(no subject)

[cblj_backup]

I bought ham hocks today. I've never done that before. Until a few days ago I didn't know what ham hocks were for. I'm still not sure what part of the pig they come from. I'm assuming somewhere around the ankles.

For those of you who weren't around last year about this time, I had an allergy test (and an ulcer, all at once!) and it turned out I am allergic to a lot of random things. Melons and basil are my favourites, I think, because I don't eat those anyway.

Turns out the big ones the test said I was allergic to are: Chicken, turkey, peanuts, salmon. Technically it's a "sensitivity" but I have since learned the degrees of "sensitivity" by not eating those foods for a while. Turkey's okay once in a while; I get lethargic, but then who doesn't after eating turkey? Salmon I only eat raw, because I don't like cooked fish, and it's okay too once in a long while, as long as I'm prepared not to spend any time with other people afterward.

Peanuts and chicken are seriously no longer part of my diet, especially because chicken induces misery; my joints hurt, I can't think clearly, and I have no energy. Shouldn't be too hard to avoid, though, right? No General Tso's, no grilled chicken sandwiches...except the big killer is broth. Chicken broth makes rice taste delicious! Chicken soup is my favourite! Chicken broth is used in tomato soup. But I have spent The Year Of Living Chickenless and I know how much healthier I feel. If you read back through my blog, you can see a sharp uptick in my activity levels right around the time I stopped eating chicken.

This is my life, y'all. This is the absurdity of my existence.

Anyway, I really wanted to make stuffing, and it's very hard to find duck boullion that isn't cut with chicken, and beef broth -- man, let me lecture you guys sometime on the amount of chemicals it takes to make beef broth. So I thought, I'll make pork broth. It has to exist.

Pork broth exists in basically two cultures of food: Chinese and Soul. Trying to create a coherent single recipe for pork broth out of those two cultures is an exercise in awesome. But the key ingredient to Soul pork broth is ham hocks, and ham hocks are available at my grocer's, so I bought some ham hocks. I covered them with water, set it to boil, added some garlic, apple, and onion, and now my entire flat smells like the best bacon you've ever eaten in your life.

After I put the hocks in, I made challah dough, which is now rising, and as soon as this ground beef thaws I'm making enchiladas. I AM A ONE MAN FUSION REVOLUTION!

Except for the bits that require chicken.

Comments

[tychoish.livejournal.com]

I've had General Tso's tofu. It's kinda amazing.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

Concur. I kinda like it better than the chicken version.

[golden-d.livejournal.com]

I definitely read that as "I bought ham socks today," which makes for a much more interesting mental image.

[ysabet.livejournal.com]

**snicker** He could have bought ham socks (http://www.sockdreams.com/products/bacon-knee-highs?back=search)...

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

Pork broth, hm. That's a very neat workaround. We usually just put ham hocks in bean soup.

[dremiel.livejournal.com]

GO SAM GO!

Oh, man, I'm with you on the near-impossibility of replacing chicken broth in things. I'm the otherwise mellow, non-annoying vegetarian asking the server, 'Is there chicken broth in the veggie soup?" (tip - the answer is probably yes.)

Should you ever REALLY need that taste I found an acceptable replacement for things like matzoh ball soup and stuffing - in the boxed stock section of larger markets look for Imagine or Pacific (sorry, I am literally too lazy to look up which brand it is but I THINK it's Imagine) "NO-CHICKEN Broth" that's really the name! It's vegetarian and it's not quite as toothsome as chicken broth but it'll get you by in a pinch (and will sit on your shelf forever so it can go in your zombie apocalypse kit).

Also, your pork stock/challah convergence takes me back to that kosher - to - not kosher diner idea...that was fun!

[firelizard5.livejournal.com]

If you aren't bothered by the general absurdity of food that pretends to be other food, Better than Bullion makes a pretty decent no-chicken broth as well, and it comes in a paste format that lasts forever and allows you to make as much or as little as you need.

http://www.superiortouch.com/retail/products/better-than-bouillon/vegetarian-bases

Their non-vegetarian bases are pretty good too.

