On Jul 31, 12:57*am, Mark Thorson > wrote:
> It's been a few weeks since I started making some
> meals for my mom, and I think I'm seeing some
> improvement. *The week before I started she made
> some comment about her body is breaking down, but
> last week she said she thought she was in pretty
> good health. *I'm hoping to see some improvement
> in her problems with memory and equilibrium, but
> it's way too early for that.
>
> I switched to Kikkoman to make the food closer
> to what she had back in Hawaii. *I've settled into
> sort of a routine, alternating chicken and pork
> with the occasional shrimp. *I begin the day before,
> by peeling and slicing a piece of ginger about
> 6 inches long and adding that along with about
> a dozen star anise heads to about 10 oz. of soy
> sauce. *I soak them overnight in the fridge.
>
> Then, I fish out the ginger and anise and use that
> as a marinade for about 2 pounds of meat. *For
> chicken, I get boneless thighs, trim off the fat,
> and marinate for 2 hours. *I used to marinate
> chicken for 1 hour, but 2 seems better. *For pork,
> I get boneless pork leg, remove any silverskin
> and tendon, and marinate at least 2 hours, but
> I've been lengthening this time.
>
> After trimming the pork, I have variable sized
> pieces. *I think that's okay -- some small pieces
> will get over-marinated while there's usually one
> big piece that will be under-marinated in the
> center. *In the future, I'll cut the big piece
> in half to reduce the thickness. *I think having
> a variety of levels of marination is better than
> everything marinated to the same degree.
>
> I've tried other ingrediants in the marinade,
> like a sliced onion, but I don't find their flavor
> detectable in the final product. *I have tried
> sesame oil, and that seems to work, but if I add
> it at all, it usually goes in the pot right at the
> end of cooking everything.
>
> As I recall, mom would always cut the meat into
> strips before marination and only marinate for
> an hour. *I don't do that, again because I want
> a variety of levels. *When I cut up the big piece
> I get that variety in each strip.
>
> I stir-fry in the big cast iron pot I use for most
> of my cooking. *Two pounds of chicken or pork is
> too much for one batch, but about right for three.
> I don't want the meat strips to completely cover
> the bottom of the pot or overlap each other. *They
> have to fry separately to become properly fried,
> otherwise it's more like steaming them.
>
> I fry the meat with a few whole dried chili peppers.
> Mom knows not to eat those. *I can't say I really
> notice much difference when I forget them.
>
> I haven't timed it, but it only seems to take a
> few minutes to fry a batch. *I use high heat the
> whole time. *I do allow the pot to recover a little
> between batches, but the first batch gets the best
> fry, because if I let the pot get as hot for the
> second and third batches the fond would burn and
> smoke.
>
> When the third batch is done frying, I dump the
> vegetables in and heat them up, stirring constantly.
> When they're hot, I return the first two batches
> of meat to the pot and keep stirring until I think
> the whole thing is done.
>
> I use two or three vegetables, always at least one
> for texture -- bamboo shoot, water chestnuts, or
> gobo -- and one for nutrition -- Napa cabbage, baby
> choy sum, gai-lan, or long beans. *Everything is cut
> small, matchstick strips for bamboo shoots and gobo,
> 1/4-inch thick stem slices for baby choy sum and
> gai-lan, and inch-long segments for long beans. *I
> only use the midribs of the Napa cabbage, which I
> cut crosswise into narrow strips.
>
> When the vegetables seem properly cooked, I turn off
> the heat and sometimes cover the pot to let it steam
> for a few minutes, but usually I immediately scoop
> the food into the Glasslock container I bought for
> the purpose. *A 1000 ml container holds nearly a
> whole pot of food. *I'm surprised mom eats the whole
> thing in about 2 days -- I weigh about twice what
> she does and I don't eat that much meat. *But that's
> good. *The whole point is that I was afraid she was
> eating too little and that might be related to some
> of her problems. *I surmised that might be because
> her food just wasn't that attractive anymore, and
> the way to reverse that is to make food better than
> what she was eating. *I was a bit shocked to discover
> she way frying up Spam and eating that over rice. *No
> wonder she lost so much weight in the last 9 years.
> I think I may have solved that problem -- she keeps
> telling me the food I make is really good.

How caring of you. You will be blessed mightily.