Recipe for Pork Souvlaki + Black Bean Mushroom Sautee

As always, I like to change things up, mixing one culture’s ingredients with another, seeing if I can come up with new flavour combinations. A lot of the time, the dishes I concoct are based more on what’s at hand than some particular idea I have. But experience does control how far I go with the mix. Here’s the recipe for a dish that turned out quite nice: Pork Souvlaki and Black Bean Mushroom Sautee. The recipe below can be used a snack for 4 people, a side for 4 if you add some rice, or a meal for 2 with rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp canola/vegetable oil
• 4 skewers of pork souvlaki (store-bought or fresh-made)
• 1 small onion, cut into slivers
• 1 can shiitake mushrooms, drained and cut into thin strips. Substitute fresh shiitake or oyster mushrooms if necessary.
• Dash of black pepper to taste. (The salt will be supplied by the black bean paste.)
• Dash of Italian seasoning (any combination of dried rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano).
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp garlic black bean paste (available in oriental markets or the international section of large supermarkets).
• 1/4 lime or about 1 tbsp of bottled lime juice.

Preparation:

• In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the cooking oil on medium.
• After 1 minute, add the 4 skewers of pork souvlaki. Turn the heat up to med high and let the meat brown on all sides, rotating every minute or so (total of 4-5 minutes).
• Pile the slivered onions on top of the meat. Do the same with the strips of mushrooms. Sprinkle black pepper and Italian seasoning, and add sesame oil and water.
• Let simmer for 3 minutes, then add black bean paste. Squeeze in the fresh lime, or add lime juice, and stir.
• Let simmer for another 3-5 minutes, until most of the water has burned off and veggies are coated in a thick sauce.
• Turn off the heat and serve.

Presentation:
Serves 4 as a snack or 2 as a meal with steamed rice.

(c) Copyright: 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.curryelvis.com/

Technorati : black bean paste, fusion cuisine, pork souvlaki, recipe