[tig-b.livejournal.com]

I use ham hocks, or other cheap joints, for pea and ham soup, with English style dumplings.

Usually unsmoked so it's not too salty, but salted joints can be soaked in two lots of clean water to remove the excess.

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

Wow, there's somebody besides me who's allergic to basil? I thought I was the only person in the world.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, it's actually a kind of common allergy, but people don't eat much basil unless they're pesto nuts or Italian....

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

There are not sufficient words to describe how much I prefer Return to Oz to the original.

You know what else uses pork broth? RAMEN OMG RAMEN!! (real ramen, I mean, not the College Student's Best Friend.) They boil pork bones for days on end and the broth gets all milky and AMAZING.

Man I really want some ramen now.

[eponymousanon.livejournal.com]

mmmmm tonkotsu ramen.... best ramen I ever had was in Kyoto, the ramen I ordered from a ramen shop back in the U.S. didn't hold a candle to it :(

[moonpupy.livejournal.com]

Did you buy smoked or fresh hocks? It makes a difference, obvs.

Smoked hocks (ham hocks)are usually used with greens (mustard, collard, kale, etc.), beans (and black-eyed peas), with the meat you get off of them almost secondary to the flavor they lend to the water and the foods that they cook with.

My Okie hubby can't think of a use for fresh hocks except maybe stock. Oh, and you can pickle them ::shudder::. My dad used to eat pickled pigs feet. I don't think I've forgiven him yet, lol.

Oh, and watch out for the bones. There are *incredibly* tiny bones within the hock that'll break a tooth, given a chance. Not that you're accident prone or anything. ::whistles innocently::

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Smoked -- couldn't find any fresh, and the smoked seem to have worked very well :)

I strained the broth once it was done, but thanks for the warning!

[byandby.livejournal.com]

I stopped eating chicken for other reasons (due to the way the birds are treated) and either trying to get free range (which can be deceiving) chicken and/or broth is either time consuming or expensive. I'm trying to use what I have up and then exploring other options. :/

[ljgeoff.livejournal.com]

I made beans and ham hock a couple weeks ago. SO GOOD. The recipe is something like 1) beans 2) ham hocks. But do not let the simplicity fool you; it is heaven. Heaven, spooned over corn bread.

[abraxas-life.livejournal.com]

I really feel like watching Return to Oz now, so absurd, so good. I can't watch Wizard of Oz at all, especially not after I forced myself to read most of Wicked, but Return to Oz is exactly my kind of strange.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I love Return to Oz. SO CRAZY.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Pork stock is also used in some recipes for French Onion Soup (http://wegottaeat.com/matriarchy/recipes/french-onion-soup-pork-stock) -- I made this recipe using a stock made from roasted neck bones and trotters and it was excellent.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Ooooh! Intriguing idea. And I do have onion....

[ysabet.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... just a thought, but have you ever considered experimenting with Japanese soup stock, dashi? It's usually made from bonito and does NOT taste fishy to me in the least; the first time I bought some to use, I honestly thought it was chicken stock. Might want to mix it with veggie broth and see how that tastes to you; I bet it'd make a decent substitute, and one of the useful things about dashi is that you can buy it at Asian grocers in powdered or cubed form just like standard American/European-style chicken or beef bouillon. I tend to buy a jar of the powdered stuff, me.

[brainchild129.livejournal.com]

Yeah, dashi is ridiculously easy to make. If you don't want to buy it in instant bouillion-style form, you can make it using only two things (well, three counting the water): bonito flakes (which is basically a type of tuna which is smoked, dried, and then chipped into sawdust-like flakes) and kombu, a type of dried kelp sold in big stiff sheets. Don't take my word for it, though - take Alton Brown's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lld2TBlZDZg).

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Broth is basically the same think as stock, right? At least, in its use for flavouring things rather than eating in and of itself. If the ham hocks are too labour/time/money intensive, is there a reason not to use pork or ham stock cubes?

[brainchild129.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the only difference between broth and stock is the presence of bones: broth has them, stock doesn't (...I think. I could have that reversed).

