Friday, January 7, 2011

Pork scallopini with Pennsylvania dutch egg noodle 豚肉スカルピーニとペンシルバニアダッチエッグヌードル

This is a "padding" post. (I wrote this just in case I may have a lean moment realizing I do not have much to post, so if you are seeing this post, this is such a moment). We think this is a good simple dish which is very satisfying. The noodles you see here are called "Pennsylvania Dutch Egg noodles". It is a type of pasta but Pennsylvania "Dutch" ("Deutsch" or German) people brought it with them when they migrated to North America. I am sure there must be some traditional German or Swiss noodles which resemble this noodle. Since my wife grew up in "Pennsylvania Dutch country", this is her comfort food. As a result, we often eat this as a starch dish. After boiling the noodles as per the instruction on the bag, my wife simply sautés it in brown butter and a small amount of crème fraiche (optional), (traditional recipe uses sour cream) with the addition of chopped chives, salt and pepper.

I made a sort of scaloppini or, more authentically, scaloppine using flattened pork masquerading as veal. I used pork tenderloin. After removing the silver skin and fat, I cut the tenderloin into one inch thick rounds. Using a meat pounder, I made the rounds into thin flat pieces (as thin as you can make it). If you really want to emulate the taste of veal, you could soak the meat in milk for 10-20 minutes but, this time, I skipped this step especially since we like the porky flavor. I seasoned the meat with salt, pepper, dried oregano and basil on both sides (I overdid it). I then dredged the seasoned meat in flour. In a large skillet (or a frying pan) on a medium flame, I added a bit more than your usual amount of olive oil for sauteing, since the flour will absorb the oil. I cooked the meat on both sides (1 minute each). Since the meat is very thin, it will cook very quickly. You could make a sauce but I did not, since the meat was highly seasoned. Somehow this is a very comforting (especially for my wife), basic meat and starch supper.

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