Five Spice Pork Cattails with Sweet Chile Lotus and Seared Radicchio

Happy holidays everybody!
   
     My gift to my recipe blog readers is a few plates of food that have probably never been cooked before and a few old classics that I will cook tomorrow.
     I thought that a pork skewer would be nice, if it was made with minced meat wrapped around a skewer.  The minced pork on the skewer does resemble a cattail reed plant.  The pork has a classic Chinese 5 spice flavor.
     Many Chinese chefs really get into creating fun food presentations when opportunity knocks.  I have seen Chinese chefs form solid colorful volcanos that erupt a foaming lava sauce.  Chinese New Year celebration food often is presented as animate shapes.  Great Chinese chefs do know the secrets of bringing fun and magic to celebration food.
     This new recipe is worth giving a try!  My creations are usually well thought out instead of just being "thrown together."  The combination of flavors on this plate are very well matched.

     Daikon Radish Thread Salad:

     Use a zester tool to cut 1 small handful of long thin threads of peeled fresh daikon radish.

     Place the thin daikon radish threads in a small mixing bowl.

     Add 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil.

     Add sea salt and white pepper.

     Add 6 cilantro leaves.

     Toss the ingredients together.

     Chill the daikon radish threads till they are needed.

     Sweet Chile Lotus Root:

     Boil 10 to 12 thin slices of peel lotus root in a sauce pot over high heat.

     When the lotus slices become cooked al dente, remove them from the water.

     Drain the water out of the pot.

     Place the sauce pot over low heat.

     Add 1/2 cup of water.

     Add the blanched lotus root slices.

     Add sea salt and white pepper.

     Add 1 tablespoon of Korean Red Serrano Chile Pepper Paste.  (sambal)

     Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.

     Add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar.

     Stir the ingredients together.

     Simmer and reduce the chile sauce, till it can cling to the lotus root slices.  

     Keep the sweet chile lotus root slices warm on a stove top.  

  
     Five Spice Pork Cattails:
     Soak 2 long bamboo skewers in water.
     Place 6 ounces of ground pork in a mixing bowl.
     Add sea salt and white pepper.
     Add 2 pinches of cayenne pepper.
     Add 3 pinches of 5 spice powder.
     Add 2 pinches of ground ginger.
     Add 1 tablespoon of bread crumbs.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of flour.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of whisked egg.
     Thoroughly mix the ingredients together.
     Refrigerate the mixture, till it becomes firm.
     Divide the minced pork mixture into 2 equal size portion.
     Roll each pork portion on a counter top by hand, till they become a long thick cylinder shape.
     Press a bamboo skewer lengthwise halfway into the minced pork.
     Roll the meat back and forth with your hands, till the skewers are sealed in the middle of the meat.
     Even the edges of the pork, so the pork looks like a cattail.
     Refrigerate the skewers, till they become firm again.
     Place the minced pork skewers on a roasting pan that is brushed with vegetable oil.
     Bake the skewers in a 350º oven.
     Turn the skewers occasionally, so they cook evenly.  Use a spatula to free the skewers if they stick.
     The skewers are finished cooking when they become a light golden brown color and till they become firm to the touch.
     Keep the five spice pork cattails warm on a stove top.
  
     Seared Radicchio:
     Cut a thick slice of radicchio from top to bottom, through the radicchio core.
     Sprinkle a small amount of vegetable oil and sesame oil on the radicchio slice.
     Sprinkle some sea salt on the radicchio slice.
     Heat a saute pan over medium/medium low heat.
     Pan sear the radicchio on both sides, till it becomes wilted and lightly caramelized.
   
     Five Spice Pork Cattails with Sweet Chile Lotus and Seared Radicchio:  
     Place the seared radicchio on the center of a plate.
     Surround the braised radicchio with the sweet chile glazed lotus root slices.
     Set the daikon radish threads next to the base of the braised radicchio slice.
     Place a few dabs of Thai Peanut Sauce around the ingredients on the plate.  (Pre made bottled Thai Peanut Sauce is fine for this recipe.)
     Place the five spice pork cattails on top of the radicchio and the daikon radish salad.
  
     This plate looks very appealing and the flavors are so very nice together!  The five spice seasoned mince pork skewers have a classic flavor.  Salting radicchio when braising, helps to get rid of some of the very bitter radicchio flavor.  This is a fun appetizer to eat and a very tasty one too.  Yum!  ...  Shawna