Oriental strudel (Photo courtesy I. Winicov Harrington)
Culinary circles acknowledge haute cuisine and fusion cuisine as separate approaches to food.
French chef Marie-Antoine Carême is credited for inventing haute cuisine for King George IV by introducing decadent sauces and high-quality ingredients for the designated succession of courses. This was soon firmly established in the culinary repertoire by Georges Auguste Escoffier in the 19th century and is still followed today.
Fusion cuisine came to everyone’s attention in the early 1970s when Richard Wing introduced and Wolfgang Puck cemented the use of oriental ingredients in French cuisine, in order to lighten up the heavy butter and cream-influenced menus. It seemed novel at the time, but the first recognized fusion cuisine had already appeared 450 years previously in Macao, with the fusion of Portuguese and Chinese cooking.
Fusion cuisine depends on the tasteful blending of ingredients from different cultures in merged recipes. Historically such fusion recipes arose from exploration of the world. Prime examples are corn and tomatoes in European cooking from the discovery of the Americas and the iconic pasta dishes in Italy, which can be traced to early trade with China with the discovery of Chinese noodles.
This savory strudel recipe is a modification of an old Food and Wine recipe originally made with phyllo dough but here folded in puff pastry for ease of handling. It blends the best of an oriental eggroll and European strudel in a loaf-like presentation, easy to slice and serve.
Pork, cabbage, and mushroom strudel
Prepare the following ingredients: 4 cups shredded cabbage; 2 1/2 cups chopped red onion; 4 minced garlic cloves; 5 oz sliced shitake mushrooms; 10 oz lean and trimmed pork tenderloin sliced in 2-by-1/4-inch strips; 2 oz prosciutto sliced into thin strips. In a small bowl mix 2 tsp cornstarch; 4 tbsp dry Marsala; 2 tsp soy sauce, 1/3 tsp lemon pepper, 1/2 tsp balsamic, and red wine vinegar each.
Heat 2 tsp oriental sesame oil in a large heavy skillet and stir-fry the pork on medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. In the same pan heat 2 additional tsp sesame oil and saute the chopped onion and garlic to soften for 3 minutes. Stir in the cabbage, mushrooms, and 3 tbsp water. Cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes.
Uncover the pan to add back the stir-fried pork, cook until any liquid is evaporated, and then stir in the Marsala-cornstarch mixture. Continue to cook tossing the mixture until the vegetables are coated and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, stir in the prosciutto, and allow to cool slightly before proceeding.
In a small bowl fork beat 1 egg with 2 tsp water. Thaw out 2 sheets of frozen puff pastry (17.65 oz) according to package directions. Unfold on a lightly floured board and roll with a rolling pin to spread evenly. Pile 1/2 of the cooked mixture lengthwise along the center of each sheet, leaving a 1/2-inch strip at the ends. Brush the ends with egg and fold the sides of the sheet to meet in the center over the filling. Brush one of the long edges with egg and bring the other edge over to seal.
Crimp the ends together to seal and carefully put the loaf on an ungreased pan, folded side down. Brush the pastry all over with the beaten egg, score the top crosswise in the sections for serving pieces, and bake at 430 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes, and slice for serving.
To continue with the fusion theme for the meal, I served each strudel slice with my home-planter-grown, oven-roasted nam-choi (like baby bok choy), and some prosciutto-wrapped melon.
Oven-roasted nam or bok choy
Wash 10-12 oz nam or bok choy to remove any soil and pat dry. Spread nam choy in a single layer on a rimmed baking pan. Bok choy is thicker and needs to be halved lengthwise. Drizzle the greens with 2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with some lemon pepper. Bake in a 400-degree preheated oven for 6-8 minutes until the white part of the greens is slightly softened.
Drizzle the greens with a mix of 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp red wine vinegar, and 1/3 tsp sugar. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp toasted black-and-white sesame seeds.
Enjoy experimenting with fusion cuisine by blending unexpected flavors in effective combinations.
(I. Winicov Harrington, of Waldoboro, is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less Than $5.00 a Day: The Smart-Frugal Food Plan.” For more information, go to winicov-harrington.com.)