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

Ham hocks for broth is kind of ingenious. :) Don't forget about smoked ham shanks either, and they have a lot more meat on them. They make incredible bean or pea soup.

I make broth in a crock pot, which makes it pretty easy all around. I'm making it right now. If you ever want to make a good beef broth, brown the beef bones (and some beef) a lot on blistering high heat. Less than a lot won't do; it's too bland. Throw them in the crock pot with enough water to cover and just leave them cook all night. Too-long cooking kills off the garlic so I tend to add that when making the Actual Soup or gravy.

20 years after everybody else, I finally discovered the utter joy of a chuck roast cooked in the crock pot with a package of onion soup. People don't do that *just* because it's easy and convenient!

food sensitivities and stuff

[songspinner9.livejournal.com]

Mine are mostly allergies, from birth, pretty much, with a few sensitivities. Allergies: all gluten, dairy, citrus, red meat, corn (plus some odd ones), and sensitivities to stuff like garlic and onion (a little is ok) that I think has to do with the sulfur compounds. It can be a royal pain, yes, literally sometimes. Kudos to you for getting creative - it really is the only way to get variety in that kind of diet! And yes, it really is so much nice without the joint aches and brain-fuzz...

Re: food sensitivities and stuff

[elucreh.livejournal.com]

Wow, you have my entire social circle beat...I think combined we have dairy, corn, soy, gluten, and assorted random fruits/vegetables, but you're like, all of us in one person! I salute you, sir/ma'am!

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I think talking about ham hocks and making fresh challah in the same post violates some sort of something.

I approve! ;)

(I also want to eat at your place...)

[elucreh.livejournal.com]

But I have spent The Year Of Living Chickenless and I know how much healthier I feel. If you read back through my blog, you can see a sharp uptick in my activity levels right around the time I stopped eating chicken.

This is my life, y'all. This is the absurdity of my existence.


Admittedly chicken is a funnier word than gluten, but still, THANK YOU for saying exactly what I have felt needs to be said about dietary changes.

[twinkelbelpeach.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to imagine life without fried chicken and I just can't do it.
I guess I am a food heathen.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Believe me, it's not easy. I love me some fried chicken.

[shwoop.livejournal.com]

Wait, food allergies can give you lethargy and brain fog? ...I will now be getting a food allergy test ASAP.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Get an IgE blood test -- they prick your finger, take some blood, send it off, and a week or two later you get a little packet telling you about your sensitivities and allergies. Way less painful than a skin test and more accurate for food allergies.

Sensitivities, as opposed to allergies, can also apparently make you bloated and change your mood; when I have peanuts now that I haven't eaten any in ages, I find my tongue swells and my mouth is sore.

[sophie-spence.livejournal.com]

My exhausted/achy/foggy/depressed turned out to be sensitivity to soy, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, pears, peaches, peanuts...

Truly amazing how much brighter life is once one ceases to poison oneself. :D

[fleur-de-liz.livejournal.com]

Return to Oz has long been the stuff of my nightmares. I haven't seen it in years, and yet at any given moment I can still close my eyes and see Mombi and her heads. Yeesh.

[a-boleyn.livejournal.com]

I like picnic hams which need to be cooked for about 1 1/2-2 hrs in a big pot of water. (I also throw in a tbsp of pickling spices.) I strain the resulting broth and save it as a base for split pea, bean, ham and potato and lentil soups, rather than tossing the liquid. I think it would work as a base for pho soup as well though I've never tried it.

[aunty_marion]

I tend to use things like ham hock (must go looking for some this winter...) just as a stew. Lots of veggies, ham hock (or whatever), crockpot, water, seasoning, leave until meat falls off bones. Eat.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

I had a food allergy test once. Turns out I'm allergic to being poked for an allergy test :/

Is there any difference at all between "regular" chicken and organic chicken, as far as how you react to it? I ask because I knew someone who reacted, not to beef, but to the antibiotics in most food-animal feed.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I'm assuming not, because the antibodies are reacting to the meat, not the antibiotics -- I've not differentiated but even if there is a difference, I can't afford organic non-antibiotic chicken anyway, so. :D