My cake mix brand of choice is Duncan Hines, the only one sold in Hilo WITHOUT pudding in the cake mix. As luck would have it, I had a box of Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix in my pantry as well.

Things seemed to be going well, until I got further in the recipe. . .1 box of instant vanilla pudding. By this time, there was no turning back, as I had opened up the cake mix, drained the pineapples & cherries, and melted the butter. I had a choice of pistachio, chocolate, or lemon instant pudding. I chose lemon for obvious reasons (if I didn't say anything, maybe nobody would know since the cake would still look "normal".

The cake baked up as normal with a warm golden brown caramel color. There would be no snitching a piece to sample, as the only option was to take the cake whole/uncut to the party. I had to leave the cake in the oven 5 minutes longer than usual because I bought a new cake pan which is slightly shorter than 13" on the long end (its by Nordic Ware and comes with a cover . . . got it at WalMart).

Upon arrival at Uncle John's party, the cake was met with "oohs" and "aahs". UL remarked, "you're stealing your aunty's thunder", as AE is known for a light flavorless colorless pineapple upside down cake, often made with crushed pineapple and lacking cherries. To her credit, she tries to create a healthier dessert (substituting applesauce for the vegetable oil) and boldly sacrifices flavor for uhhh, yeahh.  Anyway, back to my cake story. 

After we sang Happy Birthday to Uncle John, dessert was served. Mmmmmm. Nobody noticed the off-taste with the lemon pudding. In fact, everyone kept saying it was delicious (like they would've actually told me it tasted like shit). The Help, who is likely the most honest when it comes to food, said it was as good as or better than the version made with vanilla pudding. The Reans surprised me by eating several pieces, the comment du jour being, "dis good. Not so sweet" (you gotta do your own Rean accent). Aunty Sunny even asked if I would make this cake for Denise's birthday.

In terms of consumption, the Hamano uncles don't disappoint. Uncle John ate 3 pieces of cake. I think Uncle James ate the same amount! Is Uncle John losing his touch as the dessert king? When I made Crystal Coffee Cake in May, I'm sure Uncle James ate more than Uncle John.  This is amazing, considering Uncle John's history of sugar intake.  Uncle John once put away 16 roasted marshmallows after having two servings of both dinner and dessert.

The baking time provided for the recipe is if you are using a conventional 9 x 13" pan. If you are like me and bought the heavy Nordic Ware one with the nice raised plastic cover, add 5 minutes to the upper end of the cooking time.