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Electric Cooker Inspires A Busy Chef

Photo by JADEN HAIR

This pork disch can be served as a stuffing for Vietnamese rice paper rolls or even in an Asian-inspired taco.

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By JADEN HAIR

Tribune correspondent

Published: February 11, 2009

The past few weeks have been pretty hectic. Not in a bad way, but I've just been a little caught up in an energetic whirlwind. Yes, that's a much nicer way to put it. I was on the phone with Trib food writer Jeff Houck, and I think he used the words, "Jaden, you do so much that you give me a headache just listening to you."

Yeah, I know my pace is definitely more chaotic than most people are used to, but I love it so much! I'm the type of person who has 10 balls up in the air (along with an occasional jackhammer and a pair of flying monkeys, too) and while it seems insane, they all get caught at some point. There's probably a fancy psychological term for my personality (and pricey medication that goes along with it) but I'm perfectly happy this way.

Maybe it's time to give you a little peek into what's been going on in my life and the fun projects I'm working on, since I "talk" with you guys once a week and consider you good friends. Um, even if all of you don't talk back to me.

I'm deep in editing mode for my cookbook, which will hit the shelves this fall. It's called "Steamy Kitchen Modern Asian" and has more than 100 recipes and 150 color photos. (Yes, lots of ingredient photos and step-by-step photos.) The publisher's graphic designer is working on the cover, and guess what? A lovely picture of me will be on the front. Apparently, the publisher thought a photo of me in a bikini grilling hot dogs would sell better than a boring Asian dish.

Kidding! Totally kidding! It's me on the cover, but I'm fully clothed.

In March, I'm trekking up to Vermont to meet with my editor and the sales staff. I will do my best to wow them and bribe them with lots of yummy food, so they get super-excited about selling my book to the big chain bookstores. In about six months, you might see my smiling face on the bookshelves and then think, "THANK GOODNESS she's not in a bikini."

I've just launched a new Web site design for www.SteamyKitchen.com. It's still being tweaked, but the expansion will give me room to highlight more than just recipes. I'll be doing lots of product and equipment reviews; right now, I'm reviewing rice cookers.

Last week, I tested Fagor's Electric Multi-Cooker, which really is in the category of pressure cooker but does have a rice cooking function. This mama can cook rice in six minutes using its pressure cooker setting. It's also a slow cooker, thus the name "Multi-Cooker." I'm having a bit of trouble on the rice part, especially getting the grain-to-water ratio just right. But the pressure cooker function is out of this world!

I made this Vietnamese Pulled Pork out of a bone-in Boston butt (which really is a shoulder, but I'm not going to argue with the pork peeps about why it's called butt) and served it over rice. I set the pressure cooker at 45 minutes, and it was absolutely divine. Normally, I would have to slow-cook the butt for four hours over low heat. Fagor's Multi-Cooker is electric, so you don't have to man the flame. It's built with crazy safety features, so you can't accidentally open it up at the wrong time.

And looky, I've run out of room and haven't even told you about my upcoming Bahamas and New York trips, recent television stuff and an update about the family!

PULLED PORK IN SOY, ORANGE AND CINNAMON SAUCE

Serve this pulled pork over rice, as a stuffing for Vietnamese rice paper rolls or even in an Asian-inspired taco. I've written the recipe for maximum flexibility; you can pressure cook, slow cook or slow roast. The Fagor Multicooker has a "browning" function, so you don't even have to use the stove to brown the meat. You can leave the skin of the garlic and ginger on, you'll be straining the sauce after cooking.

4-pound bone-in Boston Butt pork roast

Salt and pepper

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 tablespoons cooking oil

8 garlic cloves, smashed

3-inch section of ginger, sliced thin

2 cinnamon sticks

2 star anise

1 to 1-1/2 cups beef or chicken broth

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup soy sauce

2 oranges, quartered

Season the roast generously with salt and pepper and rub with the ground coriander. Heat a pot over high heat until hot. Add the cooking oil and lay the roast in the pot to sear all sides, about 2 minutes each side. Remove the roast, keeping the pot on low heat. You should still have some oil in the pot. Add the garlic cloves, ginger, cinnamon sticks and star anise to the pot and brown until fragrant. Pour in the broth, soy sauce and brown sugar. Juice the oranges into the pot and throw the spent oranges into the pot as well.

Whisk or stir the sauce. Return the pork roast to the pot. The liquid should come about halfway up the sides of the pork. If not, add a bit more broth, soy sauce, water or even orange juice.

If using a pressure cooker, set the pressure cooker to 45 minutes on high.

If using a slow cooker, set to 6 hours.

If using the oven, make sure your pot is oven-safe, cover the pot and roast at 300 degrees for 4 hours.

When the roast is done cooking, remove it with tongs and pour all of the liquid through a strainer into a small pot. Discard the solids. Skim the oil from top of the sauce if needed. Simmer the liquid for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt or pepper if needed. In the meantime, pull apart the pork with your hands or just use a knife to thinly slice. Pour the sauce over the pork.

Serves 6

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